First Things First

I was talking to some friends earlier today. They were expressing their fervent admiration for ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ series. If anything ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ is a giant of a story. I can imagine it being quite an undertaking writing those movies with their complex plots and many characters.

The most common advice one receives when one wants to write a novel is to simply sit down, pick up your pen or your computer, and write. And I’m sure it is sound advice but when writing a screenplay you can not just sit down and write. I guarantee you, with such a grand and complex plot, ‘Lord Of The Rings’ screenwriters started with a bit more than a blank sheet of paper. Because of all the technical stuff of writing screenplays, such as the formatting, you have to start with a plan.

Here are the first things you need to write a screenplay.

Character Outline

For any story, of course, you need to know who the characters are and where it takes place. But before you even start to write your screenplay there needs to be a clear written outline of your character. What your character looks like, how old they are, their strengths, their weaknesses, and anything that makes the character. You can even write out a bio for your characters. Having this will be a great reference for you when you’re deep in writing. It will help you come up with actions and dialogue that effectively portray your character.

Setting Outline

Outlining the setting is just as important. The setting makes the story as much as the characters do. For example, the new Netflix show called ‘Outer Banks’ is about some kids on a treasure hunt. But where they live adds so much to the story and the characters. In the show, they make use of boats and there is a rich vs poor theme as well and all because they live on the Outer Banks.

Logline

It is obvious that you need to know what problem the characters need to solve, it is after all the focal point of the entire story. But once you’ve got the plot outlined you need to write a logline. A longline is a one-sentence summary of your screenplay. It’s almost like the thesis of your story. It may change as you continue to write and develop the story but it keeps track of your themes and helps maintain continuity.

Here is a logline for ‘The Godfather’

“The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.”

Storyboard

The storyboard is your ultimate plan. It’s your story’s sequence of events laid out before you to look at and rearrange if needed. Before you write your screenplay you need to map out your story. Storyboarding is done in many ways, some people write it on sticky notes, some draw pictures, whatever you do, it’s important to know ahead of time what are the key points in your film. You are free to veer from the plan when writing if you get the creative urge, but at least you’ll know what to change to keep the continuity of your story.