How to plan a screenplay: Three key steps to take before the first draft.
Learning how to plan a screenplay can be a daunting task. Of course, there’s an intimidating factor to any creative writing job, but there’s an inherent aspect of screenwriting that makes it special: lack of freedom.
This is not to say there is a lack of creative free. Quite the opposite. But there is a clear, rigid structure ingrained in the minds of producers, filmmakers, and audiences about how to tell a film’s story. This makes the script Inherently shrinking media.
Even if a person masters how to format a screenplay, write in the present tense, “show rather than tell,” etc., they will still find it difficult to make the story fit the purpose.
The script needs attention, the action is brisk rather than meandering. Every piece of writing needs to serve the plot, and the end result must be just the right length.
Resist the temptation to dive in head first.
A typical impulse for a first-time writer is avoid too much planning Their script. Many people want to take their ideas and run them immediately. For a lucky few, this approach works. But for the rest of us, the result is usually a script that comes to a screeching halt after thirty pages. Or a script that’s too bloated to work with.
Both results come from not understanding the story you want to tell.
So, how do you carve out the path that ultimately becomes your screenplay? How to effectively plan a script? The answer is to do most of the heavy lifting yourself forward You write the title of the first scene.
by taking step by step approach As you learn how to plan a screenplay (identifying the premise, characters, and plot), you’ll be able to answer any challenging questions that come up.
How to Plan a Screenplay Step #1: Establish your premise.
It all starts here. Your first step should be to distill the essence of your story into something concise and clear Easy to understand premise.
These are often called log lines. It should contain everything necessary to inspire and guide the rest of the writing process.
A helpful way to conceptualize this is to think about the key components of a story. This means setting, protagonists and villains, central conflict, and goals. (But not necessarily in this order.)
If you can condense your story into a sentence that contains this information and sparks your imagination, you have successfully created a reference point that will guide you through the rest of the writing process.
Here’s more information on how to write log lines. Once you have a good one, keep it in the back of your mind.
How to Plan a Screenplay Step #2: Spend time with your characters.
this dramatic interaction Interactions between interesting, believable characters are the engine that drives great stories.
The key to making your characters attractive is to develop intrinsic motivation for everything they do. This means how they carry themselves, speak, interact with others, and more. what do they want.
Character profile.
Some writers spend a lot of time writing biographies of each of the main characters in the story. Personality questionnaires are useful for this method, and some excellent templates can be found online.
This method prompts you to ask simple, direct questions to your characters, from their physical description to their personal history and philosophy.
By studying the details in as much detail as possible and keeping the answers consistent with the whole, you’ll end up with a complex reference for how your character should walk, talk, behave, and react throughout the story.
Enneagram.
Another approach (and our preferred approach) is to use Enneagram Technology Flesh out each character and make them more believable.
We find this more useful than creating a character profile, but that’s just our requirement. Follow this link to learn more about how to make scripted character development 100 times easier.
Keep in mind that no matter which method you choose, all the background material you create for your character doesn’t necessarily need to appear in the script. Or maybe even a reference.
How to Plan a Script Step #3: Outline your plot.
While the concept of “story” is somewhat abstract, your plot is very concrete. Specifically, it refers to events and decisions Keep your character throughout the story.
The importance of a carefully constructed plot to screenwriting cannot be overstated. After all, a screenplay is not a work that serves itself. This is blueprint: A mixture of creative writing and technical specs designed to turn into something bigger.
You don’t have the luxury of a novelist to explore the inner thoughts of your characters and explain the story directly to the reader. Or continue the narrative on a tangent.
Ultimately, a script is a description of a series of events that need to occur within a framework.
The outline is a Break down point by point These events, you can start making scenes around.
An outline is essentially a blueprint for your blueprint. At this point, your goal should be to imagine every important event in the story. There are several different script treatments and “beat sheet” templates available online that you can use to get you started.
How detailed you want your outline to be is up to you. Some writers like to stick to broader, major turning points in their stories. (There is a sample on the Celtx blog). Others prefer a highly detailed bullet point approach.
No matter which approach you choose, the end result should be an actionable, start-to-finish game plan that will guide you through your first draft with confidence.
How to Plan a Screenplay: Conclusion.
Following these steps will give you insight into how to plan a screenplay—story goals, plot structure, and characters.
From here, all that remains is the energetic, painful, but always rewarding process of writing the screenplay itself. The materials you create in story planning will support you every step of the way.
Nothing you establish during the script planning process should be considered sacrosanct or set in stone. Despite the inherent rigidity of screenwriting, Storytelling is always an organic process.
Inspiration can strike at any time. You shouldn’t be afraid to tinker with the machines you build for scripting if it feels right. If that moment comes, your screenplay planning efforts will still be useful. In fact, it makes it easier to track the potential impact of new ideas and adjust accordingly.
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If you need some practical help learning how to plan a script and review an outline, treatment, or summary, check out our story analysis service.
Like this article? Read more about how to write a screenplay…
How to Write a Script Outline That Saves Months of Rewrites
High Concept: What it is and how to apply it to your story ideas
How to use the script analysis worksheet to complete Bulletproof Act 1
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