STORY STRATEGY

     TO SCREENPLAY WRITING


  Beginner screenplay writers think that they can begin a screenplay by starting on page one, and then following their characters page by page this will write the story for them. Yes and No! Yes, if you have great characters, yes, they will take your story and start to write it for you. No, because if you don’t have a strategy, you don’t know where you are going, neither will your characters know. Most likely you would end up in a dead-end, or in a better situation you would have to rewrite your screenplay 10-20 times, or even more. 


      HAVE A PLAN FOR YOUR SCREENPLAY


  Do your research for your screenplay. Create unforgettable characters. Know them inside out. Create a structure for your story arch so you know where you are going. Do your homework: study the craft of screenplay writing. And find a place to write, a space which works for you, and an environment which inspires you.



KNOW THE CRAFT


  Are there rules to writing a story? Yes, there are, and there are many, too many. This is when most people put their pen down and say good-bye to screenplay writing. They feel intimidated by the many rules that may or may not apply. They give up before the story takes off because they feel quenched by rules. Don’t do that. What you have to know is that you don’t necessarily need to follow all the rules. Life cannot be put into a formula. You don’t have to follow all the rules, you just have to know about them and try to sense when to follow them and when not to follow them. If you don’t know the rule, how can you decide whether you want to use it or not. When I read a screenplay it is easy to see how professional the writer is. When you know the rules you break them knowingly and that makes your screenplay original. When you break them because you never knew they existed in the first place, it makes you an amateur. And that may not be an issue but your screenplay will become aimless, boring or overwritten, underwritten – it is just out of balance. Learn your craft and practice it: write!



    “I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. 
And I don't mean only that I have to know what happens.   
I mean that I have to hear the actual sentences.     
I have to know what atmosphere the words convey.” 
John Irving