Planning Your Screenplay
One of the most important things you can do is to properly plan your screenplay.
For me, the process of writing a screenplay could be broken down into the following steps:
With the next step being copyright registration followed by marketing.
The second step is the main subject of this article. Planning.
Screenwriting is a unique artform in that it can be very methodical. Planning is crucial.
Improper planning can result in a lot of wasted time in the later stages – writing and rewriting. Having a very well fleshed-out plan can save you a lot of time and pain later on.
If I looked at my own process of writing a first draft screenplay, I would say that research and planning together take up about 80% of my time on a first draft, and the actual writing of the project only 20% of my time. So the vast majority of my time in creating a first draft screenplay is involved in planning. The writing is almost like the final “cherry on the cake” at the end of it all.
For me, the process of writing a screenplay could be broken down into the following steps:
- Researching
- Planning
- Writing
- Re-writing & polishing
With the next step being copyright registration followed by marketing.
The second step is the main subject of this article. Planning.
Screenwriting is a unique artform in that it can be very methodical. Planning is crucial.
Improper planning can result in a lot of wasted time in the later stages – writing and rewriting. Having a very well fleshed-out plan can save you a lot of time and pain later on.
If I looked at my own process of writing a first draft screenplay, I would say that research and planning together take up about 80% of my time on a first draft, and the actual writing of the project only 20% of my time. So the vast majority of my time in creating a first draft screenplay is involved in planning. The writing is almost like the final “cherry on the cake” at the end of it all.
My Personal Screenplay Planning Process
I plan the following aspects of a screenplay in approximately this order:
Some notes on the above:
First of all, the most important thing you can plan out is basically what and who the story is about. A good exercise for this is to write out a logline – a one- or two-sentence description of the film. Some examples:
T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake. (Black Panther)
Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer. (Coco)
Another noteworthy point: I usually plan out the ending for my script before the beginning and middle. Why? Because once I know how it will end, once I know the final destination for the character and the story, it's easier to establish the world that the hero lives in at the start (Act I) and it's easier to plan the transformation or change that should take place (Acts 2 and 3).
A screenplay “beat” or “step” is some kind of self-standing incident in your script. It can be an entire sequence, such as a car chase sequence. Or it can be a single scene where someone gets some dramatic news over the phone. It’s something noteworthy happening. The plan of the “beats” above is sometimes called an outline.
It's important to note that I only begin the writing phase once I have this outline mapped out.
Here is the “Outline List” feature for one of the screenplays I have worked on using the Movie Outline screenwriting program (the program I use for screenwriting - latest version available is Nuvotech's "Script Studio"):
- A basic premise (what's the script about)
- A protagonist and antagonist/s (who's the script about)
- An overall controlling idea, message and/or theme
- Supporting characters,
- The script’s ending
- The First Act
- The Second Act
- And finally, I create a plan of all the script’s “beats” or “steps,” called an outline.
Some notes on the above:
First of all, the most important thing you can plan out is basically what and who the story is about. A good exercise for this is to write out a logline – a one- or two-sentence description of the film. Some examples:
T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake. (Black Panther)
Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer. (Coco)
Another noteworthy point: I usually plan out the ending for my script before the beginning and middle. Why? Because once I know how it will end, once I know the final destination for the character and the story, it's easier to establish the world that the hero lives in at the start (Act I) and it's easier to plan the transformation or change that should take place (Acts 2 and 3).
A screenplay “beat” or “step” is some kind of self-standing incident in your script. It can be an entire sequence, such as a car chase sequence. Or it can be a single scene where someone gets some dramatic news over the phone. It’s something noteworthy happening. The plan of the “beats” above is sometimes called an outline.
It's important to note that I only begin the writing phase once I have this outline mapped out.
Here is the “Outline List” feature for one of the screenplays I have worked on using the Movie Outline screenwriting program (the program I use for screenwriting - latest version available is Nuvotech's "Script Studio"):
As you can see above, I color coded different beats (shown on the right of the screen) to help plan out the screenplay. All the green beats above are a 1975 story line, and all the other colored beats are an earlier story line in the forties and fifties. The yellow beats are scams (this is a script about a scam artist) and the light grey are historical footage sequences.
Creating a Screenplay Outline - The Board
There are many ways you can create an outline. In Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat” (one of my favorite screenwriting books) he describes a very commonly used method for screenwriters – the Board. Basically this entails using a corkboard (or blackboard, etc.) and placing 4 rows of 10 index or cue cards each on the corkboard. Each card represents a “beat” or “step” or sequence of your screenplay, and each row represents a phase of the screenplay:
This board does not have to be ten cards per row. It can be whatever you want. Your script will probably vary from this number to some extent.
And this board does not even have to be physical; it can be digital. The screenwriting program that I use, called Movie Outline, has this as a feature. Here’s what it looks like for a short screenplay I wrote containing a total of eleven cards (eleven beats) with four cards per row:
- Row 1. First Act,
- Row 2. First half of the Second Act,
- Row 3. Second half of the Second Act,
- Row 4. Third Act.
This board does not have to be ten cards per row. It can be whatever you want. Your script will probably vary from this number to some extent.
And this board does not even have to be physical; it can be digital. The screenwriting program that I use, called Movie Outline, has this as a feature. Here’s what it looks like for a short screenplay I wrote containing a total of eleven cards (eleven beats) with four cards per row:
Conclusion
Planning your screenplay in detail before you delve into the writing phase is crucial. You can waste so much time and energy when your screenplay is not properly planned.
Plan your screenplay and you’ll be on your way to a great first draft!
All the best!
Return to the main Screenwriting Tips page
Plan your screenplay and you’ll be on your way to a great first draft!
All the best!
Return to the main Screenwriting Tips page