I used to feel that drafting an outline was one of the most difficult challenges in writing a screenplay. The problem is that you cannot skip that step. Without a good, solid outline, there’s no way that the completed screenplay will be coherent, sharp or solid. The outline is part of the foundation of a script and needs to be where most of the story’s heavy lifting occurs.

A lot of writers use note cards to outline the story with each scene being represented on a card. This is certainly an effective way to outline, and its flexibility in terms of giving you the ability to move scenes around the story certainly is an advantage. The problem is that before you even get to that level, you would have needed to brush the story in broad strokes without being weighted down be needing to figure out the individual scenes.

Before you even get to note cards you need to have an outline that gives a summary of the plot, as well as something that shows the emotional dynamic of the story.

This is where I usually turn to the Hero’s Journey.

Most people think of Joseph Campbell when it comes to the Hero’s Journey, but I tend to use the Christopher Vogler version when outlining a screenplay. You may already know that Vogler wrote the excellent book The Writer’s Journey in which he laid out Campbell’s theories on storytelling and mythology and applied them to contemporary film making. He breaks the journey down into 12 stages, and each of those stages happens at a specific spot in the script.

Act I

Ordinary World; Call to Adventure; Refusal of the Call; Meeting the Mentor; Crossing the First Threshold

Act II

Tests, Allies and Enemies; Approach the Inmost Cave;  Ordeal; Reward

Act III

The Road Back; Resurrection; Return With the Elixir

Each of those stages of the journey represents an important moment for the hero on his or her adventure. These are the broad strokes from which you can derive the details of your scenes. And the nice thing about it is that there is flexibility in so far as the order of the stages can be moved around in order to suit your individual story’s needs.

I have also found that when evaluating screenplays for clients, I will often point out how use of the hero’s journey can improve their screenplays. You can do that type of analysis on almost any film. Take the original Star Wars, for example.

Ordinary World – Luke on Tatooine. He’s bored, restless and craving a chance to go to the Academy and get out of his mundane life.

Meeting the Mentor – Luke is rescued from the sand people by Obi Wan Kenobi, who knew Luke’s father when they fought together in the Clone Wars.

Call to Adventure – Luke and Obi Wan discover the message in R2-D2 from Princess Leia, asking Obi Wan for help. Obi Wan tells Luke to learn the ways of the Force.

Refusal of the Call – Like tells Obi Wan that he can’t get involved, but he’ll take him to the space port so that he can find a ship to take him to Alderaan.

Crossing the First Threshold – After his Uncle and Aunt are killed and realizing there’s nothing left for him on Tatooine, Luke agrees to go with Obi Wan so that he can learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like his father.

Tests, Allies and Enemies – Luke goes to the cantina in Mos Eisley where he is attacked by a couple of drunkards, but them meets Han Solo and Chewbacca. They escape the stormtroopers, and Luke has his first lesson on controlling the Force.

Approach the Inmost Cave – Luke and his allies are caught in the tractor beam and are pulled into the Death Star.

Ordeal – Luke is nearly killed twice in the trash compactor and he witness Obi Wan’s death at the hands of Darth Vader.

Reward – Luke and the others escape the Death Star with Princess Leia and decipher the plans of the Death Star, finding its weakness.

The Road Back – Luke and the Rebel Alliance attack the Death Star.

Resurrection – It looks again as though Look will be killed at the hands of Darth Vader, but Han Solo comes to the rescue. Luke eschews technology and uses the Force to destroy the Death Star before it can destroy the Rebel Base.

Return With the Elixir – Luke and Han Solo return to the Rebel Base and are honored as heroes.

Again, those are the broad strokes of that story, but it has some of the plot and emotion that go into the final script. But the story is all there, as are the emotional beats that the main character goes through.

At Monument Script services, we can give your script this type of analysis, and show you where the Hero’s Journey can help improve your script. Go to the following link to find out how.

http://monumentscripts.com/service/