Starting point for writing a script

Writing a script for a feature film comes naturally to a select few, but generally requires a serious approach and dedication to acquire the skills necessary to master. If you are a little nervous about it, that’s fine, because it means that you are not alone. After all, screenwriting is not something we learn in elementary school, but there are tons of resources through books, communities, forums, online resources, and education that can guide the articulate word writer from a beginner to an expert in screenwriting.

But the truth is that writing scripts is within your reach. If you have ever told a story in your life, you already have the basic knowledge necessary to write a movie. From the arc of conflict in a script to writing natural dialogue and how a script should be formatted. All you need to provide is the compelling story and you’re on your way. With all that said, here are some tips that can help you start to understand your script and make your first draft a little more fluid. These will help you get started as you move into writing.

THE ROUGH DRAFT
Please understand first that this is just a draft, it is just a draft. You are brainstorming by writing your thoughts and ideas on a draft. This is the time for experimentation and risk taking. At this stage, there are no rules that you can come back to later to perfect your draft.

Even professional writers write, rewrite, and tweak for a long time before reaching the brilliance of a great screenplay. So don’t be discouraged, just let your natural instincts flow. Be creative and imaginative. Remember that there are no rules at this stage.

CHOOSE AN IDEA THAT MOVES YOU
For first-time efforts, it may be easier to write what you know. It is easier to write familiar scenes and characters. With that said, you are writing a script to explore something new, have an affair, get out of your everyday life. You, and your characters, aren’t going to spend 30 days and nights writing screenplays if your subject is so familiar it puts you to sleep. So write a story that excites you, one that you want to tell your friends, one that you can’t stop thinking about, one that is a movie that you would love to go see.

Don’t be afraid to join a writing group where you share your work with others. Some of the best screenplays have come out of writing groups. If you’re serious, join a serious writing group where members push each other to achieve their best work. If you can’t join one of your community, you can sometimes find writer’s groups online. The best thing you and your script can possess is passion.

Watch movies
Watch a lot of movies. Approximately 100,000 scripts are written a year. Hollywood produces approximately 500 feature films a year. You can learn something from almost every movie out there. Most of us can talk tirelessly about our favorite movie scenes, plot twists, and happy endings. First, try reading the script for a movie that you know and love. Pay attention to how the familiar elements of the film (plot, character, setting) were initially described using text. Next, read the script for a movie you’ve never seen before. Try to imagine the finished movie in your head. Then watch the movie and see how the text was translated into a visual medium. Begin to understand the relationship between text and film. Begin to learn the form of a script.

Read a script while watching the movie
With one eye on the script, watch a movie with the other eye. Notice how a well-written script follows the adage “Show, don’t tell.” Even if you are reading words on paper, a well-written script shows the movie in your mind. Before you start writing your script, read several scripts. Read at least 5 or 6; it would be better to read even more. You can download scripts from the Internet or find them in a library. No matter how you read them, just make sure you read them. Learn the form. After reading 5 or 6 scripts, you will have noticed that the scripts follow a particular format. This format must be followed.

KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS
People don’t go to the movies to see scary, romantic, or exciting situations; you will see memorable human beings reacting to scary, romantic, or exciting situations. Which means that your big goal as a screenwriter is to create real characters that the audience wants to see. As you work through your characters and plot, it helps to remember that what you are writing will eventually be seen in a single 2- to 2.5-hour session. Your movie has a lot of ground to cover in a very short period of time, and it should hold the audience’s attention the entire time! Given these parameters, your story doesn’t have a lot of time to mess around or waste time. You can help jump-start this engine by including powerful, meaningful, or extreme situations and motivations in your script.

Enjoy the process.
If you write an average of 45 words per minute, you can write a complete script in just 5-6 hours. Thinking about your characters, developing your plot and coming up with ideas for scenes obviously takes much more time. Have fun with it. A script is a plan for a future movie. What this means is that when you start writing, all the information in a script must eventually be translated into images or sound, the two languages ​​of cinema. This is quite manageable when writing dialogue, as people speaking translate quite well into picture and sound. But writing actions and descriptions can be a different story. Especially for those of you who have written a novel or other prose, this translation process, and its pitfalls, can take some getting used to.

Learn the business.
This is an aspect of screenwriting that many writers overlook. The irony is that the lonely nature of screenwriting is offset by the fact that your script will be modeled after a movie that can hire hundreds of people. You better understand how you fit into the whole movie making process. The best scripts are not always made. Don’t limit yourself to feature films. Writing a good script is a skill valued by many people and companies. You can bring these skills to advertising agencies, production companies, and even video game manufacturers.