WRITING A GREAT SCRIPT…(Part 1, Step Outline)… (“A Step-By-Step Process for the 3-Week, 6-Figure, Sellable Script”)….(September 10, 2013) SCREENWRITING: Writing a Great Script in 3-Weeks is absolutely doable when you have a logical creative roadmap to this not-so-mysterious process. This past weekend I lectured at STORY EXPO (www .StoryExpo ) in Los Angeles where there were at least 40 screenwriting instructors dispensing over 100 intensive writing workshops…and what I discerned is “NOTHING HAS CHANGED”… The screenwriting process is still the same. And, permit me to outline this Screenwriting Process for you in very-very simple terms so that you can adapt it to your personality and type your story (aka: your screenplay) in 3-weeks (yes, 3-weeks) writing 10-30 minutes/day…. And if you can’t dedicate 10-30 minutes per day for Writing a Screenplay then stop thinking about it for you are using up too much mind energy without being productive. First, two sayings for writers… SAYING #1: “Nothing is Written…It’s Re-Written” (so stop worrying about great dialogue on your first draft, it will occur on your second draft) SAYING #2” “Writers Write…and Thinkers Think” (so, if you’re saying you’re a writer…move your bloody fingers. You’ll be amazed how many people claim to be writers and never move their fingers) Now, permit me (Part I) to give you a very basic STEP-BY-STEP Roadmap to the Great Script in 3-Weeks. Then on 9/11/2013 Hot Tip (Part II) I will Flesh it out for you. Then on 9/12/2013 Hot Tip (Part III) I will make sure you understand for they say that great teachers, which I hope I am, always tell you (A) What they are going to teach you, then (B) Teach it to you, then (C) Tell you “now here’s what you’ve learned”. GREAT SCRIPT in 3-WEEKS (Step-By-Step Process) MONDAY (Week 1, TITLE): TYPE 1-3 Words: Type your TITLE (can a title be more than 3 words? Of course it can but Hollywood seems to like 1-3 words) TUESDAY (Week 1, THEME): TYPE 5-8 Words: Type the either THEME of your movie or the Heart of the movie or a Feeling that you want everyone to leave with and talk about after viewing the movie. (This is not a plot point, twist or character…this is just “a feeling”, “an emotion”, etc.) WEDNESDAY (Week 1, LOGLINE): TYPE 15-25 Words: Type the Logline, sort of an “Elevator Pitch”, where you quickly tell someone the A/Good Guy, B/Bad Guy, C/Setting, D/Situation & E/Conflict….with the key being the word “Conflict”, for when you tell someone “And Conflicts arise when….”, in the next 5-7 words you better see the person you’re telling this Conflict to go “Wow”… without that “Wow” they/he/she (likely a Development Executive) ain’t reading it. THURSDAY (Week 1, TREATMENT): TYPE 3-5 pages (double spaced typing): Type the Treatment for your Feature Film script. It should have a minimum of 3-pages with the top half of Page-1 being ACT I (aka: The Beginning); and the bottom half of Page-1, all of Page-2, and the Top-half of Page-3 being ACT II (aka: The Middle); and the bottom-half of Page-3 being ACT III (aka: the Ending) IMPORTANT POINT: In ACT II, the bottom-half of Page-1, all of Page-2, and the top-half of Page-3 be sure to outline (you must-must-must flesh this out) your Structure, Skeleton, Spine, Paradigm (these are all the words that those 30-40 Writing Instructors used for ACT II, which I call the 5 UH-OHS, 5 OH-SHITS & 1 OH-MY-GOD. FRIDAY (Week 1, BEAT SHEET): DON’T TYPE, but take out a large sheet of paper and if you believe there are 40 or 50 scenes in a movie, now write down the left column of the paper the numbers 1-40 or 1-50 and, with pencil, outline with 7-15 words each and every scene in its logical order as it will appear in your script and your movie. Make sure you have 50% of the numbers for the A-Story (Primary Story) and 7-8 Scenes for each of the B-Stories (aka: Subplots) that are each structured as triangle relationships that (1) resolve themselves in ACT III and in so doing become intertwined with the A-Story and create an amazing Climax-Resolution. MONDAY (Week 2, SCENE #1): “Writing-By-The-Numbers”: Now that you have structured out, you have a blueprint (aka: Beat Sheet) of your 40-50 scenes in a logical order, just take 10-minutes and TYPE, in proper screenwriter format, Scene #1. You will likely have 2-4 pages. TUESDAY (Week 2, SCENE #2): “Writing-By-The-Numbers”: Now take 10-minutes and simply type Scene #2. This will give you another 2-4 pages. WEDNESDAY (Week 2, SCENE #3): “Writing-By-The-Numbers”: Now take 10-minutes, no more, and write Scene #3. You now have another 2-4 pages. THURSDAY (Week 2, SCENE #4): “Writing-By-The-Numbers”: Take 10-minutes, before work, after work, before a date, after a date, whenever…and write scene #4. Got it, “Writing-By-The-Numbers”. You now have another 2-4 pages. FRIDAY (Week 2, SCENES #5-#15): Now that you’ve gotten structured with your “BEAT SHEET”, and have a solid blueprint to follow, and have discovered that with only 10-minutes of typing per day that after 4 days you now have 8-16 pages types I GUARANTEE that you will probably call in “Sick At Work” and stay home; type 6-8 hours and knock out 30-40 more pages. SATURDAY (Week 2, SCENES #15-#30): Now that you discover how quick pages roll of your typewriter/keyboard you knock out another 10-15 scenes with another 20-30 pages. SUNDAY (Week 2, BE THANKFUL): Go to church and say “Thank you God”. MONDAY-FRIDAY (Week 3, 1st DRAFT): You will now, within the 3rd week finish your 1st Draft. It will be quite good. Matter of fact you will probably think its great. Careful-careful: remember, “Nothing is Written…it’s Re-Written”. Now, CYA-CYA-CYA: Register the Screenplay ($20) with the Writers Guild of America and Copyright ($45-$65) the Screenplay with the Library of Congress. Hope this helps and wait for tomorrow’s Hot Tip, which will make the Screenwriting concept click in even better. God Bless, Dov Simens ********************** INDEPENDENTS UNITE…..JOIN MOVIE CLOUD’S REVOLUTION *Produce *Finance *Write *Direct *Distribute *Profit --------- Click “LIKE” & “SHARE” ------------- facebook/#!/pages/Movie-Cloud/388775021155092
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 17:10:54 +0000
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