How to Get Started with Screenwriting

Stories surround us every day; from looking out of our windows in the morning to almost every piece of news we hear, place we visit or activity we take part in. Thus, when it comes to writing a script it isn’t so much a question of what you can come up with, but it is a question of story prompt will you choose to follow.

Whether you’re writing your first script or your hundredth, it is a pretty consistent truth that all stories begin with a good idea. But for those approaching the task of writing for the first time, it can be daunting.

Of course, doing anything for the first time can seem like a real challenge; but we can assure you that writing your first script need not be so scary. Underneath the desire to write an amazing screenplay and the necessity to get used to some (fairly easy) formatting, script writing is an absolute joy which channels your creativity to write, well, whatever inspires you!

That said, if you’re struggling to get going, there are lots of ways to prompt, develop and organise your ideas. Let’s jump into how to write a script for a movie.

Formulating Your Narrative

The core of most stories will be their narratives—which form the backbone of events and characters which will hold it together.

We’ve likely all heard of the three-act structure which suggests that each story contains a beginning, middle and end. However, we like to reframe these into the more inspiring terms of: introduction, confrontation and climax. 

Regarding the structure itself, it is important to recognise that the three-act structure is not a hard-and-fast rule, and your screenplay doesn’t need to include it as described. But, of course, the structure is popular for a reason—and that is because most stories that are told, from folktale to film, can be broken down into three neat acts.

Defining the Dilemma

Before jumping into the three acts themselves, you’re going to need to grasp the (very) rough idea for your film. This most often comes in the form of a problem or dilemma.

Many filmmakers decide to centre their dilemma around an ethical issue. Using this issue to then build their narrative around—such as starting with the question “when is it OK to steal?” or “is revenge ever justified?”. While others may begin with a specific character or interaction.

These dilemmas can be on a grand scale—such as needing to save the world from global warming, or an attack by an alien species—but they can equally be found of a smaller, more personal scale—such as a struggle with terminal illness, or relationships.

Whichever scale or style of dilemma you choose, an especially useful way to solidify your central dilemma is to create a logline.

This Character clearly has a problem.

A logline is a super-short summary of your story, usually no longer than a single sentence. The logline describes both the protagonist’s goal and their trouble with attaining it, establishing the key conflict within the film. For example, the logline for 1999’s The Matrix reads “A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.”

If well written, the logline can also establish the emotional undertones and go on to be used as publicity materials for the film. However, at this stage it’s important to not get ahead of ourselves as the logline can always be refined. For now, we simply want to be able to define what our central struggle is going to be.

With the dilemma defined, lets jump into how to use the three-act structure.

Introduction

The introduction has three main roles: introducing the protagonist(s), establishing the film’s overall mood, and introducing the dilemma. Because of this, writers often find this one of the trickiest parts of script writing for a movie. But don’t worry, we have a few tips for you.

When introducing your protagonist(s), you want to make sure that their traits are specific, no matter where we first see them. For example, if we first see them drinking alone in a coffee shop, we should be able to understand a lot from their demeanour alone—how they are sitting, whether they are reading or people-watching, how they drink their coffee exactly, and how they react to those around them. And these factors should be just as present on the page as they would be in the final film.

Similarly, when your character first opens their mouth it’s worthwhile considering exactly how they speak. What is their accent? What type of vocabulary do they use?

Questions like these quickly spiral onto others about your characters’ traits, histories, personalities, and motivations. 

While this may sound daunting to start with, it can be a whole lot of fun to create rich and detailed characters, so find a way to take it as a fun and creative exercise, not a chore.

Once your character is clear, next comes the mood. This falls quite naturally next to your character, but you want to make sure your choices of genre and tone shine through in your writing in the early stages. This could be a quick, bouncy tone of a rom-com, the slow, reflective mood of a drama or a tension-filled introduction to a horror. One of the best ways to get a good understanding of writing mood can be to have a look at the first few pages of your favourite film in that genre.

Then, the final ingredient for a successful introduction is introducing the key dilemma. After writing your logline this should come naturally to you.

Confrontation

The middle of a screenplay will be the most varied depending on your narrative. But regardless of its content, the confrontation will take your character closer to their goal. 

There are two key ways in which this usually happens. 

First you character can acknowledge the dilemma early on and prepares for confronting it—take a narrative like Rocky, where they spend a lot of the film preparing for a big fight. 

Alternatively, your character may remain unaware of the dilemma, and the confrontation may see that dilemma escalate until the protagonist is forced to take action.

Regardless of how the dilemma is faced, the confrontation also often includes one or more failures, which make the chances of the protagonist reaching their goal appear slim. Whether this be losing a fight or another character getting in the way, this can be a great way to slowly raise the tension in preparation for the…

Climax

Most commonly, the protagonist will have an epiphany and find a new way to take on the dilemma, prompting the climax to begin. This will allow them to take on the problem and triumph. Whether that triumph is physical, emotional or something completely different is up to the specifics of your narrative.

By the end of the climax the character will have changed in some profound way. In most stories this results in them living “happily ever after”, but, of course, not all stories have happy endings!

Crafting a Compelling Screenplay

With all this in mind you may be rearing to go, but there are a couple more considerations worth thinking about before diving in.

First off, some of you may still be wondering how to actually start writing a script. Well, like how the logline helped to formulate your dilemma, creating a screenplay treatment can help get all your ideas down on paper before starting.

A Helpful Treatment

A treatment is usually around 2 to 5 pages and includes all the key information. This includes characters and their traits, the film’s logline, and a short synopsis of the entire narrative trajectory. Having a document like this on hand while writing can help keep you on track when writing.

Formatting Correctly

Regardless of how ground-breaking and exciting your idea is, you will need to adhere to normal script conventions for it to be considered by professionals.

Before this puts you off, fortunately there are a handful of software solutions which make this process of formatting an absolute breeze—from Final Draft and Celtx to Fade In. Many of these also offer free plans to get you started without dropping a penny.

Within the formatting you’ll easily get the hang of how to write scene headings, dialogue and transitions—but one takes slightly longer to get a hold of, that is the action.

Also known as the description, the scene action is the main body of the text which describes what is going on in the scene. This, along with dialogue, takes some practice in getting right. But if you make sure that it is (1) compelling to read and (2) it only outlines things the audience will be able to see and hear, you’ll be off to a good start.

Use the right format to write your script.

Considering More Than Story

As it will be turned into a film, a screenplay also can contain a lot more information than just a narrative. These can be shot types, transitions, audio cues and more.

Preconceiving some exciting transitions and important shots can really help sell the quality of your writing overall. But as with any device, don’t go too overboard with it as adding too many shot description and transitions can bog down the pacing for a reader.

Starting the Screenplay

Now with all the fundamentals under your belt we only have one more piece of advice, and this may be the most important of all of them. 

Just start.

Screenwriting, like any other skill, is one which requires you to put in the time and effort to improve. Whether your first screenplay is a resounding success or a failure is much less important than the amount you will learn along the way when completing it. 

After all, once you’ve learnt from any mistakes you made, that second draft or second screenplay will be all the better for it.

So, what are you waiting for, nurture that idea you’ve been thinking about for a while and get it down onto paper. Who knows, it might just be a masterpiece!