I recently started teaching a screenwriting class to high school and junior high school kids who are home-schooled. As I’ve gone through a few weeks of classes, it’s gotten me to thinking about a lot of things and one of those is, how do we start writing a script? When I was writing on my own, I never really thought about it. I had an idea. I would scribble down some thoughts and notes about it over a period of time. I would go through a series of questions from books like The Screenwriter’s Bible and I would try to beat out a story using The Writer’s Journey. But now, dealing with 11-16 year old kids who had never written anything like this before, and don’t really have time for that type of organic process, I had to rethink it.

So how do you get started when writing a screenplay?

I gave my students a fill in the blank exercise that one of my old screenwriting instructors gave me (what feels like a million years ago), and it goes like this:

This is a story about _________, who after ________ wants desperately to _________.

That’s your story. And what’s great about this exercise is that right from the word go, you have your protagonist, his or her catalyst, and their adventure, all wrapped up in one line.

Raiders of the Lost Arc: This is a story about an archeologist, who after discovering the location of the Arc of the Covenant, wants desperately to get it before the Nazis do.

Moneyball: This is a story about a General Manager, who after realizing that his baseball team can’t compete in conventional ways, wants desperately to reinvent the way baseball teams are built.

Toy Story: This is a story about a cowboy, who after being replaced by a space ranger, wants desperately to be his owner’s favorite toy again.

Gone With the Wind: This is a story about a spoiled southern belle, who after losing everything in the Civil War, wants desperately to get it all back and be with the man of her dreams.

These are just a few examples, but it speaks to the effectiveness of the film making and the story telling that the varying complexities of these films can each be broken down into one sentence.

Can you break down the story you’re working on now into a similar sentence?

If you can’t, then it might be time to go back to that germ of an idea and rethink it.

Monument Script Services can help you fill in the blanks to that sentence, as well as many other issues that you may be confronting as you try to write your screenplay. Check out the link below to see all of the ways we can help you.

http://monumentscripts.com/service/