How to Write a Screenplay or Tell a Better Story

Film School in nine minutes.

This post is based on a popular presentation I published a few years ago which is taught at a bunch of film schools internationally and used as a template on writing software like Plottr.

So you want to try writing a screenplay but you’re not quite sure where to start.

Well, first things first —

What’s your idea?

Your idea should have a hook. It should be high concept.

High concept: a story based on a striking and easy-to-communicate plot or idea.

A few examples of high concept ideas are…

A cop who has to kill robots might be a robot himself.

A theme park’s power breaks down and its cloned dinosaurs to run amok.

A suicidal family man is given the opportunity to see what the world would be like if he’d never been born.

A guy who complains about God is given almighty powers to teach him how difficult it is to run the world.

But there’s more to an awesome idea than a hook.

You’re going to need a plot and you’re going to need a story. That might sound like the same thing, but they’re actually very different, and they play off of each other.

PLOT: a series of events, one causing the next. It’s about the hero wanting something.

STORY: is the gradual revelation of the hero’s character. And it’s about what the hero actually needs.

(We’ll get into the difference between wants and needs in a bit.)

Okay, you’ve got your awesome idea. Now tell it to me in one line.

Your one-line idea, or logline, should have three ingredients:

Someone (the hero) wants something (the goal) but is blocked by something (the adversary).

Here are some awesome loglines:

An 8-year-old boy accidentally left behind while his family ﬂies to France for Christmas, has to defend his home against idiotic burglars.

A cowboy toy is profoundly threatened and jealous when a fancy spaceman toy supplants him as top toy in a boys room.

A naive young man battles heartless authorities to protect the life of his girlfriend when it’s revealed that she’s not human — she’s a mermaid.

A weatherman ﬁnds himself living the same day over and over again.

If it helps, you can also describe the tone of your movie with an “X meets Y”, “X with Y” or “X in Y” one-liner. For example, Avatar is Pocahontas in space. Cloverfield is Blair Witch Meets Godzilla. The Lion King is Hamlet with Lions. And “Jaws with ___ instead of sharks” describes a lot of movies.

Now, for bonus points, give me your idea in one word. What I’m really looking for is your theme.

Some examples —

Moby Dick: Revenge.

Sopranos: Family.

Shrek: Character.

Congratulations, you’ve got an idea, a tone and a theme.

So who’s your hero?

To define your hero, just ask — what does he want and what does he need?

Let’s get into wants vs. needs.

A want is external. A need is internal.

Marty McFly wants his parents to meet, but needs courage.

Bill Murray in Groundhog Day wants tomorrow, but needs to appreciate today.

Spidey in Spiderman 2 wants to defeat Dr.Octopus, but needs confidence.

Got it? Okay, one more question — what’s your hero’s flaw? The flaw is related to what the hero needs.

Great, you’ve got your hero.

Now let’s talk about the adversary. I use the word adversary, because an adversary doesn’t always have to be a villain. In fact, the adversary is often not a villain.

There are obvious adversaries like Voldemort and Darth Vader, but less obvious ones like Sally in Harry Met Sally or the ocean in The Perfect Storm.

Alright, you’ve come a long way. You’ve got your idea, your hero and your adversary. So now lets switch gears and talk structure.

Let’s Talk Structure

This comes as a surprise to many first time screenwriters, but the secret to great screenwriting is structure. A good script is structurally sound and usually economically compact, meaning nothing goes to waste. Every single line is in the service of plot or story.

Most films, like stories in many media, have three acts. Each act is made up of sequences. Each sequence is made of scenes. And each scene is made of beats.

A beat is the smallest unit in a script or story. It’s really just an exchange of action and reaction, often between two characters.

A scene is made up of a bunch of beats. It’s continuous action in a specific location. It functions like a mini-story, has a protagonist with a goal, and an obstacle the protagonist must face. A scene either moves the story forward or reveals information about the character.

A sequence is a collection of scenes that build up to a bigger climax. Each sequence has a mini-goal and ends in a turning point. A turning point’s an important term — when a movie reaches a turning point, it means that a goal has been achieved or lost and the story is about to change direction.

An act is made up of several sequences that build up to a climax, and that climax is a major turning point in the movie.

So beats make up scenes, which make up sequences, which make up acts, and most movies have three acts.

That’s the very basic structure, but that alone might not get you very far, so I want to talk about signposts.

Signposts

Most movies — and stories in general — tend to have a series of signposts that move the story forward and let you know where you are in the movie. This of course doesn’t hold true for every single movie or story, but you’d be surprised how many follow this general structure.

There are often twelve signposts in a movie.

ACT ONE

#1 A Day In the Life

Shows us what the hero’s world is like, it introduces all the main characters and it introduces the hero’s flaw or flaws.

#2 The Spark!

Something happens and the hero’s world is flipped on its head. This is where the hook comes in. You can also consider this the call to adventure, where the hero is presented the opportunity to go on some kind of adventure.

#3 Do I Stay or Do I Go?

The hero needs to decide whether to embark on this adventure or take this new opportunity. 99% of the time the hero will refuse initially, but something will drive her make the decision and go go go… right into Act 2!

ACT TWO

#4 Into the New World

Act 2 begins with the hero boldly venturing into the new world, which is the opposite of the world she’s lived in up to this point. Remember, it doesn’t literally have to be a new world — just an unfamiliar place or situation.

#5 What Is Love?

The new world often comes with a few new characters, including the love interest. He usually represents what the hero needs. Not what the hero wants, but what she actually needs.

#6 Melt Their Faces Off

Remember that awesome hook you thought up? This is where you pay it off. The hero has fun with her new powers or her new situation. The audience should absolutely love this part. A large portion of a movie’s trailer often comes from scenes in this section.

#7 Crossing the Rubicon

At the midpoint of the movie (and Act Two), the hero crosses the point of no return. She does something which she can’t undo, which will plunge her into the second half of Act 2, which is the nightmare. But not quite yet. First she has a…

#8 False Victory

The hero gets a moment of clarity and everything seems like it’s going to be okay — she thinks she’s going to prevail. One small note here — in some movies this is the moment of false defeat. But either way the hero is headed into the…

#9 Long Journey Into Night

Here’s where things go from bad to worse. The villains come back far more powerful than before. The hero’s losing her external and internal battle. Often the love interest leaves at this point. Things continue to get dire until they hit…

#10 Rock Bottom

Things could not get worse. The villains seem unstoppable. All hope is lost. The love interest ditched the hero, usually because of the hero’s flaw, and just when things are at their most hopeless, the hero rises…

#11 From the Ashes

The hero realizes her flaw, learns her lesson, and formulates a plan to defeat the villain. Here’s where the A story — meaning the main plot, and the B story — often the love interest — meet. This is also the moment when the hero rushes right into Act 3

ACT THREE

#12 Time to Kick Ass!

The hero faces the villain, who is at their strongest, and wins! By winning she has now changed the world. The hero is now older and wiser. And every major character has changed. Yeah, I hadn’t mentioned that before — and it can be one of the trickiest parts of writing a screenplay. Every major character has to have an arc, and change in some way by the end of the movie.

Okay, so that’s the anatomy of a screenplay and many stories. The best advice I can give you once you’ve nailed the plot, story, hero, adversary and signposts, is to really focus on your outline. Spend a lot of time working out the beats, scenes,sequences and acts. Especially if you’re writing a movie or show. Use the signposts to help guide your story. Scripts ARE structure. Iron out structure before you dive into the writing. (Though if you’re talking stories or books, this point is super controversial. For another take, just Google the term “pantser”.)

Checklist

You have an awesome idea that’s easy to communicate.

Your hero is awesome and likable.

She wants something that’s tangible, and she wants it BAD.

She is flawed and needs to change if she’s to succeed.

Her adversary is formidable.

Every scene has conflict.

Obstacles get harder and harder.

Stakes get higher and higher.

We enter scenes late and leave scenes early.

Every major character changes by the end.

The turning points should be SURPRISING BUT INEVITABLE.

Rookie Mistakes

Your hero is too passive.

Your main character has too many friends.

You have a few (or many) scenes that lack conflict.

Your characters don’t all change (or learn something).

You have too much exposition, and are telling, not showing.

Your scenes are way too long.

Every character sounds the same.

The stakes aren’t high enough.

Further Reading

If you found this helpful, please read the books that I based much of this on:

If you found this at all helpful, hit the heart to let me know and I’ll keep posting articles about writing.

This article might be helpful if you’re working on a novel.