How To Begin Writing A Screenplay.pdf

How To Begin Writing A Screenplay

Assignment One: Writing Your Short Synopsis

OK, this article is for those writers who aren't sure how or

where to begin writing a screenplay. We're going to start from

the very beginning. Let me start off by saying that every writer

is unique therefore each writer has a preferred writing method.

Only you can explore the different methods and choose what

works best for you. I simply bring you my experience and best

advice. There are few things you are going to need to help you

get started.

Something to write with

I know, you just spent $300.00 on the best super duper

screenwriting software on the market and I just told you all

you are going to need are a pen and paper. Trust me, you're

going to need the software and as a writer that's the single

best investment you ever made. You just don't need it right

now. Be patient. You'll get there.

The basis of every good screenplay is a good story. The first

thing you need to figure out before you start typing is what

your story is. Yes, you can put pen to blank paper and begin

writing dialogue scattered with great scenes and characters

but that all means nothing unless you're telling a good story.

Some screenwriters tape their story to a corkboard or even

their computer monitors so they never forget why they sat

down to write in the first place.

You should be able to tell us what your story is in just a few

sentences. You can do this by writing what we call a short

synopsis. This is where your pen and paper come in. Before you

write down the short synopsis to your own film make sure you

know what one is. Here is an example of one from a well

known film.

EXERCISE ONE

Below are a list of popular films. With your pen and paper

write down what you think the basic story (synopsis) is. Trust

Something to write on

me, it's not as easy as it looks. Even if you think you know it in

your head write it down. This will get your brain thinking in

terms of story and that's exactly what you want. Once you have

finished writing the synopses for that film click on the films

title and a synopsis for the film will appear. Your synopsis will

never match word for word but hopefully you've captured the

basic story.

Stand By Me

The Shawshank Redemption

True Lies

EXERCISE TWO

Now that you know what a short synopsis is, it's time to

write your own. On a new sheet of paper write a short synopsis

for the screenplay you are planning on writing. It should only

be a few sentences long. Once you've written down the story

you would like to tell, take that piece of paper and hide it. Don't

look at it for one or two weeks. Then read it again and see if

it's the same story you want to tell. Writing a screenplay takes

months if not years and if you're already bored with your story

after one week, then it's not the story you should consider

writing. If the idea still strikes you as exciting then you now

have your story for your screenplay.

Spend at least two weeks on this assignment then check back

to see what we'll be working on next.

CONCEPT

Conjure up an exceptional concept, premise, or theme for your

movie considering: autobiography/biography, big vs. small,

chick flicks, imagination, impact on writer, metaphor,

originality, and universality.

concept

· a general idea derived or inferred from specific instances

or occurrences.

· something formed in the mind; a thought or notion.

motif

· recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work.

· in literature and the fine arts, a salient feature or element

of a composition or work; esp., the theme, or central or

dominant feature; specif. (music), a motive.

premise

· a proposition upon which an argument is based or from

which a conclusion is drawn.

· v.t. set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main

subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in

understanding what follows; especially, to lay down premises

or first propositions, on which rest the subsequent reasonings.

Theme

· a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or

artistic work; "it was the usual 'boy gets girl' theme"

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/BIOGRAPHY

Stories best suited for cinema have strong dramatic structure.

Such stories are often difficult to pull out of biographies as

these tend to be chronologically linear and difficult to

encapsulate in a launch-story-climax design. Strong cinematic

life stories do indeed tell such a story, carefully extracted by a

skillful writer, but the challenge might best be saved for later

scripts. Where no cinematic story can be extracted from a life

or true story--e.g., a romance, another relationship, a challenge

or series of similar challenges--generating a theme might serve

a similar function. Otherwise the personality of the subject

needs to be fascinating enough to make readers and audience

members want to follow an episodic rendition of life events.

Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir

Autobiographies suffer the same difficulties and more:

fixation on what happened

lack of perspective

belief others want to see your life story

The truth provides a good basis for a story, but in film one must

be truer to the cinematic story than the actual events. Those

who sit around learning about proper screenplay format so

they can turn their lives into movies aren't the ones living

movies anyone else wants to see. The true cinematic heroes

are too busy achieving greatness--or having it thrust upon

them--to study screenwriting. Given the inherent difficulties of

crafting an autobiographical script, and the inherent desire to

do just that, it's best to save the personal life story until a few

scripts into one's writing career.

How to Write the Story of Your Life

BIG VS. SMALL

Big stories are generally more marketable and compelling than

small. A bigger-than-life subject, life and death stakes, a

universal theme, etc. generally characterizes a big story. Small

stories--one character's approach to his life's challenges--can

be powerful, too, but the writer must work harder to make it

pertinent to the rest of us. Small stories can be made big

through universal truths and metaphors.

CHICK FLICKS

Any mother will tell you that her daughter will go see "boy

films" but her son will not go to see "girl films", so she ends up

taking them both to see "boy films" or loses half of her

audience. The same holds true into adulthood: either make

films that appeal to guys or cut out fifty percent of your

market. Though the woman still picks the film, she wants the

guy to come along (and often wants him to pay for it). It might

be said the whole movie industry depends on this

interrelationship. While most women don't see the use in

"shoot 'em ups", guys avoid "chick flicks" like the plague. One

crossover seems to be horror films, which the gals seem to

enjoy even more than the guys, but this is a pretty specific

genre not beloved by all writers.

Vive la différence.

feminine masculine

internal external

compassion fairness

agenda mission

people things

feelings actions

family tribe

social political

"no" "yes"

blame no excuses

security risk

complain fix

etiquette respect

relationships alliances

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