3 Reasons Why Screenplays are Like Lattes
Welcome to AmySuto.com! You may also know this website by its alternate name, "Gratuitous Photos of Delicious Caffeinated Beverages."
Now, you may be asking "Amy, how on earth are you able to craft an extended metaphor around lattes and screenplays?" And to that I laugh and exclaim, "silly readers! I'm a writer! I make extended metaphors for a living!"
Anyways. Here are three reasons why screenplays are like lattes:
Both require intricate methods of creation. A good latte is made with care. You have to brew the espresso, steam and foam the milk, add the right amount of flavoring depending on the type of latte. A series of steps must be taken, and you can't skip any of them. If you don't add enough water and run out of steam to steam the milk, you don't end up with a latte -- you end up with shots of espresso and a mug of cold milk. Quite a disappointment. Preparing and executing each step of the latte making process is critical to coming up with a desired result -- and same is true with writing a screenplay.
The pros have better methods than you. When making lattes at home, they always turn out different than the lattes you can buy at Starbucks. Sometimes it can seem like the lattes you make at home can never stand up to the products created by the well-oiled machines within gleaming coffeehouses. Sure, they're more efficient, but every latte starts with the same basic ingredients. Eventually, the at-home latte connoisseur will be able to master the techniques that seasoned Starbucks veterans know by heart -- but it all starts with practice.
When done right, they're addictive. The best lattes have a light, frothy layer of foam atop a smooth blend of milk and espresso, and they're delicious. The best screenplays keep you flipping page after page in a kind of giddy excitement. You don't want to know what happens next -- you need to know. Great scripts are engaging and clear and bring something new to the game.
All photogenic espresso drinks aside, I'll leave you with this: writing can be a maddeningly difficult process. But when you finally type "fade out," the feeling you get is more invigorating than any cup of coffee Starbucks has to offer.