The Complete guide of writing a screenplay for beginners

Part 2 Writing the screenplay

Brainstorm story ideas. One of the best ways to do this is to think about films or movie characters that you love and enjoyed watching on screen. Do you love a particular genre, such as romantic comedies, action films, horror? Consider writing a movie script in a genre you enjoy. It's likely you know the most about a genre you are interested in and your passion will come through in your writing.

You can also think about a childhood memory that has always haunted you as an adult or an adult experience you can't stop thinking about.You may be interested in a specific time period, such as 50s downtown New York, or 70s California, and begin to generate story ideas that have characters interacting in a specific time period or setting.Write about feelings and types of people you know and are passionate about. This will help you convey your story to others.

Identify a hero or heroine. Create a character's storyline that you feel you can write about for a total of about 300 pages and who will hold your and your audience's attention. Think about people you know, people you read about in newspapers, or people who catch your eye on the street or in the supermarket. Your hero or heroine may be tied to a theme, such as war, loneliness, or love. Or your hero or heroine may be a reaction against the stereotypes of a genre or theme, such as a lonely, lovesick witch or a caring, gentle gangster.

Create a character profile for your main character. Character profiles are questionnaire style writing prompts that help writers get to know their characters better.The details you write in a character profile won't all appear in your film script. But knowing as much as possible about your character will help you think of them as a real person. You can ask yourself: "What would my main character do in this scene? What would my main character say or respond to this?" And feel confident you have the answers that will move your script forward.

Create a log line. A log line is a one-sentence summary of your story. They are usually used as a marketing tool, such as when a studio executive asks you to give her your best pitch. Your best pitch should be your log line. A log line can also help you focus your writing on the most important aspects of your story and keep your story on track. A log line generally contains three elements:

A protagonist: This is your hero or heroine, the person your audience will root and cheer for, or at least feel for. You can have more than one hero or heroine, but each protagonist must be distinct and each have their own redeeming qualities. For example, in "Thelma & Louise", the protagonists are Thelma and Louise, but both characters are given different goals, motivations, and perspectives in the script.An antagonist: This is your anti-hero or heroine, the person acting against your protagonist. In "Thelma & Louise", the antagonist is a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. However, the antagonist in the script becomes "the law", as Thelma and Louise are on the run from shooting the man who tried to rape Thelma.A goal: This is what will motivate and propel your protagonist forward in the story. What does your protagonist want? Thelma and Louise both want different things at the beginning of the script, but once the antagonist appears, both characters now want to stay out of jail. Both characters have a unified goal that propels them forward in the script.A complete log line for "Thelma & Louise" might look like: "An Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a '66 Thunderbird." Note that the log line does not use names of characters, but instead focuses on their personas or character type.

Write a treatment. In the screenwriting business, the treatment will give your studio executive an idea of whether the idea is worth their money. For a first draft of a script, a treatment can also be a helpful tool to frame your story and figure out a first sketch. Treatments are two to five page summaries that break the story into three acts:Title of the Film: The title of your film may change over time, but it's a good idea to come up with a working title that summarizes your screenplay. The best titles are usually the most simple and to the point, such as: "When Harry Met Sally" or "Pulp Fiction". The title should tell your reader or viewer about the script as a whole, but also leave them interested enough to keep reading or watching. Avoid long or cumbersome titles, such as those that have to use colons. While these may be common amongst big films (especially sequels), they can convey that your ideas aren't focused.Log line: Take the log line you crafted in the previous step and place it at the beginning of your treatment.Synopsis: Expand on your log line to include the names of characters, short details about their characters, and a basic idea of how they get from A to B in the story. For example, a synopsis for "Thelma & Louise" might be: "Meek housewife Thelma joins her friend Louise, a strong headed waitress, on a weekend fishing trip. But their trip becomes a run from the law when Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. Louise decides to flee to Mexico, and Thelma joins her. On the way, Thelma falls for a sexy young thief named J.D. and a sympathetic detective tries to convince the two women to surrender before their fates are sealed."Treatments may also include snippets of dialogue and description. But the main focus of a treatment is to summarize the overall story.