Coming of Age Films—A Wrap Up

Over the last—gulp—30 weeks, we’ve been looking at coming of age films. 30 weeks! Why so long?

Because they’re timeless. Because we’ve had many a coming of age film before and we’ll have many in the future. It’s a genre that isn’t going away. Many genres go through peaks and valleys, they’re popular for a while then their popularity wanes until the pendulum swings back and they become popular again. But coming of age films are a shoe-in—always have been, always will be.

Why? Well, everyone comes of age. And every story of coming of age—though different—has certain similarities, and it’s those similarities that we can all relate to.

This is a genre that will never go out of style, so it’s one to think about writing. Because you could write a horror film and just when your agent sends it around town, horror could be on the decline. And that’s true of most genres.

And, chances are, some of your own struggles with coming of age would probably be universal enough to warrant a screenplay. Or, at the very least, you could expand some of your own experiences to flesh out an interesting story.

Also, this could be fun. Have you ever imagined yourself at the center of film? Well, this could be your chance. And stories that have a modicum of truth to them nearly always resonate more, so perhaps this could be the film that gets you noticed.

Case in point, the shortly-to-be-released film The Tender Bar [2021] by William Monahan. The film was based on the best-selling memoir of J. R. Moehringer, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-DS9vtLeEs

This is exactly what I’m talking about. Someone wrote a memoir and someone else brought that story to life in a film. In this case, it’s about a young boy who’s befriended by an uncle and the patrons at a local bar—and they kind of substitute for him not having his father in his life.

Ask yourself, what defines your coming of age? Was it an event, a person, a situation? Then ask yourself how you could take that defining moment and make it into a story.

An important point to remember is that although your personal experience may be the starting point for your story—or even just the inspiration for the story you’ll tell—it isn’t the story. You don’t have to stick to your real life to write this story! Think about your experience as the jumping off point, but THEN use your writer’s imagination to flesh out a super compelling coming of age story that could resonate with audiences everywhere. That way, you get the best of both worlds—a personal stake in the story and the ability to weave a new story from that germ of your own life.

Look back over these 30 weeks of coming of age films we’ve talked about—find the ones that resonated for you—and work to make the story you’ll write be just as compelling.

Happy writing!

Copyright © Diane Lake

12Dec21

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com