This method will prompt you to ask simple, direct questions of your characters ranging from their physical descriptions to their personal histories and philosophies.īy going into as much detail as you can stand and keeping the answers consistent to the whole, and you’ll end up with a sophisticated reference for how your characters should walk, talk, behave, and react throughout your story. A “character questionnaire” can be useful with this method and several excellent templates can be found online. Some writers take a great deal of time writing biographies for every major character in the story.
This means the way they carry themselves, how they speak, how they interact with others, etc. The key to making your characters engaging is by developing intrinsic motivations for everything they do.
The dramatic interaction between interesting, believable characters is the engine that drives a great story.
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How to plan a script step #2: spend time with your characters. Once you have a good one, keep it at the front of your mind. Here’s more information on how to write a logline. If you can condense your story into a single sentence that includes this information and captures your imagination, you’ve successfully created a reference point that will guide and ground you through the rest of the writing process. This means the setting, the protagonist and antagonist, the central conflict and the goal. It should contain everything that’s essential to motivating and informing the rest of the writing process.Ī useful way to conceptualize it is by thinking about the critical components of your story. Your first step should be distilling the essence of the story into a concise and easy to understand premise. How to plan a screenplay step #1: establish your premise.Įverything begins here. So, how do you blaze the trail that will eventually become your screenplay? How do you plan a screenplay effectively? The answer is committing yourself to doing most of the heavy lifting before you write that first scene heading.īy taking a step-by-step approach when learning how to plan a screenplay- establishing your premise, characters, and plot-you’ll be able to answer any challenging questions that arise. Or a script that is bloated beyond usability.īoth of these outcomes stem from not understanding the story that you’re trying to tell. But for the rest of us, the result is typically a script that grinds to a halt after thirty pages. Many want to take their idea and simply wing it. Resist the temptation to dive in head first.įor first-time writers, the typical impulse is to eschew too much planning of their screenplay. Every stitch of writing needs to be in service of the plot and the end result has to be just the right length. they’re still going to find themselves struggling to keep their story on target.Ī screenplay needs to command attention, move briskly and not meander. This makes the screenplay an inherently constrictive medium.Įven after one masters how to format a script, writing in the present tense, “ show don’t tell”, etc. But there is a definitive, regimented structure that is ingrained into the minds of producers, filmmakers, and audiences alike as to how a cinematic story needs to be told.
This isn’t to say that there is a lack of creative freedom. Of course, any undertaking in creative writing has an intimidation factor, but screenwriting has an inherent aspect that sets it apart: a lack of freedom. Learning how to plan a screenplay can be a daunting task.
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