The Screenwriting Process: Where to begin, and how to proceed.

Ditto! I would listen over and over to the soundtrack from "The Return" when writing my supernatural thriller, inspiring. Also other film soundtracks like The Fountain, Gladiator, etc. Whatever music moves oneself, but film soundtracks inspire me that I am writing a potential film.

CineMischief said:
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Finally, purchase hours of music and a pair of good studio monitor headphones. I recommend Sennheiser HD 25-1 (Europe model) or some other type that shuts off all outside noise. I know others need to work differently, but I can't write anything without music of some sort going.
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Soundtracks that I listen to to help me write:
Gladiator
Miami Vice
Terminator
Requiem For A Dream
Saving Private Ryan
Band Of Brothers
Letters From Iwo Jima/Flags Of Our Fathers

The one soundtrack that I simply cannot get, and which I desperately want, is Sunshine (2007). It looks like that soundtrack will never see official release because of rights issues. Real shame.
 
The process changes up every so often, but it generally remains consistent. I don't like making it too systematic and I really prefer not to plan it out so much.

The idea will pass through my mind and I'll jot down some notes in a notebook. From there, I'll get a general story description. I'll come up with a main character and write some background. This stage has gone either way - one time, I wrote some history for the character. Another, I wrote a few 'blog entries' in the mind set of that character to get a feeling for how they'd act. I preferred the latter since it flowed so much easier and didn't feel as structured and forced as the other.

From there, I'll get a general story/character arc and have an outline in my head. After that stage, I jump into the first draft and get started right away. I'll finish it up, leave it be and feel good for a few days. I'll come back and then work my way to the second draft and so on. I like to get to the first draft as soon as possible, because my belief is that I want to get the clay out there so I can start sculpting something out.

EDIT: If you're looking for the Sunshine tracks, the only one you can find on the internet is 'Surface of the Sun', which is arguably the best song in the flick. I find that Dredg helps me out too.
 
I like to give myself some breathing room for my mind, where I might take a walk outside or just lie down with the iPod on. It's best, in my opinion, to pick up on ideas when the mind is relaxed, as you're not self conscious about your thoughts and you can just "net" anything that goes by through writing it down on paper.

I also like to do something that hasn't been mentioned yet - orally explain my story idea to a friend, girlfriend, family member, etc. To be blunt - if I feel pretty stupid telling them my idea, it's not working. If I feel confident about it and manage to tell my summary without feeling embarrassed, it's working. Stupid ideas still tend to sound pretty good when you're just thinking about it, but once you hear them out loud, it's a totally different ball game.

EDIT: Wow, had no idea I posted here before.
 
As far as the progression I use. I generally have everything written into a "Bible!" Characters, ideas, situations, plots, beginnings, middles, ends, character flaws, feats, etc...

Then once I have something that I feel worthy to progress with- I pluck from the bible some things. Most of the stories I write take place in a city I made up. So having a place I know from back to front is key.

Other than that.

It breaks down like so:

1) If something I find strikes an idea, though, and or story. I see what can be made of it through longhand.

2) Flesh the story out to a two-page short story. Give it a round with my friends. See what they think. Tweak it if needed.

3) Write a Draft. Show friends. Tweak. Draft 2, 3, and beyond.

4) Write a 'Final Draft' or 'Spec Script.'

5) Copyright

6) See if it sells!
 
I'm going to try my first script. I tossed around the idea of doing it in a novel form first but I'm just going to think it out as a movie and write the script. This is based on all the letters my Dad wrote home during the battle at Okinawa. So really the story is already wrote. I just have to put it all together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3GTdHnPq0k
 
Hollywood Pitch Festival- Aug 1&2

Hollywood Pitch Festival- Aug 1&2

Anyone attending this festival this year? It looks like everyone in Hollywood-producers, agents, managers, executives- come out to meet with new writers, directors. Figure it's a great way to hit the entire town in one weekend.
 
donkathon said:
Organize everything.
Ive gotten through 4-5 feature length scripts. My problem is I've thrown them all away/deleted them all because I didnt like how they turned out.
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That's high standards, though, which is always good. I mean it happens to everyone that some work just doesn't work out.

I've written three non-fiction manuscripts. Two of them I published. The third was about 75% complete, I mean it was almost a full rough draft, but I didn't have the original interview commentary I needed or the flair and it just wasn't working out. It was basically a mess of facts, without a lot of style or originality. Unfortunately it just did not fly. It was hundreds of hours of wasted work, but this kind of thing just happens unfortunately.

I would say my style is very similar to the OP, as far as writing in general, and the way I've done short film scripts has been much the same, but now I'm doing my first feature script.

The issue for me, which would come before all of this, is I write down ideas fairly regularly throughout the year. I don't mean I have a ton; I do not. But if I come up with maybe 10 ideas in a year, or even 6, whatever it is, then I write them down and they go nowhere for quite a long time. I generally let them sort of just sit there, intentionally, and forget about them except that they are recorded somewhere. I go back to my list of ideas from time to time, to take inventory, and at that point I re-evaluate what is lousy, what is ok, and what is good, and good means it has potential to be great if it was executed well essentially. I would say of any 10 ideas, I end up thinking 7 are just flat-out crap. They were stupid, I have no idea what made me think that moment they were good, but they were not, haha. 2 more are just ok, I really am not excited about developing them, so I don't. The last one is something good that I keep revisiting again and again, and every time I do, I always say, "Hmm, that is a good idea, I really do like that one." I find if I keep saying that about an idea for 3 months, 6 months, a year, two years, whatever it is, over a long period of time, there has to be some merit there and some potential. It could still be totally ruined in the writing phase and end up being awful too, but the kernel of the idea has merit and is worthy of some additional thought.

The exception is actually the feature script I'm writing now, which this basically never happens but I came up with this idea in mid-June actually, I soon after wrote it as a short film script, and it kind of went from being something I was hoping would be like 6-7 pages into 10 pages, which isn't a huge difference but I realized that it was basically not working that well even at 10 pages, it felt kind of hollow somehow, like it was just not complete. After sending it to someone I trust (an actor), I got some great feedback and he suggested I may take it in the direction of a feature. At first I wasn't so sure but I agreed it wasn't working as it was currently, the characters were just not well enough developed, and the story was too intricate to develop either of them very well in that length, which I've been able to do with other short ideas. This particular idea just couldn't fit into a short. So as I've been outlining it, I've come up with a solid feature-length outline that makes sense and really does justice to the characters, and I think ultimately it was the characters who drove me in the direction of writing it as a feature, to tell their stories. This is one case where I haven't sat on the idea for a long time, but it seems to be an idea that has merit.

I have another feature script I really want to write, but I've been thinking it over for years, and it is a great idea, but I prefer to have my mind sort of work on it behind-the-scenes for a while longer before I commit anything to paper. So I admit my process is well slower than most. I don't think I would at all make a good TV script writer, no matter how talented I became, or how skilled a screenwriter, I'm not the type to force ideas. I like them to come to me.

I have never been able to sit down and force an idea. Ever. Ideas come to me whenever they choose to, and I have very limited control over that. My only solution is to place myself into lots of new situations, read a lot (news articles mainly, philosophy, etc.), and talk to people. A lot of interactions or different scenarios makes ideas flow. Sitting at home in front of a computer does not. It's the worst possible way for me to think of a new idea.
 
^^ same here...Staring at a dusty keyboard and flatpanel monitor is hardly inspiring.

I wonder if using a portable tape recorder would remedy a creative moment? However, ideas rarely ever come in order. But then the idea is totally out of order on playback messing up my train of thought...oh well...back to the drawing board
 
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I usually carry around a little moleskin notebook, because I often do think up little scene ideas or solutions to problems I've been grappling with when I'm out and about. Sometimes the key to a problem is to not think about it for a while.

I tried the pocket recorder thing for a while but I always felt ridiculous using it.
 
How about doing a creative writing course? Some universities/colleges do them by correspondence. I've been writing both prose and scripts for some time but my writing improved and became more refined after doing one. While they wont help you with screenplay structure, they're really good at teaching you to come up with ideas, learning when and how to take criticism and use it effectively for you, and it helps with the treatment and synopsis phase of writing, which is quite different from screenwriting, but a good screenwriter needs to be able to do both well.

The scrapbook idea is also really good. I do that too.
 
I'm entering High School, and I was wondering if it would help to take a writing class? I want to be able to produce better stories.

Thank's Guys.
 
Cryogenic Filmworks said:
I could have some unsealed envelopes stashed around which I had previously sent to myself, which now have a postage seal on them. I see your script. I like it. I replace your coverpage with mine, put the script in one of my envelopes and seal it. Now my envelope seal pre-dates yours. I make a movie using this script, you sue. In court I will win. In the unlikely event that you win, all you get to say is "I WON".

Copyright is now 45$ (just went up from 30$ at the beginning of July). Should you have it copyrighted, and I steal it then the balance is all the way in your favor. I will almost definitely lose and since you have copyrighted it, I will have to pay damages. Always copyright. It's there to protect you.
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The terminology is a bit sloppy here, i thought i should clarify some misnomers:

(1) Courts have an uncanny ability to sift the lies from the truth. that's their job. if someone has in fact stolen your expression without paying for it, the courts should be able to catch them out. submitting it to some guild etc IS NOT TAKING OUT "COPYRIGHT".

(2) as for paying for copyright - you already hold copyright in whatever novel/book/screenplay that you create which limits what other people can do in relation to it. you do not need to pay $45 to pay for a copyright in your own works because you already have one. we are not in patents here - and even if we were, just because you take one out doesn't mean you are protected.


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So if i'm not taking out a copyright in my work then what am i doing by paying $45 or whatever it is in your own country etc?? You are simply registering.

There are distinct advantages to registering than to not register. So as the poster above suggests, if you wanna make some money out of your screenplay, registering IS A MUST.

But we have to use correct terms here. Just to clarify.

I really hope some of you foudn this post beneficial. have a basic ideas of whawt is going on by perusing through the following: http://www.copyright.gov/
 
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First, I'd like to explain something as fast as possible: I earn my living from writing for TV. I'm from Syria and working for TV dramas is a bit different here. [I'm starting to create staffs for writing and FINALLY it's working].

A typical TV series in Syria is a 30-episode story that is written by one writer and directed by one director. No Seasons, no weekly shows, no creator and staff writers, etc. You might think of it as a 22.5 hour long film that is divided to 30 parts, 45 minutes each part.

Of course, I'm not gonna go into the process of how I write a TV series of this type (1200 pages in total), but I'll rather tell you some of my writing for feature films experience.

Usually, I write the idea in anyway it comes to my head. I re-write it once or twice into an outline of 1 page, maybe 2.

I never start writing anything further until I figure out my first scene. I find that remarkable first scenes are essential for a great piece. (It's really similar to the first sentence in a novel).

After I get my first scene, it usually guides me to other key scenes that I write rough summaries of. I stop there and start building characters. I'm convinced that well-built characters are the real key to great screenwriting. I spend a good time on creating the characters using everything comes to my mind (including bios, resemblance with real life people, maybe even other characters in other films, plays and novels, etc.)

After that, I start writing the treatment, making each scene into a paragraph. I examine my treatment well then I start writing drafts until I'm satisfied.

Needless to say, the material produced during that process is very flexible and "subject to change" when I feel that something else is better than something I've written. On the other hand, I always involve opinions from friends, family and colleagues.

Excuse my English if it was messed up in some places. :)
 
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