18. Writing a treatment: Part three

15 April 2025

Alison Rocket Ross

Let’s get this done for AARON (35) LANDSCAPER.

Alright. We’ve let this treatment sit for a few days. Let’s charge through and finish the damn thing now.

Ok, at this point I’m thinking we need to trim some of the fat. As in, the big dramatic points and twists at the end. It’s too much for these kids.

I would say this is our midpoint. Our turning point. Now we’re at a stage where everything has changed and some very real problems need to be dealt with.

I’m going to keep trucking along and see what I can find.

I’m stuck here. I want to really lean into the dynamic between Aaron and Brooke, but I’m not sure where to go. We’re no longer following our beat board. Things are changing.

It’s ok. Things change. We write for character, not plot. We’re witnessing Aaron’s life being turned upside down. He has decisions to make now.

We also see Brooke take a little bit of emotional abuse here. She’s starting to see that the only way to get close to Aaron is to make him need her and she’s not sure she’s on board with that. She doesn’t want to be company. She wants a real connection. So how does she get through to him? Or does she give up?

 Ok… we’re coming up on it. Gotta end it nice and slick.

I like that Katie has been pushed back. Leaves a little mystery in there.

Ok. I’m going to call that a completed treatment. A pre-writing treatment, by the way. A tool, not a marketing device. If someone asks you for a proper treatment, you’re going to want to polish the hell out of it. Probably shorten it up quite a bit.

Let’s talk about the changes.

Instead of this big conspiracy theory black mail whatever, we narrowed our focus down to Aaron and his ultimate conflict. Loneliness. He’s lonely because of his own doing. He is terrified of everything all the time. That’s the problem. And when something happens where he needs people in his life, there is no one there to comfort him.

His big breakdown at the very end is his realization. His life was so cozy, so normal, so calm for so long. But you never know what’s going to happen. What kind of hell is going to show itself.

I also like that we do not see him fix his problem. We only see him realize it. Now that’s some indie film trickery right there and I like it.

We leave certain things open ended, but may come back to the specifics in the scene writing. We shall see. I like leaving the murders on the table. And I like Aaron putting it behind him as much as he can.

We leave him with a lot to work on and process.

I’m also almost certainly going to hate this treatment tomorrow. That’s part of the process, too. But let’s keep going. Let’s keep pushing.

That’s all for now.

-Rocket