How to Write a Screenplay

Guide Note

How to Write a Screenplay will walk you through the process of writing for film. Screenwriting is a difficult field to break into, so you’ll need to do a lot of research, a lot of writing, and a lot of revising. Luckily, you'll also have to do a lot of movie-watching, a lot of dreaming and a lot of creating.

Table of Contents

Introduction

(Creative Commons photo by Victor Gregory)
(Creative Commons photo by Victor Gregory)
  • If you’re a writer who loves film, screenwriting might be the right profession for you. Every film needs a script, so screenwriters are always in demand. However, screenplays follow some very specific rules, and the field is incredibly competitive. It’s not enough to have talent; you'll also have to work incredibly hard to break into the business. Luckily, there are a lot of resources out there for prospective screenwriters to learn about the craft.
  • The process of writing your first screenplay will probably be intensive and just plain long. You’ll hear stories about people writing screenplays in a weekend, but it’s more common to spend months or even years to develop something readable. Furthermore, overnight success stories do happen, but most screenwriters work long and hard to break into the business. Carefully evaluate why you want to be a screenwriter—screenwriting is difficult and you need to be serious about it to succeed.
  • And once you’ve figured that out, it’s time to get to work!

Step 1: Read Lots of Scripts

  • If you want to be a musician, it only makes sense that you listen to music. If you want to be a painter, immerse yourself in art. Screenwriting is no different; if you want to be a screenwriter, you need to read scripts, and the more the better. There’s no need to spend a fortune; you can access a lot of free scripts on the web:
  1. The Daily Script
  2. Drew's Script-o-Rama
  3. Weekly Script
Screenwriting is a tough gig with no guarantee of success. (Creative Commons photo by Sharon Terry)
Screenwriting is a tough gig with no guarantee of success. (Creative Commons photo by Sharon Terry)
  • While you’re reading, look for the following:
  1. Note the formatting. Get used to how the script looks on the page.
    • About half of the content of a screenplay should be dialogue and the other half should be visuals.
    • Camera directions are kept to a minimum. Let the filmmakers decide whether or not to use a crane shot; it's the screenwriter's job to give them the story.
    • Action is important. It's acceptable to have a stage play in which two guys sit on a bench and talk about life, but that's never going to work in a film.
  2. Read a screenplay and then watch the movie to see how it translates to the screen. It’s a good idea to do this with more current films, since screenwriting styles have changed in the past twenty years or so.
    • Watch the pacing. Generally, one screenplay page is one minute of screen time.
    • Observe the action and compare it to what's on the page. Notice what details made it into the script and try to determine why the screenwriter felt those details were important enough to write down.
  3. Read a variety of screenplays, including award-winners, films that tanked at the box office, critical successes and failures, and your personal favorites.
    • See if you can find differences that help to explain why the poor-performers didn’t translate well to the screen.
  4. Make sure to read in a variety of genres. Even if you want to write horror films, you can still learn great technique from dramas or comedies.

Step 2: Seek Inspiration

  • If you already have an idea for your first screenplay, that’s great. But if not, what do you do? As a writer, you can’t sit around and wait for inspiration to strike—you need to constantly look for and develop ideas.
  1. Get a notebook and carry it around with you. Whenever an idea strikes you, write it down so you don’t forget it.
  2. Take a writing class or workshop online, in a residential program, or at a local university. If you're lucky enough to live near a film school, take advantage of it! Simply working with other writers can help to generate ideas.
    • If you can’t afford one of these classes—they can get pretty expensive—then consider buying a book of writer’s exercises. Work on it a little every day so that you’ve always got a few ideas percolating in the back of your mind.
  3. Read newspapers and magazines for ideas.
    • You can’t just snag a true story verbatim from the headlines, but you can use it as the seed for a plot.
  4. Become an observer:
    • Watch the people and events around you.
    • Listen to how people talk and act.
    • Sit in the mall, write down interesting snatches of conversations you overhear. Later, use them as a jumping-off point for a scene.

Step 3: Develop Your Characters

  • If viewers don't care about your characters, they're more than likely going to lose interest in the movie. Characters that are cliché, flat, or unbelievable will drag down even the most creative of plots. Take the time to develop true-to-life characters, and they'll improve your story, whether it's comedy, suspense, or western.
Feedback from other writers can be indispensable. (Creative Commons photo by mahalie)
Feedback from other writers can be indispensable. (Creative Commons photo by mahalie)
  1. The first step to developing a compelling plot is to know your characters.
    • What are their goals and what prohibits them from reaching those goals? What were their childhoods like? The more you develop your characters, the more real they will seem.
    • Not all of the details about your main character’s summer vacation in Kankakee will make it into the final script, but they may help you to get to know who he is and how he thinks.
  2. Take the time to list out any characteristics or minor details that you think you might use in the screenplay.
    • These details should stay consistent throughout the entire script. You don't want the dark and mysterious stranger to keep changing back and forth from a black fedora to a blue one with a feather.
  3. Write a short and compelling description of your main characters to use in the screenplay.
    • Focus on a few key details that tell us what kind of person he or she is.
    • Maybe he's the kind of person who never looks someone in the eyes, or she's dressed in the latest fashions and constantly checks herself out in the mirror.
    • With a bare detail or two, we already have an image in our mind of what the character will be like.
  4. Character development doesn't end until the final draft of your script. As you forge and revise the scenes and plot, keep asking yourself if your character would react as written.
    • Does your character's reactions jibe with what we know about her?
    • Does it make sense that he would act that way based on his background and goals?

Step 4: Structure Your Story

  • A good movie needs to take the characters from point A to point B. Most screenplays follow a three-act structure, and each scene should contribute something to the story.
  1. Make a list of scenes and the things that will happen in each scene.
    • Consider doing this on note cards, as chances are very good that you’re going to be reordering them, deleting some, and adding others.
    • Review your scenes to make sure that they follow a logical progression. It doesn't necessarily need to be chronological; remember Memento and Pulp Fiction.
    • Make sure there’s a balance between dialogue and action; you wouldn’t want the first half of the film to be all dialogue, followed by 45 minutes of car chases.
  2. Write an outline.
    • The object is to flesh out the individual scenes from your note cards and see how they flow.
    • You can write the scenes individually and tape them to your cards or write it as a short story, whatever works for you to help see it as a whole.
    • Each scene should be summarized in a paragraph or two describing the key conflict--What happens in the scene?
    • Read it and adjust your plot as necessary to address any problems and to keep the story moving.


  • An animated interpretation of two children's ideas for screenplays.
  • Evidently, neither one bothered to outline the plot beforehand.


Step 5: Write It Down

  • The key to being a screenwriter, of course, is writing. The most original and awe-inspiring ideas in the world aren’t going to do you a bit of good if you don’t sit down and put your fingers to the keyboard or pen to the paper.
  1. Set a writing schedule and stick to it.
    • Some people recommend to write every day, but if that’s not feasible, just set a schedule that works for you.
    • When it’s time to write, then write, even if you don’t feel like it. Often, you’ll find that after the first few minutes, you’re back into the swing of things and time flies.
  2. Be prepared for roadblocks, and keep writing despite them.
    • Your characters might not be real people, but sometimes they can still be awfully stubborn. They might take off in a direction you didn't anticipate, or a key scene might not work quite right.
    • When at an impasse, take the opportunity to go back and revise some earlier scenes, or skip forward to a scene that you’ve been itching to write.
    • Revisit your note cards to see if adding, deleting, or moving a scene might help with the problem.
    • The fact is that you will have setbacks. Every writer does. The solution will come to you with time—the key is to keep moving forward.

Step 6: Format It Correctly

  • Some screenwriters format their scripts as they go; others use software that takes care of the work for them, and still others wait until the end and do all of the formatting after they’ve nailed down the first draft.
  1. Scripts are single spaced.
  2. Text should be in 12-point Courier font.
  3. Each scene has a heading written in all capital letters, indicating whether the scene is indoors or out ("INT." for interior; "EXT." for exterior), the location, and the time.
  4. For example, "INT. - CONVENIENCE STORE - LATE NIGHT" or "EXT. - DISNEY WORLD - BEFORE THE GATES OPEN."
  5. Dialogue is indented approximately 2.5" from the left and runs about 30 to 35 characters per line.
  6. The speaker's name appears on the line above the dialogue, never on the same line. It's printed in all capital letters and indented 3.5".
  7. Action scenes are written in short paragraphs.
  • Scenes should look something like this:
    • INT. - ABANDONED BUILDING - NIGHT
    • A bare bulb swings erratically over a dingy room, empty except for a few stray pieces of newspaper. In the corner, a girl is working on a laptop. She's dressed all in black leather and wears black shades even though it's late at night. She's typing furiously.
                                • CARRIE
                    • Bet you expected Trinity from the Matrix, didn't you?
                                • TRINITY
                    • Hey! You stole my outfit!
  • Formatting by hand will obviously take longer, but you can get formatting info online for free, and you can’t get more cost-effective than that!
  • Formatting software is expensive, but may be worth it. There’s nothing worse than spending ages formatting a script, only to realize that all the time you spent hand-formatting was completely wasted.
  • There's a variety of software programs out there, including:
  1. Celtx (freeware)
  2. Final Draft
  3. Movie Magic Screenplay
  4. Rough Draft

Step 7: Revise, Revise, Revise

  • Once you’ve finished your script, your instinct might be to send it out ASAP. However, don't allow your excitement at having finally reached the end cloud your judgment. Let the script rest for a little while and come back to it later for revisions. Your work has just begun—now the real work begins.
Revise, revise, revise some more. (Creative Commons photo by NCavillones)
Revise, revise, revise some more. (Creative Commons photo by NCavillones)
  1. Check out your page length.
    • Obviously, you want the script to be correctly formatted before you do this.
    • Ideally, you want your first script to be between 100 and 120 formatted pages. Once you’ve made it big, you might be able to get away with breaking the rules on length, but until then, people will be more likely to take a chance on you if your script is a reasonable length.
  2. Read through your screenplay and cut out the excess.
    • Often, first-time screenwriters write dialogue that includes a lot of unnecessary lines. True, people often chatter back and forth before they get to the point in real life, but this isn’t real life.
    • In a screenplay, you want to start your scene after the boring “How’re you?” and jump right into the good stuff.
  3. If you still need to cut more, look for lengthy descriptions and pare them down to a line or two of really stellar description.
    • While you may be able to visualize your femme fatale so well that you know her bust size and dental history, that’s not necessary in a script.
    • Offer a line or two that helps the reader visualize what kind of person she is, then let her dialogue and actions fill out the picture.
  4. Consider joining a writer’s group to get some feedback on your script.

Conclusion

  • Screenwriting is a difficult process, but all of the hard work will be worth it when you see your film on the screen. If you take the time to learn the craft and develop the best script you possibly can, you'll stay ahead of your numerous competitors. Who knows? In a few years, you could be accepting an Oscar for Best Screenplay!

Resources

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