The hardest part of writing a script is starting. That blinking cursor; the blank white page. It’s taunting, honestly. (Not to mention hard on the eyes, which probably accounts for something.)
You will never know how many potentially great writers and storytellers succumbed to hesitation due to the fear that their story wasn’t good enough to be read. If something isn’t good enough to be read, chances are it won’t be written.
The main point to get out of this piece of content you’re reading is this: writing is not complex- it’s certainly hard, but it’s very simple. The key is mapping it out first, then proceeding with the actual text. After you start, it truly flows out of you.
Here is how you get an idea out of your head and on your paper… or screen, I guess, nowadays.
Overcome the Fear of Writing
Deciding to learn how to write a script or screenplay is the first step to actually creating your story.
They say every idea is perfect in your head, and it’s very true. You have a prototype. Many people don’t know the meaning of that word. They understand what one is though.
The term “prototype” conjures up the notion of an initial concept or a fictional but potentially real thing. In reality, in your situation, that’s only partly correct.
In business, a prototype is a term for a perfect product. It nails everything the inventor wants it to be; however, it’s not real to the market. Think about that in regard to the story you want to tell. It’s perfect. It says everything you want it to say. Yet the market cannot experience it.
The Reality of Writing Which New Writers Don’t Realize
This stage of a story’s life is where so many scripts die. In fact, they never even see the light of day, so they couldn’t even die. They just fade off into nothing, in the same way they existed: in your head.
There is no easy way to get over this obstacle. It’s a mountain of a task, especially to someone who is new to the craft of writing scripts. The secret is that it’s actually so much simpler than you’d ever imagine.
I’ve come across a lot of people who felt they didn’t have the skill to write the script in the manner the story deserved. To their credit, they probably didn’t have the skill to create a proper screenplay. They certainly have the ability to learn though.
So many people fail to realize that scripts are not just put down on paper. They are meticulously crafted. There is a misconception about art that creators simply press a button and their creation is born. That’s not the case. It never was, and even with A.I., I’m willing to bet it never will be.
Writers need to put in the hours to figure out exactly how the story needs to be told before they write anything in a script format.
Map Out Your Story Structure
Nearly every celebrated movie, television, and video game was mapped out beat-by-beat prior to being written.
There are several different story structures that help writers tell their stories. The most popular are the three-act, four-act, and five-act structures. This delineation doesn’t matter much when explaining the process of mapping out your story.
Your acts are broken down into notable points within the story called beats. The beat structure, or beat breakdown, is more important than your act structure. You can map these out more broadly in a seven-beat or eight-beat structure, or you can go more detail-oriented with a fifteen-act structure. The latter is also known as the “Save the Cat” story structure.
Take note of which number of beats allows you, specifically, to best create an engaging story.
A Breakdown of Basic Beat Structure
Most simply put, whether you have as few as seven beats mapped out or as many as fifteen, the basic premise of any story involves a character (your protagonist) that:
- lives their normal life (even if it is actually a very abnormal life to the audience),
- experiences something that rips them out of their comfort zone and forces them into a journey of discovery,
- runs into trouble when solving the problem that plagues them,
- runs into more trouble just as they think they’ve reached the end of the tunnel,
- comes face-to-face with their main obstacle (often the antagonist of the story),
- overcomes their main obstacle in a showdown and creates a new environment or worldview,
- adapts to their new environment or worldview,
- and begins a new normal life within their new environment or worldview.
Why It’s Important to Map Out Your Beats
The great showrunner, Michael Jamin, once professed, “it’s important that you don’t dump out the box.” What this means is if you have all the contents of a great story in a box, and you dump everything out for the audience to take in all at once, they won’t have a true appreciation for the story, its characters, and their universe that you have gone through and tweaked in your head for months, if not years.
If you lay out the pieces of the story methodically, providing more context into a character’s background and their world’s rules a little bit at a time, there is something for the audience to sink their teeth into and stay tuned for what happens next.
Similarly, it allows you to plan out the mini cliffhangers within your story that function as the act breaks to transition your story from act one to act two, then from act two to act three.
If you are upfront with the audience regarding everything your story is about, they will get bored and leave, or worse yet, figure out a better way to tell your story.
Write Your First Draft
After you have mapped out a strong story structure and you understand the beats that keep the story going in a way that engages an audience, physically writing the script will begin to seem much more manageable.
Many people freeze when they try to go right into drafting because they know the “story,” but they don’t know how the full story actually goes. Now that the beats are laid out, you’re already ahead of the curve in many cases.
The most important part of the process here is to just get it out on paper. Your first draft is going to suck. It’ll likely be the worst thing you’ve ever read once you finish it. That’s just how it goes. Learn to love the process, because this is unavoidable for pretty much every writer to have ever lived.
That may seem harsh, but the poetry of it all is that once the draft is written, as rough as it is, you have proven to yourself that you can in fact write a story. It now exists and other people can read it!
Rewrite, Rewrite, and Rewrite
They say that writing is rewriting. Once your draft is written, have someone read it. It’s scary, but it’s the only way to get better.
You can ask friends, family, coworkers, your teacher, your preacher, or someone off the street, but I’ve found it’s very important to pick readers who fall into the story’s target audience.
They have experience consuming those stories, they know what works and what doesn’t. They may not be able to describe why something in your script doesn’t flow correctly, but they will tell you they don’t like it- whether it’s a poorly written character, variable pacing, or simply no pay off at the very end.
It becomes your job to decipher their disinterest or issue with your story in order to create a solution you can implement in your rewrite.
Once it’s rewritten, have them read it again and throw in a few new readers for good measure. It’s not uncommon to have conflicting feedback from different readers. When you come to a crossroads where you aren’t sure whose feedback to consider for your rewrite, look within yourself to see which resonates more with you and aligns with the story you want to tell!
As loathing as it may seem to have to rewrite a script, it is also the stage in many cases writers have the most fun because it is closer to completion than at any other stage it’s been in so far. You’re almost there! Just keep rewriting until you feel it’s completed or the feedback becomes circular.
Boom! You now have a completed script! From an idea, to a beat sheet, to a draft, to a finalized script, you have successfully taken your idea and put it on paper for the world to enjoy and for you to produce!
Guidance For Writers
While this breakdown of how to actually get your script out into the world consists of three steps, many new writers feel they will mess something up even midway through the process. It’s a common feeling and it only goes away with experience.
Keep pushing forward through any anxiety or struggle you run into. If there are beats that just don’t flow with your story or you get feedback you simply can’t decipher, consider reaching out to us for assistance!
Our script consultant, script writer, and script doctor services were designed to help upcoming filmmakers turn their ideas into full-fledged scripts they can jump forward to producing.
Whether you can’t figure out the best beats to propel your story forward, have a draft but can’t decide the best way to rewrite it, or you’ve decided what you thought was your final draft needs to be completely rewritten, we are here for you. Get in contact with us to hire our professional script doctors and screenwriters and we’ll help you step forward toward having a completed script ready for production.
Scott Duvall 