How to Finally Start That Screenplay You're Always Talking About

A lot of creative people think about starting a screenplay at some point or another. It may begin with an idea for a story, or a description of a character, or even a funny situation or conversation. Eventually that seed of a concept grows into a full-fledged desire. However, it can be exceedingly difficult to actually put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and start on your opus. It doesn’t have to be, however, so long as you look at it the right way.

Start by separating everything that you’ve already thought of into a few different categories. If you’ve primarily had ideas for characters, for example, write the word “Characters” on the top of a sheet of paper. Follow that with names, back-stories, and personalities – anything that is already in your mind. Do the same with the general concept for your plot, locations and more.

Look back over your list of characters (if applicable) and examine their motivations. For each character you need to answer the questions of “Who is this person?”, “What does this person want from the story?” and “What role does this person play in the larger arc of my screenplay.” As you start to answer these questions, you will begin to get a better picture of the overall story of your screenplay. The situations that they need to get themselves into for the story to work, and how they will react to those situations, will become clear.

Continue by breaking down the overall story of your screenplay into a series of scenes. Feature length screenplays tend to have anywhere from 70 to 150 or more scenes, depending on the genre. Writing down all of your scene ideas will give you a good indication of just how far along your idea actually is.

Write down each scene onto a notecard, using one new notecard for each. You can do this any way you’d like: you can write a description of the scene on the front of the card and the location on the back, or write both pieces of information on the same side.

Arrange all of your notecards in chronological order, the way they would unfold if you were watching the finished film on television or in a theater. This will allow you to flip through the notecards from beginning to end, which will tell you where your story flows naturally and where there are holes that need to be filled.

Separate your notecards into three sections, or “acts.” Almost all major motion picture screenplays follow a standard three act structure. The first act introduces the characters and sets up the conflict. The second act takes the protagonist on their journey, and shows the difficulties they face along the way. The third act builds towards the climax of the story, as well as the resolution. Put the notecards you’ve written into one pile for each act.

Spread out all of your notecards on the floor, or pin them up to a cork board or bulletin board. This will give you a visual idea of how far along you are with your story. If all of your notecards are in the “Act 1” section and the “Act 3” section, for example, you know that your “Act 2” is going to need to be fleshed out. If you seem to have an equal amount of notecards in each section, you’re on the right track.

Do as much research as you can. This can encompass watching films that are similar to the one you’re trying to write, or reading published screenplays purchased in bookstores or downloaded from the Internet. Watch how professionals do their job, and learn from the best along the way.

Study the screenplay format. Writing a screenplay is not like writing prose – the formatting is very particular, and a poorly formatted script will be thrown into the garbage by studio executives, producers, actors and the like. Each scene has to have a scene heading, for example, which is formatted in a very particular way. The dialog goes in a specific place on the page, and can’t go anywhere else. You also can’t write anything in a script that can’t be seen or heard – this means you can’t arbitrarily write why a character is performing an action, or what they’re thinking while it’s going on.

Make time in your day to start writing and do so. One of the hardest parts of writing for many screenwriters is staring at the blank page before they actually begin. Write “FADE IN:” in the upper left corner of the page, and then keep going. Even if you can only write for twenty minutes a day, or can only commit to two pages a day, that’s still an excellent start. The more pages that you write, the more motivation you will have to continue to the end.

Screenplay Formatting Sample: "The Graduation Party"

What follows is a short film script written years ago for a college writing class. I thought it would be a good way to show an example of the screenplay format and all of its many requirements. Note the font size and type face, and pay particular attention to the margins for different elements like “Action” and “Dialog.”

 "The Graduation Party"

FADE IN:

INT. JIMMY'S HOUSE, BASEMENT - DAY

FIVE KIDS all around the age of ten play in the furnished
basement of a typical suburban house. A banner hangs that
reads "Happy Graduation Jimmy!" Sitting on a couch across
from a TV, watching a movie and looking annoyed at what is
going on around them, are JIMMY and MATT, two high-school
aged kids.

After a moment, one of the little kids comes over to the
couch.

                 TOMMY
        Jimmeeee! Come play with us!

                 JIMMY
        We're trying to watch a movie. Why
        don't you guys go play outside?

                 TOMMY
        Mom says we can't go play outside.

                 JIMMY
        Can't you play upstairs, then?

                 TOMMY
        The grownups are upstairs.

                 JIMMY
        There are grownups down here, too.

                 TOMMY
        You're not grownups.

                 JIMMY
        We'll play later.

A Nerf football, thrown from the other side of the room, hits
Jimmy in the head. Tommy wanders away.

                 MATT
        Dude, your cousins are driving me
        insane. When you said you were
        having a graduation party, I didn't
        think we'd be the only two people
        that aren't insane little ten year
        olds or under the age of 45.

                 JIMMY
        Joe'll be here when he gets off of
        work. That should be soon.

As if on cue, the door from upstairs leading downstairs can
be heard opening.

                  JOE
           (to someone upstairs)
         No thanks, Mrs. Parker. I'm not
         hungry right now, maybe later.

JOE, another high school aged kid, rushes down the stairs and
over to his friends.

                  MATT
          About frigging time.

                  JIMMY
          What took you so long?

                  JOE
             (out of breath)
          Dude, you are never going to
          believe what I just heard.

Joe stops to catch his breath and looks around him.

                   JOE (CONT'D)
           Lot of little kids here.
                  (beat)
           Where is everyone?

                   JIMMY
           We're it. What did you hear?

                   JOE
           I was at work, right? And I just
           heard the craziest story about Nick
           and Amanda.

                   JIMMY
           Well, drop the suspense. What did
           you hear?

Joe looks around.

                    JOE
            It's a pretty... dirty story. Tell
            your cousins to go upstairs.

                    JIMMY
            Cousins, go upstairs.

                    TOMMY
            NO.

                    JOE
                 (to Jimmy)
            Really?

                    JIMMY
            They've been like this all day.

                    JOE
            There's no way I'm telling this
            story in front of little kids.

                    JIMMY
            Well can't you just... clean it up?

                    JOE
            Not really... it's pretty vulgar,
            dude.
                   (beat)
            No, no wait. I've got it. Okay,
            follow me here.

Jimmy and Matt sit up on the couch, attentively.

                    JOE (CONT'D)
            Alright, so I'm at work, and we're
            pretty dead, so I start talking to
            Jeremy Whittimore. Now, Whittimore
            is a lot of things, but one thing
            he doesn't do is BS. So when I hear
            something from him, I believe it.

                    JIMMY
            Right.

                    MATT
            Uh-huh.

                    JOE
            So we start talking, and he starts
            telling me this story about Nick
            and Amanda. So Nick and Amanda are
            at his house, right? And they're on
            the couch... "watching TV."

                    MATT
            Right.

                    JOE
            And after awhile, they get done
            "watching TV," and Nick gets up,
            and realizes he can't find... "the
            remote control."

Matt and Jimmy laugh. By this time, the little kids have
started to gather to listen to Joe's story.

                    JOE (CONT'D)
            So Amanda's freaking out, right?
            And Nick panics, because she's
            really upset, and she's all "We
            don't want to get... charged for
            any movies we didn't order!"

                     MATT
            Understandable.

                     JIMMY
            I feel bad for the girl that one
            day ends up ordering a movie with
            Nick.

                     TOMMY
              (to one of his little
               friends)
            I have no idea what they're talking
            about.

                     JIMMY
                  (to Tommy)
            Quiet.

                     JOE
            And this is the part that got me -
            he tells her not to worry, and that
            the remote is probably just stuck
            in the... "couch" somewhere, and
            they'll find it at the end of the
            month when the "cable bill" comes.

Matt and Jimmy laugh a lot.

                     MATT
            Does Nick know how the cable bill
            works?!

                     JOE
            Clearly not.

                     MATT
            Wait... she didn't believe that,
            did she?

                     JOE
            According to Jeremy, yes. Yes she
            did.

Jimmy shakes his head.

                     MATT
            Those two idiots are made for each
            other.

                     JIMMY
            I can't believe Nick told *anyone*
            that story, let alone Jeremy.

                     JOE
            I know, right! It's Jeremy!
            Everyone will probably know by this
            time tomorrow.

                     MATT
            We go to school with some
            interesting people.

                     JOE
            I know, right! Isn't that one of
            the most fucked up things you've
            ever heard!

As he finishes his sentence, Joe, Jimmy, and Matt's eyes all
bug out of their head.

                     JOE (CONT'D)
                (to the ten-year-olds)
             You didn't hear that.

                     TOMMY
             Yes we did!

Tommy starts running up the stairs.

                     TOMMY (CONT'D)
              Mommy, mommy! Jimmy's friends are
              swearing and telling dirty stories
              and they won't play with us!

                     JIMMY
                    (to Joe)
              You son of a bitch.

FADE OUT. 

Writing Screenplays: About Three Act Structure

It has been said in the past that rules exist purely to be broken. While this is true in certain situations, there are some rules that are considered important for a reason. When writing a screenplay, one of these “rules” that you should follow is the three act structure. The vast majority of all movies ever made, including all of your favorite movies, follow this structure. Before you can follow the structure, you must first understand the specifics of it. The writing process does not involve bending your story to fit the three act structure, but using that structure to tell a better story in the first place.

The first act of a screenplay is designed to introduce the audience to your world. The first ten or so pages should introduce not only your character, but that character’s normal daily life. The audience should see the things that character goes through on any random day when the adventure of your story isn’t taking place. Also in the first act is the “inciting incident,” which is the moment where your main character sets off on the journey you want him or her to go down. In George Lucas’ film “Star Wars,” for example, the “inciting incident” is when Luke Skywalker sees an epic battle taking place in space from his home down on the planet Tatooine.

The end of the first act comes around the thirtieth page in your script. This is the moment where your hero starts out on his or her journey. To continue with the example of “Star Wars,” this would be when Luke and Ben Kenobi leave Tatooine with Han Solo and Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon.

The second act is the time for your hero to encounter trouble on their journey. This act, much like the first one, is around thirty to forty pages. Just because you aren’t writing an action or adventure movie doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow these rules. In Kevin Smith’s romantic comedy “Chasing Amy,” for example, the main character finds out that the girl he was secretly in love with was a lesbian in the second act. Your hero needs to face obstacles in the second act.

The third act is the resolution of the story. Your hero has been presented with the obstacles that stand between himself and his goal, and in “Act III” he will start to overcome them. The important thing to remember in “Act III” is that, at the end, your main character needs to be profoundly changed. He or she can’t go back to the “normal” world you established in the first ten pages. It wouldn’t be enough anymore, due to all the things he or she learned on the journey you took them on as a writer. If the character you’re writing on the last page of the script is fundamentally the same as the character you introduced on page one, you need to go back and rewrite to give your character more of an arc.

Writing Screenplays: About the "Act II" Climax

When writing a screenplay, there are always a few important things that you’re going to want to keep in mind. Screenplays are about stories, yes, and you should have a burning desire to tell whatever story you’re currently working on. Screenplays are also in large part about structure, however, and structure is unfortunately something that a lot of people tend to overlook. One of the most important structural aspects of any screenplay is the “Act II” climax. This isn’t the big moment at the end of your movie, but is rather the big moment that leads to that big final moment at the end of your movie. Without a good “Act II” climax, you’re going to lose the attention of your audience very quickly.

Typically, your character needs to be at his lowest possible moment at the end of “Act II.” If the whole screenplay tells the story of how your character gets from wherever he starts to his goal, he needs to be either emotionally or physically as far away from that goal as possible at the end of “Act II.” In J.J. Abram’s “Star Trek” reboot, for example, the “Act II” climax would be when Spock’s home planet of Vulcan is destroyed and Kirk has been exiled from the Enterprise onto one of Vulcan’s snowy nearby moons. Both of our heroes are experiencing the worst events that they will go through in the entire movie at this moment.

This can come in the form of a sudden revelation. Maybe he’s secretly related to the bad guy he’s been chasing all along. Maybe he’s trying to save a particular person, but it turns out that the person in question is already dead or gone. Whatever it is, this climactic moment needs to be the most difficult thing your character will have to overcome throughout the rest of the piece.

The “Act II” climax also needs to achieve a certain momentum that will be used to carry your hero, and the audience, through to the end of the script. In action movies, for example, a big action sequence might come at the end of the second act. In Christopher Nolan’s film “The Dark Knight,” the “Act II” climax would be when the Joker destroys two separate warehouses. One of the explosions kills Batman’s one true love, Rachel Dawes. From that moment on, the audience is riding the momentum of that moment because they now want to see the Joker punished for this particular crime above all others.

Mastering the “Act II” climax won’t guarantee that you’ll have a great screenplay. But a great climax at this particular point is certainly one massive step in the right direction.