The Screenwriter as the Multi-Armed Shiva

Why you need to act as psychics and architects of human emotion to write a good story

Photo by Iván Díaz on Unsplash

If you are a screenwriter, you can choose to “stay in your lane”—create a plot, write dialogue, and follow the brief. That’s perfectly fine, but there is another way: to go beyond. To be not just a writer, but an architect of the story.

In 15 years of working with global brands, tiny startups, and solo bloggers, I’ve tried on many roles. I’ve been a producer, a director, an actress, and a casting director on various projects.

Once, I even had to be a methodologist. I was working on a massive educational project for a national youth program. The task was daunting: I had to write twenty scripts and develop all the supplementary materials—presentations, tests, and checklists—in just a couple of months. It was a challenge, and I managed it, but then we faced another problem. The production team couldn’t find the right “voice” for the project. Every host they auditioned felt “off” to the client.

At that moment, I realized I knew exactly who they needed.

It was a guy I had worked with on a previous project. A passionate traveler who lived and breathed the outdoors—young, charismatic, and practically made for this hiking course. I helped him package his real-life experience into a compelling self-presentation.
The result? The client was thrilled because the vision finally aligned with reality.

Every screenwriter is a bit of a psychic sometimes. When we write a story, we don’t just collect data; we analyze the subtext. We put ourselves in the client’s shoes and the shoes of their audience. We see the result through the client’s eyes before a single frame is shot—even if the client can’t see it themselves yet.

The magic of a great video lies in the ability to:

1. Feel the project beyond the corporate jargon.

2. Listen to the tone behind the client’s words.

3. Bridge the gap between business logic and human emotion.

When we see the path clearly, we combine that vision with our experience and knowledge. We find the optimal shape and turn it into a script that embodies everything we have planned for the screen.
A successful specialist unifies professionalism and empathy, logic and creativity, honed skills and flexibility. It’s not easy, but it’s always interesting! And that is what real screenwriting is all about.

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