On Friday's episode of Dinner For Five, Frank Darabont gave some interesting insight into his writing process. He said that he's done everything from starting with a treatment/outline to using the notecard approach. But he prefers not doing any prep before starting a script. As he put it, he usually doesn't know what's going to happen in Act 2 until he gets there. He says it can be very scary to write a screenplay this way, but he likes the organic approach.
I threw my hands up in the air and said hallelujah! I hate working on an outline or a treatment before I sit down to hammer out a script. But whenever I start something without a hard outline, I feel like I'm not being professional. To hear Darabont say this made me feel so much better about my writing habits.
I'm getting ready to start a new script. I've got the basic structure worked out in my head, but when I sit down to try and put it down on paper, frankly I get bored. That does not mean my idea sucks, I just hate putting my ideas down on paper. I like to feel like the script has a life of its own while I'm writing, and if I hit a dead end along the way, I relish the challenge of finding my way out. But if I'm following an outline, I feel like the answer has already been pre-determined, and the script doesn't have a chance to breathe.
I know many of you on this board swear by the treatment, but I wanted to pass on Darabont's comments to see what you think.
I threw my hands up in the air and said hallelujah! I hate working on an outline or a treatment before I sit down to hammer out a script. But whenever I start something without a hard outline, I feel like I'm not being professional. To hear Darabont say this made me feel so much better about my writing habits.
I'm getting ready to start a new script. I've got the basic structure worked out in my head, but when I sit down to try and put it down on paper, frankly I get bored. That does not mean my idea sucks, I just hate putting my ideas down on paper. I like to feel like the script has a life of its own while I'm writing, and if I hit a dead end along the way, I relish the challenge of finding my way out. But if I'm following an outline, I feel like the answer has already been pre-determined, and the script doesn't have a chance to breathe.
I know many of you on this board swear by the treatment, but I wanted to pass on Darabont's comments to see what you think.
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