Lecture 2:
How do I get started?
How do I keep going?
The Third Man (1949), written by Graham Greene
Professor Christopher Bradley
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Previous Lesson
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What kind of distance
learning course is this?
How can you succeed
in this course?
What do we study in
this course?
What are the
assignments?
Why the short film?
There will be Blood (2007)
Written by Sinclair Lewis (novel) and Paul
Thomas Anderson (Screenplay)
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In This Lesson
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How do I get started writing?
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What is the writing process?
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Proper screenplay format
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Writing Exercise #1
Midnight Run (1988)
Written by George Gallo
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How do I get Started?
Superbad (2007)
Written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Lesson 2: Part I
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Writing is About Passion
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Writers who write prolifically write
because the need to write.
Writing will reveal something about your
reader, but it will also reveal something
about you.
Unforgiven (1992)
written by David Webb Peoples
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The Limitations of Language
• We may also fear that mere words will
ruin our brilliant stories or noble ideas.
Knowing in advance that words can never
quite express our meaning, we must work
instead with what words can do.
• This is particularly true in screenwriting,
since much of the story is conveyed
through dialogue.
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Strategies for Starting
• All successful writers develop habits
that get them writing on a regular basis.
There is no hard and fast rule for what
will work, other than to know your own
habits and tendencies and then develop
writing patterns and schedules based
on them.
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Examples of Strategies
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Write at the same time each day.
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Write at the same place each time.
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Before you write, read or watch a film for
ideas or inspiration.
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Exercise before you write.
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Whatever your strategy, you must come to
write with adequate mental energy.
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Journal Keeping
• Trying to keep every observation and
idea in your head is impossible, so
many writers keep a journal. You can
write down anything in your journal, but
some things that might be useful for
screenwriting include:
– Lists of movies that you admire
– Story ideas
– Bits of overheard conversation that might
work as dialogue
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Freewriting
• Freewriting is a technique that allows
you to take literally the idea of getting
something down on paper.
• Even though a screenplay is in a specific
format, that format can feel constricting or
too formal for the process of simply
brainstorming ideas.
• First try writing down whatever comes to
you and then sift through it for useful bits.
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The Writing Process
Thelma and Louise (1991)
Written by Callie Khouri
Lesson 2: Part II
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Writing is a Process?
• It might seem strange to think of writing,
or any art, as resulting from a process, as
opposed to unfettered inspiration, but
writing is as much a nuts and bolts
endeavor as building a machine.
• There is so much involved in writing a
story, so many aspects to layer, that only
planning and a step-by-step process
make it possible.
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Steps in the Process
• Discovering
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing
Monster’s Ball (2001)
Written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos
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Step #1: Discovering
• Now that you know you want to write,
and have an idea of how to get started,
you must ask yourself . . . what in the
world do I want to write about?
• Write what you know but also . . .
• Write what you don’t know.
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Discovering (continued)
• In other words, bring your specific
experience to bear, but don’t allow that
experience to limit your imagination.
• The trick in writing what you know is not
just to reproduce your experience on
the page, but to find in it what is
interesting, unique and original and
shape it into a narrative.
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Choosing a Subject
• Write about what is meaningful to you.
• Questions that might lead you to a
subject could include:
– What makes you angry?
– What are you afraid of?
– What do you want?
– What or who really changed you?
• Freewriting and journaling can help with
discovering what is meaningful to you.
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Writing in a Genre
• Not everything in your writing comes
from your own life. Writing movies often
involves writing genre stories such as
the thriller, Western or romantic comedy.
50 First Dates (2004) written by George Wing
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Being Original in Genre
• Many writers make the mistake of simply
copying elements from other movies they
admire. Start with real life, not other
movies.
• While it is ok to borrow ideas from other
movies and to take inspiration from them,
ultimately you must add something
original, something new, to make it
interesting.
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Step #2: Drafting
• Drafting is putting ideas down in some
rough form. A first draft is generally
messy and repetitive and full of
mistakes--and that's just fine. The
purpose of a rough draft is to get the
basic story and characters down, to get a
general idea of beginning, middle and
end, even though the direction or focus
of the story may change.
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First Draft Format
• For this course—though it is probably a
good idea in general—you will write
your first draft in treatment form. A
treatment is a mini-short story or
summary that lays out basic plot and
character elements in prose form.
• Think of your treatment as a sort of road
map that guides you once you begin
writing the actual screenplay.
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First Screenplay Draft
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Once you have a completed treatment,
you will write the first screenplay draft.
In this first draft, you will transfer the
elements from your treatment into proper
screenplay format.
Here you will begin your revising as well,
making changes and telling the story
through the specific art of screenwriting.
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Step #3: Revision
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Revision is changing and rewriting a draft
to make it better. In this step, we add,
rearrange, or eliminate story elements.
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Revision is crucial. Without revision, we
aren’t really writing, only brainstorming.
The screenplay for every good movie you
have ever seen has been revised
countless times.
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Revision and the Workshop
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Revision is facilitated partially through the
workshop process. Since you are writing
for other readers and, ultimately, viewers,
it is important to listen to the constructive
criticism of others.
Though we must trust our own instincts,
we must also have the wisdom to look
beyond our pride and take the advice of
others—particularly other writers.
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Step #4: Editing
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In this step, we carefully examine our
script to see that it contains no errors of
grammar, spelling, or punctuation. This is
college-level work!
Producers don’t finish scripts that are filled
with errors.
Errors stop to climb to a devastating
climax. Don’t make them have to start all
over!
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Final Point on Process
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Know what to expect from a first draft. Set
your thinking to help you succeed.
Writing is like sculpture.
No one produces a brilliant screenplay in a
first draft. That’s not what they’re for!
The “messiness” and the “mistakes” are
gold!
“Writing is re-writing.”
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Proper Screenplay Format
Spartacus (1960) written by Howard Fast
(novel) and Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)
Lesson 2: Part III
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Practicing the Form
• Becoming adept at writing in screenplay
form is largely a matter of practice.
• A software program can help, but it also
helps to have examples on hand.
• Make sure to read pages 199-209 in
Writing Short Films by Cowgill to begin to
familiarize yourself with writing in the
format.
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Screenplay as Blueprint
• A screenplay is a blueprint for a film.
Screenplay form reflects this, having
evolved over the year into a particular
arrangement of styles that easily
communicates necessary information
needed to produce a film.
• Production managers, set designers,
actors, etc., all must have easy access to
the information they need to do their job.
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Master Scenes
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Most screenplays are written in
master scenes.
A master scene presents the action
in the clearest form, without
camera angles and few stage
directions. It communicates simply
what happens in the scene, letting
the action be the focus and not
stage directions.
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Example
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Scene Headings
• Scene headings are specific, allowing the
reader to quickly orient herself to the
scene. It also makes essential information
easily accessible for production.
• Scene headings include INT. or EXT.
(interior or exterior), LOCATION, and
whether it is DAY or NIGHT.
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Examples of Scene Headings
• EXT.
PLANTATION HOUSE - DAY
• INT.
DEATH STAR TORTURE CHAMBER - NIGHT
• EXT.
HAWAIIAN BEACH – DUSK
• INT.
GRAND BALLROOM – NIGHT
• EXT.
MARS CRATER - DAY
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Scene Headings
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The Action
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Description of the action should be clear
and to the point. Overly flowery passages
can obscure what is important for the
reader to understand. Still, the writer must
choose his or her words carefully. Make it
clear and concise.
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Description of action is always in present
tense and not indented.
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Example
INT. '74 CHEVY (MOVING) - MORNING
An old gas guzzling, dirty, white 1974
Chevy Nova BARRELS down a homelessridden street in Hollywood. In the
front seat are two young fellas -- one
white, one black -- both wearing cheap
black suits with thin black ties under
long green dusters. Their names are
VINCENT VEGA (white) and JULES
WINNFIELD (black). Jules is behind the
wheel.
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Other Aspects of Format
• There are also specific rules for when
characters are speaking off-camera,
phone conversations and etc.
• Make sure that you familiarize yourself
with these rules before you write.
• Guidelines for these rules can be found
in your textbook as well as on many
different websites.
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Character Names, Dialog and
Parentheticals
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Software
• For this course, you will need to write
your screenplay in the proper format.
• You can download the free program
Celtx, which will provide you with
templates to write in the proper
screenplay format.
• The website for download is:
http://www.celtx.com/
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Lesson 2 Assignments
Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (2004),
Written by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg
Lesson 2: Part IV
E-Board Post #1
• Read the linked essay “Shitty First Drafts”
by Anne Lamott. How does Lamott
describe the experience of writing first
drafts? What is positive in her estimation
and what is negative? How does her
experience compare to your own?
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E-Board Post #2
• Watch the short film from the lesson,
George Lucas in Love. How does the
film dramatize the writing experience?
What are some of its insights about how
writers find inspiration?
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Writing Exercise
• Write one page of screenplay in which
you include as many elements of format
as possible, including at least one each
of the following: a scene heading,
description of action, character names,
dialogue and stage direction.
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Writing Exercise (Continued)
• It doesn’t matter what the page is
about. The idea here is to practice
writing in the format.
• Post your completed exercise under
“Exercise #1.”
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End of Lecture 2
Barton Fink (1991)
Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Next Lecture: What is Story?
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