Movie Outline Screenwriting Blog

Writers get ideas for movies in various ways.  Sometimes it’s overhearing a conversation on the bus, other times it may be a dream that inspires you to write a great opening scene.  Wherever the inspiration comes from, it’s always a good idea to follow it through, even if you don’t end up visualizing the exact idea you originally conceived.  But the problem is, sometimes we are so focused on the creative writing process that we forget to double-check we are making the best creative choices.

This can frequently occur when we are inspired by particular movies and want to write our own script in our favorite genre.  An example would be that you just saw a great heist movie and embark on the first draft of your screenplay.  During the course of writing it, you see a teen comedy and without realizing it that film influences the writing of your heist movie.  Now, it could turn out to be a really entertaining original screenplay, but it may also lose focus due to the fact that you are trying to follow two sets of rules: the first set of rules that apply to heist movies and their structure and the second set that apply to teen comedies.

You then finally reach the end of your first draft, read it through and think, damn.. it’s not working.  But why?  You developed all of the character arcs, ensured that the scene to scene plot progression, revelation and twists makes sense and ensured that the event to event causality also strengthens your story.  You clarified the theme in your head and made sure that it was expressed cleverly through dialogue, subtext and visuals but still, something isn’t right.

If this sounds familiar then take a step back and look at the genre you are writing.  Have you made a mistake by trying to inadvertently mix two into one?  Chances are that if you have to describe the script you’re writing in more than one genre then you may need to go back to the drawing board because a story that includes too many genres sets up conflicting expectations in an audience and will work against you.

There are no hard and fast rules, and as such, there are always exceptions but if you pitch your movie as When Harry Met Sally meets Jaws then trying to satisfy an audience on both the romantic comedy level of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins back girl and at the same time on the horror thriller level of boy and girl trying to save the community of a small town holiday resort from a great white shark, well, you can see how the water muddies.

What do you want your audience to be feeling, romance or fear? The highs and lows of a complicated relationship or the shock of a blood-thirsty predator ripping a human being in two?  Who are we meant to be identifying with?  The boy?  The girl?  The tourists or the shark?  What about the climax?  Is it when the boy and girl finally get together or when they finally kill the shark?  Maybe you tried to combine the two into an amazing romantic scene where they pull the trigger together and then kiss as the shark explodes!  Okay, so I’m being facetious but you get the point!

Sometimes we, as people and writers, get lazy.  It’s only natural.  Life can be tough.  Writing scripts can be hard.  Please.. my heart bleeds.  It’s time to take responsibility for your creative choices or lack thereof.  This laziness normally comes hand in hand with familiarity.  As soon as we become comfortable with the creative writing process, our screenwriter’s voice and all of the tricks, devices and structural paradigms that are involved, we tend to stick to what we know and settle for the easy option.

The good thing about being an experienced writer is that you can normally write your scripts a lot faster than when you first started but both novice writers and pros still make the same mistake, for different reasons, by making obvious choices in their dialogue, characterization and plot construction.  And writing scripts quickly isn’t necessarily a positive thing. Sometimes it’s good to chew over your narrative and really think about what you’ve written.

So with that in mind, from now on, I want to make sure you force yourself to be innovative. Okay, so apparently every story has already been told but don’t let that stop you from trying to add something new to the mix.  When you reach the next major plot twist or turn take a moment to brainstorm as many alternatives as possible, however crazy they may sound.  Don’t settle for clichés or tried-and-tested solutions.  Turn your original idea for the beginning or ending of a scene 180 degrees just to see where it takes you.  It may lead you nowhere or it may give you a great idea for another scene.  The point is that you won’t know without trying.

And the same goes for character development, talking heads and choice of locations. Always go that extra mile by building unique characters that sparkle, situations and dialogue that engage us and worlds we would love to escape to.  Don’t always settle for choosing an obvious character flaw for your protagonist, dig deeper.  Don’t always settle for the first witty retort that pops into your head because there may be a better one.

I’m not saying analyze every single creative choice you make as you write because that would naturally stunt your creative flow but in the moments following your stream of consciousness onto the page or even the next day, re-read the previous day’s work and make sure you have pushed yourself as a writer. You won’t regret it.

To help you understand story pacing and how to write a script that keeps the reader turning the page it may help to think of your screenplay as a piece of music.  The music can be in any genre since most pop and rock songs share the same constant as is apparent in classical pieces – they all have a melodic rhythm with highs and lows. If they didn’t then essentially it would not really be called “music” but “noise”.

Let’s first consider a pop song.  Some start out loud and fast with an intro that reflects the chorus or the actual chorus itself and then dips to begin the first verse which is normally slower.  After this comes the bridge which steps up the pace a little leading us into the chorus.. and then this repeats until the end of the song.  About three-quarters of the way through there is normally the middle-8 section which is different from the verse, bridge and chorus in rhythm and melody and this helps break up the pattern before the last chorus.

All of these different sections of a typical song create pace, fast and slow, slow and fast and this pacing keeps us engaged.  Let’s not forget, a song is more than music, it’s a story in itself, whether it has words or it doesn’t have words.  Even classical music tells a story through the choice of instruments used, the melody and the arrangement.  That’s why it’s so natural to compare musical rhythm and pacing with script writing because they share the same core principles.

Another great analogy is the roller-coaster ride which also applies to movie making and screenplay writing. A roller-coaster also goes up and down.  Trust me, you wouldn’t go back to Six Flags theme park if all of the rides literally went from A to B on the same level at the same speed – would you?  No, they good rides create tension, anticipation and excitement through the design of the twists and turns, where they are positioned, the acceleration and deceleration, and the slow climb followed by the dip.  All of these ingredients combine to create “entertainment” for the participant and as a script reader or audience member you want to experience the same thrills when reading a script or watching a movie.

Remember, it’s your job as a screenwriter to keep the reader turning the page.  You have to build toward those key moments of heightened action or drama in your story and then follow them with a lull that becomes the beginning of the next big crescendo.  By visualizing your narrative in this way you will ensure that your script stands out and provides a roller-coaster read!  And if you want to analyze the pacing of your own creative writing projects, I recommend our screenwriting software Movie Outline 3 which includes a unique and innovative story pacing feature called FeelFactors.

The world we live in isn’t perfect and to be honest, although every day we all strive for perfection in one way or another, our lives would probably be pretty boring if Utopia did exist for us.  The simple truth is, bad things happen all the time and as human beings we are designed to deal with these events in different ways.  We all process information differently depending on our personality and the experiences that have shaped us and as such, not everybody is going to react to bad news in the same way.  Ultimately we are pretty tough creatures and it is our instinct to survive and we’ll do whatever we need to, with some exceptions, to live another day.

An example would be when a close family member or friend dies.  We cry, often uncontrollably.  We mourn.  We remember the good times. We go through all the stages of grief, but hopefully, at some point in time, we are able to move on.  We finally wake up one day without that horrible experience being the first thing on our mind.  We put one foot in front of the other and get on with our life.

Humor is one of those great wonders we are blessed with that can help.  Even in the darkest of places a witty line can suddenly put things into perspective and help to get us through a tough day.  It doesn’t have to be a joke, maybe just a comical observation or random, surreal thought.  Whatever it is, that moment of comedy works like a band aid and helps lift the tension.  This principle is also true when it comes to screenwriting.

Audiences love to laugh.  Now sometimes it may not be appropriate but that could be the best time to insert a subtle gag or some light-hearted comic relief into your script.  Okay, this may not be the greatest of ideas for certain sensitive subjects and scenes but why not give it a try and lighten the mood with a quip. Sarcasm is human nature and wit might lift an otherwise flat moment in your screenplay. Sometimes people laugh uncontrollably simply out of nervousness and not being able to digest the dark information that has just been fed to them.  And this can also create great comedy, especially if someone laughs at an inappropriate moment because this causes conflict and as we all know, conflict is crucial to creating an engaging story and three-dimensional characters.

Theme is something writers frequently forget about during the script writing process simply because they are often focused on the other important and often daunting tasks of character development, plot design, act structure and dialogue, but theme is the glue that binds your entire screenplay and must always be well considered.

Many writers like to shoot from the hip and don’t even outline their story before jumping into a full script, and that’s cool, whatever works for you – BUT, that’s no excuse for not sitting down with your completed first draft or even revised second draft and taking the time to analyze it on various storytelling levels with theme being right at the top of the list.

Ideally you would think about it right from the get-go since the theme of a story should permeate through your entire screenplay and influence the shaping of characters, your plot and definitely dialogue.  The truth is, however, that sometimes we, as writers, dot not really know the true theme of our story until the end.  And other times we still do not recognize it and it is up to someone else to point it out to us.  However you discover the theme, make sure you at least try to find it because a story without a theme is like a pastry without egg – you’ll have all the other ingredients which taste great by themselves but you’ll have nothing to bind them together.

Theme can be many things.. Love vs. duty.  The consequences of pride.  Deep-rooted regret from never telling someone how you truly feel.  The atrocities of war and its many forgotten, unsung heroes.  Whatever it is, it is crucial to have a central theme and your story and characters around it.  It is the spine of your script and without it readers and an audience will notice that something is missing or that the characters do not ring true.  Especially important is the dialogue your central characters speak since this should also reflect the theme – through what is said and sometimes more importantly through what is left unspoken.

The great thing about ulteimately pin-pointing your story’s theme, especially if you only stumble upon it late in the day during the first draft, is that sometimes it turns out to be that final element that suddenly puts everything else into place, like the missing piece of a puzzle.  It may be that when you realize your theme, nothing changes.  But more often than not, understanding your theme instantly throws a whole new light on everything you have written and normally leads to some frantic yet exciting rewrites of scenes and dialogue to cement the expression of that theme throughout your screenplay.

As a screenwriter it is important to remember that while the stories we tell should reflect real-life (or aspects of it) in order to engage an audience and help them identify with the narrative and characters that inhabit the world we create, life is different from movie life.  In real life events occur in chronological order and time passes much, much slower.. even though some days may not feel like it.  If we recounted the story of our day in minute detail minute by minute to our friends over a drink after work, they’d probably shoot themselves or jump off a bridge with suicidal boredom because most of the events that occur are insignificant and uninteresting.

From the moment we are awoken in the morning by our alarm clock to the moment we arrive at work, many, many things have happened.  But put them all in a screenplay and it won’t be a blockbuster, unless of course your entire story is about an hour in the life of an everyday man who gets kidnapped on his way to work due to a case of mistaken identity!

A movie may begin by showing a man waking up, getting ready for work, feeding his dog and jumping into his car, and that’s fine.  It reveals certain things about the character that may be important for us to know before the story unfolds.  Similarly, a scene in the middle of a movie could contain these events, but ONLY if it is important to the character, plot or pacing.  Otherwise, condense those events into a shorter sequence of shorts or cut them altogether.

And that’s where the concept of “getting in and out early” plays its crucial part.  When writing a screenplay, you only have so much time to tell the story and so you must not waste those precious moments on things that don’t matter.  Why not cut from the alarm clock, to his irritated expression in bed and then right to him sitting down at his desk?  It still works, doesn’t it.  Absolutely.  And the great thing is we now have more time to spend on more significant plot and character developments.

I’m not saying go through your script and condense everything to the point that it’s all cut – cut – cut.. that would be equally annoying and give us a headache.  Pace means highs and lows, fast and slow, moments of intense action and lulls for us to contemplate what has passed.  The key is to find an effective balance and part of that is understanding when there is too much “chaff” in your scene to scene progression. So remember to get into your scene as late as possible and out of it as early as possible. This will tighten a flabby script and help focus your audience’s time and attention on the things that really matter.

When you’re planning your screenplay make sure you only include the characters you need in order to tell your story.  It may sound like an obvious statement but many writers make this mistake because they just don’t think about it.  It can easily happen.  You outline your story, flesh out the arc of your protagonist, clarify your theme and then dive into the script scene by scene.  The problem arises because as you write event to event you simply introduce characters as they are required and before you know it you may have multiple voices all singing the same song.

Sometimes you may not even realize that this is a problem, let alone the problem with your screenplay and it’s usually left for others with a keen eye to point out.  So if you are certain that each character you create is crucial to your story, just take a little time at the end of the first draft to read through with this task in mind and double-check you haven’t doubled up on essentially the same supporting character.

And watch out for “sounding-boards” – you know, the best friend who literally just waits around off-screen for the hero to enter frame and unload their hopes and fears.  We all have them in our lives so I’m not saying get rid of them, just make sure you handle each “best friend” or “work colleague” in their own way so they have their own voice and own life so we, as an audience, don’t see that you’ve simply invented this guy or gal as a shoulder to cry on.  Make us feel that they have their own lives and even their own character arcs.  That’s right, just because their role in your mind is simply to be a sounding board, doesn’t mean you can’t develop their own journey.

Ask yourself, who is this person?  Why are they in this scene?  What do they contribute to the scene, protagonist/antagonist, plot and movie?  Are they merely a sounding board for you or your central characters?  If so, that’s not necessarily a bad thing so long as their dialogue and actions are handled deftly, but it is a bad thing if their dialogue is on the nose and expositional.  And it’s a really bad thing if they take on the same basic role as another supporting character, i.e. propping up the lead.

If you do find a few characters that don’t really have their own unique voice and personality or even life outside of the movie then perhaps you should consider either rewriting their dialogue and role, cutting them, or combining them with another character who is more clearly defined.

The point to remember with movie writing is that you only have so much time to tell your story – so use it wisely.  Don’t waste screen time on a character that is just there to plug a gap in an awkward silence or tell the audience the plot.  Again, there are always exceptions but generally you need to be succinct in your writing and that means limiting the number of speaking parts to those that are absolutely necessary.

How often in life do you meet someone that is flawless?  Conversely, how often do you meet someone that does not have a single good bone in their body?  Never.  It’s impossible.  We human beings are very complex creatures and that’s what makes us so fascinating.  And that’s also what makes good movie characters so interesting.

We, as an audience, or as a reader, are usually not drawn to flat, two-dimensional characters that do what they say they’ll do and practice what they preach.  Most of us try to be good people and do good things but we all have flaws – it’s human nature.  Sometimes our own selfishness, jealousy, preconceptions and prejudice creep into our words and actions and it doesn’t make us bad people.. just human.

The same should be applied to the characters we create in our screenplays and novels. These people may inhabit an imaginary world but that world usually reflects our own, even if it is set on another planet, often there is a common thread of humanity that runs through the narrative.  If there wasn’t then we would find it extremely hard to identify with anyone or anything and the movie wouldn’t engage us on any level.

So the next time you sit down in front of your computer and fire up your screenwriting software, think about your central characters and their psychological make-up.  What makes them tick?  What are their hang-ups?  Are they coffee addicts?  Are they gym freaks?  Do any of their hobbies take over their lives to such a degree that they alienate friends and family?  Do they have bad habits?  Do they lie or cheat?  Do they drink or smoke?  Do they gamble or steal?  It doesn’t have to be a big flaw, even a small flaw can make a character appear more three-dimensional.

The other great thing about introducing flaws, even if they are just for you to know as the writer, is that they give you the opportunity to create comedy and conflict.  And if you use these flaws when developing your character arcs they will subtly influence character actions and their dialogue.  Sometimes creating a backstory for your character can help when deciding on a flaw because it gives you a sound logical reason for their behaviour and choices.

For instance, say your hero was bullied as a kid.  Maybe he was always picked on at the same place, and thus the image of this place was then burned into his/her memory and associated with bad things.  The place could be anywhere.. a hot dog stand, a library, a swimming pool.  The point is, as an adult (in your movie), this character can then have a hang up about eating fast food, reading books, or going swimming.  The hang up could be that he/she comfort eats hot dogs when he/she gets depressed, or throws up if he/she smells fast food.  He/she may have a bizarre hatred for book readers and book clubs, or read so much that he/she doesn’t have a social life.

And remember, the same principle can be used in reverse when writing your antagonist or one of his/her henchman.  Maybe your baddie kills people without a thought but has a love for flowers or pets.  Maybe he/she has a penchant for blades and making people bleed but when he accidentally knocks over a young school girl in his car, he feels bad and takes her to the hosipital and waits by her bedside.  It’s all about layers. Obviously, certain genres require an absolute “baddie” but even then it’s far more interesting to shape your characters using many contradictory layers.  Make them ambiguous in intent so the audience are constantly reassessing their motives and objectives.

Writers’ Block.  It’s a killer.  We’ve all been there, happily tapping away at the keyboard at our latest and greatest movie script in a creative stream of consciousness when suddenly we reach a dead end. A brick wall faces us and we have nowhere to turn.  We try idea after idea but nothing makes any sense.  We start to get frustrated but can’t give up because it’s such an important scene.  Damn!  We have to solve this.  The pressure mounts.  And mounts..  But nothing.  Nada.  Zip.

“What am I gonna do?!” we think or perhaps exclaim out loud.

The whole script hinges on this particular plot point or piece of dialogue. If we can’t solve this we might as well trash the script.  Oh my God, I’m never gonna get that friggin’ Oscar! Okay, okay, calm down. Really, dude.  Take a breath.  It’s not that bad.  There is a solution.  All hope is not lost.. even though it may feel like it.

So, the solution.. what is it?  Simple. Actually, there are three:

1.  STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!

That’s right, folks, sometimes we get so caught up in the moment and our own self-imposed frustration that our mind ceases up and can’t process clearly.  The best thing to do in those situations is to take a break and do something else.  The script’s still going to be there when you get back.  I usually make myself a coffee and watch some TV.  Other times I take out the trash or put the washing on.  Whatever.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s simply the fact that you focus your mind on something other than writing for a while and this unclogs everything and gets the creative juices flowing again.

It works.  Trust me.  Been there, done that.  In fact, most of my best creative writing ideas have come away from the computer.  It’s the same principle as setting yourself a problem to solve as your head hits the pillow at night and then waking up the next morning with a clear head and 90% of the time a solution.  Somehow our subconscious brains keep on working behind the scenes and help us out.

2. MOVE ON TO ANOTHER SCENE

That’s right.  If you can’t figure out the solution just move on to the next scene or rewrite an earlier scene.  It’s the same principle yet again. By doing this you will be opening your mind to new ideas which will undoubtedly present themselves once you have disengaged from the stumbling block in question.  Sometimes focusing on another issue is the answer. Sometimes you may not get an answer right away but don’t stress yourself out by creating even more pressure, that’s just counterproductive.

3. REWRITE THE SCENE FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Your third option is to rewind a few pages and then attack the troublesome scene from a new angle.  If the hero in the original draft jumps into his car and goes to the bank in order to confront his adulterous wife, maybe he is forced to take the bus because his car won’t start.  Maybe he has an accident on the way and ends up in the emergency ward.  Maybe he gets to the bank and she’s not there.  You see where I’m going here?  All of these ideas will give you new avenues to explore and whether or not they will end up in the final screenplay is not the point, it’s the process that is important.

So what is a character arc, you ask?  Sounds complicated.  Well, it doesn’t have to be, although a complicated character arc may be just what your screenplay needs. A character arc could also be described as a journey that a person goes on during the course of your movie, or the development in their personality they experience or the evolution of an aspect of their persona – such as emotional, physical or psychological.  All of the above are valid character arcs that could help to engage an audience.

Why does a character need an arc?  Well, it may be intentional that your protagonist (hero or heroine) doesn’t, and if so, that’s fine, so long as it is clear that is the case and that the rest of the story and theme support this choice.  But more often than not a film will lose an audience if the lead character does not go on some kind of transformational journey.

Think of Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie and also in the complete franchise.  He starts off as a naive farm boy with foolish hopes of exploring the solar system. He struggles with authority and even the notion of responsibility and “The Force”. But as the story progresses, obstacles are thrown in his way which he must summon up an inner strength he did not know he had in order to overcome, and by the end of the movie he is living his dream, fighting villains and saving a Princess.  That’s his arc.  That’s his journey.  Without it the movie wouldn’t have been so engaging.

And what’s more, he’s not the only one in the story with an arc – and that’s a key point.  When writing a script, don’t make the mistake of focusing all of your attention on the hero’s arc.  Sometimes it is equally as important to plan an arc for the antagonist (villain) and supporting characters so that they too read as three-dimensional, real-life characters that have their own lives outside of the movie we see and that they are not simply there to support the hero in his quest.

To sum up: if you want your audience to truly identify with your protagonist then create a complex journey for them to take. Everybody has hopes, fears, dreams and flaws.  Make sure your central character has too.  What is their goal?  Is it emotional or physical?  What do they really want? How will they change throughout the story?  What obstacles force them to change?  Ask yourself these important questions as the narrative progresses so that each key event of the story not only serves the plot but is intrinsically linked to the overall “theme” and your central character arc.