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Outlines

My practice outlining long stories.

Table of Contents

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Steps to Writing a Screenplay Draft

1. Begin with 10 final script story premises.
• Each premise should include: a sense of the story world (especially if different than our own), the main character, the predicament/conflict/antagonist the protagonist must face, what the protagonist wants. (Consider using the Mad-Lib story form.) You do not necessarily need to know how the story ends. Consider using your CLOSAT-D cards for inspiration.
• MadLib Format: Once upon a time, in the land of ______, there was a ______ (girl, boy, fish, toy cowboy...) named ______ (their name). ______ (name) spent his/her time ______ (what did they do?). Until, one day something unexpected happened: ______ This caused ______. And so ______ (name) wanted/decided to ______ (BE SPECIFIC). If she/he could ______ (what they want), then ______, if not, then ______. But getting this thing wasn’t going to be easy because ______. And so, ______ (name) ______ (doing something specific to get what they wanted--this might be just the first step).


2. Select your top 3 pitch ideas and pitch them to someone else; select your final idea from these three.


3. Determine the characters, possibly using a questionnaire sheet to get a better sense of them.


4. Articulate the Six Crucial Moments of your story.
• Point of Action
• “Thunder on the horizon”, this is the first moment in the story where we realize that something (the main tension) is going to happen
• The first moment we know something is wrong (One day, everything changed when ______ )
• Main Tension
• A question experienced by the audience - Will the sheriff of Amity Island end the shark’s reign of terror?
• At this point the Main Character has been locked into the story and the only way out is to continue moving forwards
• Midpoint
• The noose tightens, the main tension gets more intense
• Often the midpoint is a reflection in mood and tone of the resolution, ie. Happy endings have a happy midpoint, tragedies have a tragic midpoint, etc.
• Main Culmination
• Feels like the ending/resolution’s opposite in tone and conflict; happy endings have a dire, terrifying moment here, and tragic endings have a high point here
• Twist
• What changes the dire nature of the main culmination into the desired result of the Resolution
• Makes the resolution and ending possible/plausible
• Must be based on events/plot points that have occurred during the first third of the story, in order to be believable and not a deus ex machina
• Until this point things should feel impossible and the ending should appear unachievable
• Resolution
• The ending of the story, conclusion of the character and story arcs

Order to write them in to help structure your story: Main Tension, Main Culmination, Resolution, Point of Attack, Midpoint, Twist.

• Label each moment.
• Write a few sentences about each of these moments' role in the overall story.
• Remember to phrase the Main Tension as a question: "Will ______?" This is the question the audience will be asking throughout Act II.


5. Final Script Treatment (1 page, prose).
• Write a half-page treatment of your final script. (A treatment is simply a prose version of your story.) It should use third person and focus on the action. Only write what the audience will see--not what they will think or feel. Do not write the actual dialogue, but write the gist of a conversation; use minimal adjectives.
• Remembering the Madlibs exercise, don't forget to describe:
• The world where this story takes place
• Your protagonist: age, character essence
• Your character’s everyday life at the beginning of the story
• The specific complication or predicament or dilemma or problem that arises to complicate your protagonist’s life
• The specific thing your protagonist wants after the problem arises
• The visible goal your protagonist to achieve by the end of the movie
• The conflicts the protagonist faces that makes achieving that goal seem impossible
• How the protagonist achieves or doesn't achieve their goal
• How the protagonist has changed (or not) at the end of the story


6. Step Outline of Your Story (Draft 1).
• Write a step outline for your final script. Act breaks must be specified. Include the six crucial moments of your story and the specific steps that happen in between these moments


7. Write the full Act I of your Script.
• Get casual feedback on this


8. Step Outline of Your Story (Draft 2).
• Based on Act I feedback, revise/revisit your Step Outline and adjust if needed.


9. Draft 1
• Remember the title page, including title, writer's name, revision date, and draft number.


10. Get feedback on Draft 1.


11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until you are satisfied with your result, correctly labeling the revision date and draft number on each title page.


12. Final draft touch-ups.


13. Look for publication.