Writing for the Screen

Or…How I learned to stop worrying and embrace the

process

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Screenwriting Basics Find a premise Create characters Find the conflicts Structure the story Discover your themes

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The Premise What if… The idea that inspires the writer’s

desire to create a story.

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“Character is Action”F. Scott Fitzgerald(The Last Tycoon)

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Creating a character

1. Physiology2. Sociology3. Psychology

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Character’s Physiology

1. Sex2. Age3. Height and weight4. Color of hair, skin, etc.5. Appearance6. Defects7. Heredity

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Character’s Social background

1. Class: upper, lower, etc.2. Occupation3. Education (aptitudes, etc.)4. Home life

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Character’s Social background

5. Religion6. Race, Nationality7. Place in the community (Leader?)8. Political affiliations9. Interests, hobbies

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Character’s Psychology

1. Sex life, moral standards2. Personal goals, ambitions3. Temperament4. Attitude toward life

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Character’s Psychology

5. Complexes, fears6. Extrovert, introvert?7. Abilities8. Qualities9. Intelligence?

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True Character Revealed by the choices a human

being makes under pressure.

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Character Arc Good writing not only reveals true

character, but “arcs” or changes to that inner nature, for better or for worse, in the course of the story.

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Character’s Object of Desire

1. What does the character want and need?

2. What must he do, what obstacles must he or she overcome to achieve this goal?

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Protagonist Audience must either sympathize

with our lead character, or at least empathize with him/her: that is, understand how this person was led to make these life altering decisions.

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Antagonist Should be an interesting, worthy

opponent, with complex motivations based upon needs and ambitions.

Pressure on the antagonist will cause him to take greater risks to achieve greater rewards.

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Characters and the Story If E=MC2,

Then Story=Character x conflict2.

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Inciting Incident An event that will radically upset

the balance of forces in a protagonist’s life and force him or her to react to it.

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Story Structure The function of structure is to provide

progressively building pressures that 1)force characters into more and

more difficult dilemmas, and leads them to

2) make more difficult, risk-taking choices and actions that gradually

3)reveal their true natures, even their unconscious self.

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Act One

1. Setup: introduces main characters, and situations.

2. Includes the Inciting Incident.3. Contains the first major Turning

Point that drastically alters the protagonists world.

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Act Two1. Introduces many of the obstacles

and conflicts the protagonist must face.

2. Develops the subplots.3. Creates a Mid-Point Crisis that

sends the story in another direction.4. Leads to the Second Turning

Point, usually worsening the protagonist’s situation.

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Act Three Conflict intensifies, forcing the

protagonist to make the ultimate, inevitable last choice that will lead to the climax and resolution of the screen story.

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Climax The event following a last radical

choice by the protagonist. 1. A choice that still offers hope of

achieving his Object of Desire. 2. This final choice reveals his

deepest, innermost nature.

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Resolution Either simultaneous to the

climax, or following it.1. Ties up other subplots, 2. Brings the world of the story back

into balance.

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Theme: The Controlling Idea We often discover the theme of our

story when examining the climax and working backwards.

What is the story about? What is it trying to say?

Has the Controlling Idea been introduced early in the story?

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Books on Screenwriting Field, Syd, Screenplay: The

Foundations of Screenwriting,Dell Publishing.

McKee, Robert, Story, ReganBooks.