Screenplay Writing 101: Mastering the 5 Steps of the Writing Process
by Noi Sabal • December 8, 2022
It’s sooooo exciting to come up with a fantastic idea for writing a movie, isn’t it? An idea for a story pops into your head, seemingly ready-made, just waiting to be shaped into a screenplay. You can see and hear scenes, characters, and dialogue. FUN!
But how many times does it work out that you can quickly just — bing BAM! — finish writing a script right off that initial idea? More often, writers dream up an amazing screenplay idea that seems to just need dictation, only to discover in the second act that, well, it wasn’t quite as fully formed as they thought. And after hitting that Act 2 roadblock over and over, they give up or spend months trying to “fix it in rewrites.”
There’s actually a fix for this problem. And it’s pretty straightforward: just follow 5 simple steps. So that’s todays Screenplay Writing 101 lesson:
Before you can start writing your script, you need to know your story. While many other people focus on the script writing basics of format and structure, what you REALLY need to do is explore the story you’re going to write — before you start writing. While it’s easy to jump in and start writing, this is almost always a recipe for unfinished screenplays. And, you want to finish, don’t you? What’s the point of writing half a script?! That’s where writing process steps come in.
There are 5 simple script writing basics that will help you avoid writer’s block and frustration.
So let’s dive in and explore these very basic screenplay writing steps.
Screenplay Writing 101
The Writing Process in 5 Simple Steps
1) Develop your Main Character
2) Figure out your ending
3) Decide what the movie is REALLY about
4) Write a first draft
5) Rewrite
Pretty basic, right? (Well, this is “Screenplay Writing 101,” after all. 😉 It’s 5 steps of writing process describing how to start a screenplay!)
But let’s look at these writing steps a bit more in-depth:
First, figure out WHO this story is about. Every great movie has a rich, meaty Main Character/Protagonist in the middle of the action. You can’t write ’em if you don’t know who that character is.
2nd, know how your story ENDS. If you know where your story begins and ends, you’ll be able to easily move your Protagonist through to the end (where they can succeed or fail — but they have to get there).
3rd, discover what your story is REALLY about. From your logline to your outline, from your character to your world, your story needs to be about a core idea — a universal truth — if you want it to appeal to readers and audiences alike.
4th, write a first “vomit’ draft. Get your story out of your head and onto paper as quickly as possible. That way, you can see what works and what doesn’t for the WHOLE story. Then you can:
5th, revise your story and rewrite it. Make sure your story has a Universal Theme that appeals to wide audiences. And double-check your Protagonist’s Goal; when it’s clearly defined, you can rewrite and throw as many things as possible in front of them. Including these two things will ensure your screenplay puts forth your best, professional work.
For those more visually oriented, here is a video in our Screenplay Writing 101 series: “The 5 Steps of the Writing Process.”
Ready to learn more? Check out our more in-depth article on Screenplay Structure about writing a movie.
And if you want another perspective on screenplay writing and screenplay structure, here’s a Screenplay Writing 101 Guide from Masterclass.