GITS birthday suggestion #3: “How to write a script”
On Saturday, May 16, GITS turns one-year old. That combined with a recent spike in visitors to the site made me think that this would be a good time to remind people of some of the resources available here. We’ve talked about video and written interviews. We’ve talked about 14 Days of Screenplays. Now let’s look at “How to Write a Script.”
There are two resource areas here. First, How They Write a Script, the “they” being nearly 20 sets of interview excerpts with professional screenwriters, ranging from Paddy Chayefsky to Charlie Kaufman to Billy Wilder. I have focused each post on the screenwriter’s take on screenplays and the screenwriting process, so you should get a nice cross-reference there.
But then I found that people wanted something even more concrete, so I posted How I Write a Script. I’m not in anyway suggesting that my approach stands as an equal to how they write a script; but I do provide a step-by-step breakdown of the writing process that my students have found most helpful:
Part 4 — Character Development
Now I have to confess that my approach has changed over time. I definitely spend more time brainstorming and developing my characters, and less time outlining. In fact, apart from knowing the answer to the Four Big Plot Point Questions — What’s the story’s beginning / What’s the end of Act I / What’s the end of Act II / What’s the story’s ending — I would tend nowadays to leave more of that open to the actual page-writing process. That said, for someone new to screenwriting, someone who has trouble finishing scripts, or someone whose structure always seem deficient, this 10-step process is likely a helpful approach.
You can access “How They Write a Script” here.
And you can find “How I Write a Script” here.