Process

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  • #16
    Re: Process

    the last outline i did was 23 pages. That seems long, but I guess it's more like a sloppy treatment b/c i slot in various lines of dialogue and stuff that I don't want to forget.

    I started a new one the other day, and I already wrote an entire page on the first scene.

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    • #17
      Re: Process

      Originally posted by emily blake View Post
      After going over the story in my head, I write it all down in prose form. Then I edit it two or three times. Then I print it out and work from that.
      That's the method Rossio and Mazin use. I aspire to that, but have been doing shorter written outlines, then fleshing sequences out from there. Someday I'll have the discipline to get prosey.

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      • #18
        Re: Process

        After I come up with a concept - the hardest part of screenwriting, period - I create the characters and then do the necessary research. After that's done, I flesh it out as a movie in my head. I write scene headings for each scene and then a general descriptor of what is to happen in that scene. The more descriptors you can put under the sluglines, the easier the actual writing will be once you reach that scene (it does compare to coloring inside of a drawing). If the scene is a difficult one, I include more information. If I end at around 35 scene headings, I know I have enough material for a feature. Usually takes no more than 2 days.
        FADE IN:
        PERSEVERANCE OVERCOMES ADVERSITY
        NEVER FADE OUT.

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        • #19
          Re: Process

          I start with index cards to help me organize my ideas and make sure that the main narrative and subplots are properly developed. Then I'll do a prose outline just to make sure everything's flowing the way I want it to, then I start pages.

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          • #20
            Re: Process

            Seasoned writers are like magical wizards with a bag of potions. They are good at using them and responsible when doing so.

            The outline is one of those tools that could be so good for some and so confining for others.

            If you spend six months on a script let's say, at the end of the process how valuable do you think that outline of 5 months ago will be?

            Things have to be able to evolve and become more focused, sticking to that outline you came up with is probably a bad idea for most.

            I've read articles and books about how writers uncovered exactly how to play out storylines during 3rd and fourth drafts.

            You have to have the good eye and the confidence to cut away chunks of narrative that erase key storyline moments and subplots. Those are tough decisions. A seasoned writer can press that delete button in a blink of an eye.

            That first outline is an okay idea if you realize it is but a bridge to something bigger and better. You have to be able to evolve away from the outline when your muse tells you to do so.

            That is my problem with the 'outline'.

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            • #21
              Re: Process

              The first thing I do is play around with the idea in my head to get a grasp on the overall story and explore how I can infuse conflict throughout the story.

              After doing that I sometimes write down whatever ideas I have come up with for scenes that I can possibly use.

              Then it's on to making notes to flesh out the characters, structure, and plot.

              And then outlining.

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              • #22
                Re: Process

                Think of an idea.

                Expand into a concept.

                Expand that into a story.

                Jot down some basic info on the main characters.

                Write the script.

                Everyone holds their dick a different way when they piss.
                Last edited by Steven L.; 12-27-2012, 02:15 PM.

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                • #23
                  Re: Process

                  I think about it a spell. Then, use real index cards on a cork board or, more recently, Index Card for the iPad to jot down theme, scene, character and dialogue ideas. Put them vaguely in the order they will appear in the script and, once I have enough cards to see a completed script, I begin to write.

                  More often than not, many of the ideas on the cards do not make it into the script as other ideas will come to me as I write (or "the script and characters take on a life of its own" if I feeling really precious about that part of it).
                  @MacBullitt

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                  • #24
                    Re: Process

                    I create a basic idea like the bad logline mentioned before. Then I do detailed character histories. Then a do a basic prose version that doesn't have a ton of details unless there are certain words I know I want a character to say. Then I write it sticking to the prose for the most part, but it always changes and grows as I go.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Process

                      The toughest part of the process, at least for me, is the first time through writing the story. It lacks pacing, subplots go off into tangents and have no conclusions, characters are saying exactly what they mean, scenes last much longer than they need to.

                      Once I make it through the first time front to back, I spend the rest of the time going through the script back to front.

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