Your First Screenplay: The Beginner's Guide To Movie Writing by Fiske Adam

Author:Fiske, Adam [Fiske, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

This is a graph of what a traditional screenplay structure looks like. You’ll find it in every screenwriting book (and now it’s in this one, too). Notice that it looks slightly different from what I’ve been describing. I am including it as a mere guideline. I would actually recommend that you deviate from this whenever you feel like it. The problem with most of these formulas (and there are tons of them) is that they make everyone write the same screenplay over and over again. Have you ever seen a movie that was just like another you saw a week ago? Chances are the writers of those films read all the same screenwriting books and looked at too many graphs like the one above. There are some basics to abide by (format, page counts, font size, etc.). The difference is those things are not creative decisions about your story. They are just technical requirements for any screenwriter. Be wary of any formula or secret that tries to dictate your creative decisions. That’s when you run into a lack of individual creativity. So, when it comes to structuring your screenplay, the graph above is only to help you visualize the general trajectory of your story. You don’t have to follow it to the letter. In fact, please don’t.

Here are some final thoughts to keep in mind when writing your rough draft:

Finish! You have to push through to the end. Don’t stop. Even if you know you can do better. You can do better on your next draft. Finish. It’s the most important thing about writing, bar none.

Do not edit while writing! If you start editing before you’re done, you’ll never finish. Make changes later. A sentiment I once heard was: “During your first draft, you are simply throwing sand into the sandbox. You make the sandcastles later.” This is true.

Know your characters, know your dialogue. Get out of the way of your characters and let them talk. Soon, you’ll just be writing down what they say, not straining to come up with something. Let them react to the situations you put them in. Let them live and breathe.

Get it all out of your system. Put in every idea, character, subplot, etc. you have into this draft. It’s the only time when you don’t want to be compact and concise. Don’t go overboard, but wring out your scene breakdown and notes. Remember: it’s always easier to trim down a long screenplay than it is to add to one that is too short.

Forget about perfection. The script you have in your head and the script you write will never be a perfect match. That’s okay. Many first time writers put too much pressure on themselves in this regard. Every writer has this issue. Even Academy Award Winning screenwriters (whose movies are already filmed and released) wish they could go back and change the script. When you’re a writer, you will never get it exactly right, especially not the first time. Accept this fact and move on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.