Larry Wilson, Screenwriter: There are architects
and there are gardeners. An architect will need that blueprint to build
what it is they are going to build. He said “I’m a gardener. I plant a seed and I tend it and nurse it
and watch it grow.” Outlining A Screenplay - Architects and Gardeners Danny Strong, Screenwriter/Producer/Actor:
My outlines are about 25 pages to 30 pages long. Barrington: Even if I go in thinking I know
what it is, I’m still going to end up figuring it out. Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times movie reviewer/playwright/screenwriter:
Three sequences in the first act, 6 in the second act and 3 in the third act of equal
weight. Blayne Weaver, Actor, Filmmaker, Screenwriter:
When you are trying to problem-solve instead of trying to tell the most compelling story
that’s what I hate about outlining. Mark Sanderson, Screenwriter: It’s probably
50, 60, 70 percent of the work that you do because it makes the load a lot easier and
you can write a faster screenplay if you have an outline. Tamika Lamison, Screenwriter: My body and
my brain just go “Just write it. It’s right there. What is this outline stuff?” Adam Skelter, Author/Screenwriter/Story Artist:
I’ll usually have a complete full outline and then jump into the story with a really
specific idea of the objective in every single scene. Markus Redmond, Filmmaker/Screenwriter/Actor:
You should make an outline, make your character breakdowns and all these things that you do
and make your cards, plan out your story, your first, second, and third…I don’t
do any of that. Architects Danny Strong: I will say one thing that I
think could be very interesting to people that are writers is what I do is I outline
a script very meticulously and my outlines are about 25 pages to 30 pages long. And then when I go to write the actual first
draft, I will not reread one word of what I’ve written until I’ve written the whole
script. So for my first pass on a screenplay, I start
from the beginning and then I just go…and I go all the way through until I’m done
without having read one word of it and it takes about three weeks. So in three weeks, I’ve written a whole
draft and it’s a whole draft and it’s a lot of fun because there is no judgment
whatsoever. I’m just writing straight through. And then I go through and very meticulously
work through the scenes and that takes two to three weeks and then in six weeks I have
a draft but it’s really two drafts because I’ve done one straight through and then
one (this sort of meticulous work-through). And I will say that the second phase of it
(the meticulous work-through phase) is the least enjoyable part of the process because
it’s the most critical where for a couple weeks I just I have to work through these
scenes but I just do it. And then after that I have a draft to work
off of and then there are many drafts after that. But I have this nice foundation. Adam Skelter: I’m pretty thorough with outlining. I’ll spend quite a bit of time outlining
before I even write the full…like I’ll usually have a complete full outline and then
jump into the story. So I’ll have a really specific idea of the
objective of every single scene and ultimately it saves me time. When I first started writing I was anti-outline. I kind of had the attitude, you know the young
attitude I’m just going to write and my gut’s going to tell me what’s right and
what’s meaningful and stuff like that and that works for a lot of writers. But I noticed I hit a lot of dead ends and
I became emotionally attached to those dead ends and then it became very hard to rewrite
and then it drove my stories off the cliff. And so little by little, honestly that Ron
Mita 24-plot-point-thing was huge because it was so simple. You could literally just sit there and plot
out a story in an hour and you could have a really good idea about where it was going. And then from there…for me that’s where
you go from like discovery your story to actually becoming a craftsman (or craftsperson) where
you are working on the story and start to take control of it and you take a step back. It’s almost like a render machine, you’re
rendering your story before you ever sit down and write it. So then the script really just becomes kind
of like secondary artifact of all the work you’ve put into it. So yeah, I spend a lot of time outlining. And it’s…a lot of people thinks that it
takes away from the creative process. Usually that’s kind of the writer saying
“Well, I want to be in the audience, too. And I want to experience and be surprised
by it.” But outlining doesn’t take away from that
because when you sit down you’ve outlined, you’ve got your outline right here. And then when you’re writing, you put yourself
in the moment, you’re in the skin of the writer or the character. And you are experiencing it and then if your
gut tells you try something different, try something different, see where it goes. So you are still…you know…gardener versus
architect, passer versus plotter kind of thing. I call it The Assassins versus The Berserkers. Basically the planner versus the person who
just sees what happens next. And I think it’s important to understand
the consequences of the choices you’re making. But the whole process of writing is an experiment,
art is an experiment. The only thing that rules it is do we make
it emotionally resonate for somebody else. And as artists we get to decide how much that
is. How we build that relationship. If. We want to do it for a living than we become
responsible to those people who are investing in us and that’s when you want to be able
to have control of your craft. That’s when you want to be able to climb
the mountain, know how you’re going to get up there, meet a deadline. There aren’t a lot of producers that are
going to be like “Alright, we needed this three months ago.” And you are still just kind of like wandering
in the weeds. But a lot of the process of writing is just
experimenting into the weeds, going into the weeds and then stepping back. And the trick is just not panicking when you’re
in the weeds and saying “Okay, this is part of the process. Let’s step back and look at the outline
and see if it’s going to work.” So for me it feels like a map, it feels like
you’re zooming in. And you can do the street view where you are
in the character and you’re driving along and you’re like “Yeah, I feel this, I’m
going through this street.” And that’s when you’re writing. But then you pull back, you zoom out and you
see the overview of where you’re going and that’s the outline. Mark Sanderson: Well for me on these assignments
that I do they are usually 10 or 12 pages. It’s the entire story, treatment and it’s
not just line by line. I mean there are some outlines that it’s
just a line literally. But for television they’re 8 acts so everything
has to be broken down but I write it as a story so if you were to sit down and read
it, you’d be reading the story of the movie which I think is essential to create, in fact
I’ve had friends that do this “Oh, I’m just going to sit down and I have the vague
idea and I’m just going to write.” And I’m like “You’ll be lost in the
barren wasteland of Act 2. With no water, you’ll be in the desert lost
and you’ll wonder how you’re going to trudge through the 75-pages or whatever. I’m a huge advocate of starting outlines
before starting writing and I know it’s probably 50, 60, 70 percent of the work because
it makes the load a lot easier and you can write a faster screenplay if you have an outline. Now that doesn’t say there is no room for
changes or improvising but if you don’t have a solid roadmap going in…it’s almost
like a pre-draft of a first draft. And I’m not an advocate of what people say
the vomit draft or just spill it out. But I don’t have the luxury of spilling
it out on my assignment jobs, I don’t. I really have to turn in let’s say on a
ten scale turn in probably an eight…an eight out of ten…because I’m now holding up
development and I’ve also done rewrites on other screenwriter’s work/projects that
means that the script that they had went through multiple drafts and still is not there. And they have a buyer, they have network who
is waiting on the script and so I’ve also been hired to do rewrite job where I can come
in but it’s like a page one rewrite where see the script that you have you can’t use
any of it, the names yes, the concept yes but you basically…but that’s something
that I’ve learned how to do which is good because there is a lot of rewrite work out
there and some writers look down on it. An example is that I took a rewrite job and
that ended up being three more jobs for the same company because that opened the door
for them and they were thankful for that. But you never know what opportunity you’re
going to either turn down or accept. But back to your point about the outline,
I think it’s extremely important to do an outline before your screenplay because it’s
easier to work out the problems there than it is writing a complete first draft and just
having so many problems. And also it trains you like I said, like you’re
an olympic athlete, it trains you for the time that you do have to do outlines because
I’m not allowed to write these assignments without an outline that I have to create. So they just wont let me go to pages. They have other people involved who have to
okay it. So the outline is extremely important. Gary Goldstein: Generally what I’ll do is
start with the premise line and I’ll write out a premise line basically the foundation
of the script, a couple of sentences from start-to-finish and then I’ll expand that
into maybe two or three pages, I’ll sort of write it in sections. So I’ll divide it into (basically if it’s
a movie) three movie acts but more in quarters so it’s the equivalent of quarter, quarter,
quarter, quarter which takes me through the four quarters or the three acts of the movie
because one of the things that happens when you start writing an outline in prose form
for me if I don’t stop writing at a certain point you end up with let’s say you are
writing an outline and it’s only four pages. The first two pages may only be the first
quarter of the script because you end up writing so much and then ultimately you end with disproportionate
acts so basically I’m just trying to write it as tightly as I can. I’ll write it long and then I’ll edit
it but in the end I’ll up with four relatively close descriptions of each quarter. So let’s say that ends up being three or
four pages whatever, then if it’s an assignment or whatever then I’ll give it to the executive
or whatever, I’ll get notes on it, I’ll rework it and if it’s not for me, I’ll
do the same thing for myself. Then what I’ll do is I divide…and this
is I have to credit Writer’s Bootcamp for this because this is the way they taught me
how to do it and how I always do it now and how I taught other people and I think it’s
pretty much one of those things that sort of, I don’t think it’s an uncommon way
to do it but it kind of boils it down to a really effective way of doing it is I divide
it up into 12 sequences. Three sequences in the first act, six in the
second act and three in the third act of equal weight so basically if you are writing a 120-page
script and it’s 10 pages of sequence. If it’s more like a 100-page script it’s
8-9 pages of sequence and I beat out the list of scenes. I create a sequence sentence, so this is sequence
one, two and three. So out of that sequence sentence that I write
out pulled from the outline (the longer outline) I then write a list of scenes that will comprise
that sequence. So I’ll put all the scenes in the row and
then I’ll figure out how many pages that scene will approximately so that I can add
up and say at the end those scenes will equal about 8 and a half pages or something and
it’s an estimate (sometimes I am very off) but it’s an estimate. And this is just my kind of organized way
of doing it and how I don’t get lost in the process and how I really kind of stay
on track. This is just mine. Everyone has their way of doing it and that’s
how I do it so you basically end up with 12 series of scene lists so ultimately when you
add it all up it should equal whatever your desired page count is, 100, 105, 120 pages
(some estimate). Then I take that and put it on my Final Draft
(that list) and I create a slug line over each one INTERIOR: Living Room, Night. EXTERIOR: Baseball field day. So I have the line and then what that scene
is about and then I have the slug line. So basically I have a whole written script
basically except without dialogue essentially. And then you go in and you craft it. To me it’s a very step-by-step process like
an accordion. You are constantly expanding the accordion
until you have the whole script written. So that works for me but everybody does it
differently. Mark Sanderson: There is a step outline, there
is a one sheet, with just a one sheet of paper of which is the concept, sort of a short synopsis. There is the longline which is even smaller
(two or three sentences) because you have to quick pitch “Hhmmm…I’m not interested.” Then you have the pitch and they go “Hhmmm? I’m willing to read something. Not the script but I’ll read the synopsis.” Then there are different steps of how interested
they are to read what you want, the final product, the final script is for them to read. But the treatment, there are many different. Again, like a step outline, I’ve done outlines
that were 40 pages. I mean completely, triple it and you have
the script. But everything had to be worked out because
it was very technical the way the film was going to be shot was like from an iPhone and
from different things so it really had to be spelled out because on set you really just
can’t leave it up to chance. But after that point I could have written
the script in weeks because it was all figured out, I had figured it out already. You want that outline for those dark periods
where ups are stuck. You don’t want to be stuck trying to figure
out plot points when you should be filling pages. That’s the worst part, that’s the worst
place to be. “Gardeners” Larry Wilson: I will if contractually obliged
to doing a beat sheet or an outline, I’ll do it and sometimes you are. And what usually happens is you spend all
of this time on this beat sheet and outline and it’s the most bastardized thing in the
world because it’s not a script, it’s not a story, it’s kind of this thing that
exists half way between a script and a story. But I will do it if contractually obliged
to, I’ll do an outline, I’ll do a very detailed outline and I’ll do it to the best
of my abilities. I won’t slum but I’ll do it and I’ll
hand it in. And the producers will go “We love this
outline! This is a great outline. Now go write the script.” And you’ll go write the script and you’ll
have your outline and you’ll say “Okay, here is what the outline is telling me”
and you’ll start writing it and it will immediately start changing and better ideas
will emerge and the next thing you know the outline is completely out the window and you’ve
written a script and you’ll turn it in and the producers will go “We love this! This is just like the outline.” And everyone has forgotten the outline And I know…my beat sheet is obviously you
kind of know the beginning. You know feel these characters and you are
putting them in this situation where they are gong to have to fight for their lives
to get out of. I kind of know what the end is going to be
(kind of, sort of) and then it’s the great unknown. And to do that in a beat sheet to me is just
taking all of the fun out of it. So don’t listen to me, listen to all of
the other people out there who say outline beat sheets. Please if that is what you need to do. Are there great writers who do that, of course
they do and sometimes when you’re collaborating it becomes more necessary because you are
sending stuff back and forth but for me, they don’t work for me. And any time I do them, everything starts
changing anyway so much that they quickly become irrelevant. Markus Redmond, Writer/Director/Actor: Gosh
this is going to sound terrible…there are things that you are supposed to do as a writer
that you should do. You should make an outline, you should make
your character breakdowns, there are all of these things that you do. You make your cards and you plot out your
story (your first and second and third). I don’t do any of that. None of it! Film Courage: That is the perfect screenwriter. That’s the one that has the perfect sock
drawer. Markus: Yes, that’s the guy who lays it
all correctly out. I don’t do any of that. I like to sit and think about the idea and
then I like to think about the character. Who that woman or man is and what they’re
like, what their world looks like, and then I just start to think about what the movie
might look like in my head. And once I start seeing the movie itself in
my head, then I start writing it. I don’t know how it’s going to end necessarily…unless
it’s a thriller! If it’s a thriller, I need to know how it’s
going to end so I can know where I’ve got to go if that makes sense? Because you always want to have that ending
so people go “Whoah!” So you think of the ending first like what
would be a cool “Whoah!” Oooh, okay how do I get there? So I go backward if it’s a thriller. If it’s not a thriller, if it’s just a
story about people and life, love whatever it is then I don’t really think that much
about what is going to happen in the story. I think about the people and where they are
and where I want them to be, what the world is like, what they enjoy. There is usually a lot of wine involved because
I enjoy some wine and what happens is I end up writing something that is much more organic
and much more…here I am a writer and I can’t even find a word…uh…what is the word? Organic and…what is the word when just…spontaneous! Organic and spontaneous, I end up writing
something that is organic and spontaneous because I haven’t sort of telegraphed it. Kind of like when you’re acting you always
hear “Don’t Play Result.” Because you’ve read the entire script so
your character is on a journey so you know what that journey is but your character doesn’t
know. So you don’t want to play like you know
what is coming because you don’t want to telegraph it to the audience. I find the same thing works for me as a writer
by not knowing everything when I’m writing, I’m discovering it as I’m writing and
it makes the writing process exciting for me because I’m sitting there at the keyboard
like “This is great!” Your like “What is going to happen next?” And you’re like “I don’t know! I can’t wait to find out either.” You know what I mean? It’s a spontaneous thing. And then hopefully the training and the laws
of inevitability that I try to keep focused in my head kick in as I’m writing and when
it’s done it’s a really great story. But yes, I like to look at it as a living,
breathing story that is unfolding as if I am watching it and that drives me toward the
end because I feel like if I do all of the outline stuff (for me) if I do all of the
outline stuff, I’ve already done it already so now I’m like “Aaargh, now I’ve got
to write it all? I already figured it out.” So I just jump in and start writing. Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, Screenwriter/Author:
It’s like a discovery when you have preconceptions of what your story is but then it develops
into something very different. I think there is something very exciting about
that and something very freeing about it if you allow yourself to open yourself to that
you can go in the direction because I think to a certain extent some of the things that
we’ve done (at least in this screenplay) have moved further from what I thought my
original idea was but it’s so much better. Blayne Weaver, Writer/Director/Actor: I’d
rather not but usually that is required for the job. Like if I’m getting paid for it, they will
want to know…these days to get hired to write a script you pretty much have to 35-page
outline for a 90-page script, turn it in before you get hired to write the script. So when I’m writing for other people I do
whatever it takes to make them comfortable with it which normally involves an online. Me…I’m not a musician but for me I feel
like it’s just jazz. I feel when it’s time for a change, I can
feel when we need to know more about a character. My way of working it’s very artificial to
say “at this point on page 12 you get to learn that Charlie has a secret.” You know what I mean? Because I don’t know what secret is? Do I make it up or do I wait to get to know
who Charlie is and write that in? I feel like the music of it…I know on page
12 maybe there is something he is not sharing. But maybe it is this? It’s just way more organic and I feel like
it flows. A lot of times with outlines I’ll find when
I’m writing the actual script I won’t feel it going the way the outline was, you
know what I mean? So it’s either like I do something false. Writing for me, a lot of times (especially
the rewrite process for other people’s work) is taking a round peg and putting it into
a square hole. It’s like here is a movie (this is an actual
true story), I had written a film that was a beach sport kind of romantic comedy that
was set in Thailand. Great, love it! Only now it’s in Bulgaria and it’s Christmas. So my rewrite was to completely and utterly
change the entire scenery and what is happening (round peg, square hole) and it’s like a
Rubik’s cube kind of problem. It doesn’t necessarily lead to good writing. When you are trying to problem solve instead
of telling the most compelling story, that is what I hate about outlining. That’s why I don’t like being pushed into
a corner by some random decision I made three months ago when I was just trying to make
people feel comfortable about what the movie was going to be, does that make sense? I can ramble about it for the next two hours
because it’s something that I struggle with a lot. Tamika Lamison, Screenwriter: I’m not someone
who does, even thought my first successful screenplay was almost like doing an outline,
it was like a stream of consciousness treatment that I wrote and then I realized after writing
like 20 or 30 pages “You should just write the script. It’s right here. You should just write the script.” But that was because I had been marinating
on it so long I could just do that. But when it comes to outlines which is a process
that a lot of script writers do and I’m still trying to figure out how to do that,
I really admire people who know how to outline and write their scripts from there. Things are just a little more organic for
me but I can write a beginning, middle and end but it usually is two or three pages of
stuff and a character breakdown. I often feel like if I had the…I don’t
even know what it is? Whatever it is that a screenwriter has that
makes them disciplined and do that outline, I think that my job might be a little bit
easier. I’m just saying that because it seems like
that works really well. It’s like the studio way of doing things
too. Like in TV you have to give an outline and
then you write the script. Oh, I will tell you a funny story about that. So I was in the Walt Disney Fellowship and
I was in the screenwriting version of it. They don’t have the screenwriting arm anymore,
they just have the TV arm believe it or not. I’ve been trying to get the other one back
but I wrote a television script for them and at the time it was THE PRACTICE and MY WIFE
AND KIDS were the TV shows that I wanted to write for. And they were like “Okay so you have to
pitch us your story, do an outline, once we like story and then write the script.” So I pitched them the story they liked it,
right? And I was just like “What’s this outline
thing? I don’t know what this is?” I literally wrote the script, then I wrote
the outline from the script, and then I gave them the outline and they were like “This
is great.” They made a couple of tweaks in the outline,
so I implemented the tweaks into the script. The script was already done. Film Courage: So it was just like a formality? Tamika: It was a formality because that was
the way they had to do it. But it didn’t make organic sense to my process. Barrington Smith-Seetachit, Screenwriter:
Really if I’m honest, I’m always figuring it out as I write even if I go in thinking
that I know what it is, I’m still going to end up figuring it out as I go…Yeah…I
have inside-out writing and outside-in writing and the outside-in will tend to be something
where there is kind of an external story and so you’ve got the container a little bit
and then you’re figuring out all of the ways, furnishing and arranging in that container
and generating some new stuff. Occasionally I have the luxury of doing what
I call the inside-out where you have almost nothing. You have like…you woke up in the middle
of the night with like an image in your head or just kind of this fragmentary thing like
a grain of sand and then it’s like you’re making narrative stone soup. You are like “Here is the pebble,” and
do you know the story of STONE SOUP? And then they go around, the meat and the
carrots and then it’s more like…it’s like found found art pulling all of the things
from your life, your memories, what’s going on and you’re kind of building it out from
this little thing and it becomes something where you really didn’t have much of an
idea of what it’s going to be at all and so that’s pretty fun. And that of course would be an example of
figuring it out as you go. Larry Wilson, Screenwriter/Instructor: I’m
a storyteller and the stories emerge from some place that is beat sheet proof, that’s
just me. I mean, I don’t know. They just come from some where else. And if I tell is all in a quote-un-quote beat
sheet it’s like why would I do that to myself. Why would I take all of the fun out of discovering
it and put it in this thing that is just kind of bullet points, but that is me and that
is the idiosyncratic part of me. But I’m in good company (Stephen King) my
favorite writer. Ask him about beat sheets. But help me…that writer that wrote GAME
OF THRONES and the books [off-camera: “George R.R. Martin”]. Thank you! He said it the best of anyone. He said there are…now you would think if
you had read the Game of Thrones books that those things are outlined completely. They are so intricate. They are so full of plot and character and
this need to overlap and this needs to…I mean they are extremely intricate stories. He doesn’t outline and what he says about
it (and I think it’s such a great quote and I’m paraphrasing a little bit). “There are architects and there are gardeners. An architect will need that blueprint to build
what it is they are going to build.” He said “I’m a gardener. I plant a seed and I tend it and nurse it
and watch it grow.” There are architects that will do that beat
sheet and will do it brilliantly, so I am not knocking that and there are gardeners
and I guess I’m a gardener. I just kind of let the idea sit there and
I tend it and I take good care of it and make sure it gets all of the water and sun and
I watch it grow. Mark Sanderson, Screenwriter/Author: It does
allow you to write a faster first draft if you have a solid outline because for me I
have to see the film in my head before I can write it and I know I have a lot of problems
ahead of me if I can’t see it. I mean I don’t lock in, like I almost see
the movie, if you watch a movie you remember it, I have to see it that way and I know things
are working when…and you have to live…and the outline is good for living with your characters,
you get to live with them. You get to see how the movie is working or
doesn’t work before you sit down and write that screenplay which is building the house. It’s almost like the pre-blueprint (in my
opinion). That’s been my experience but I know a lot
of writers just want to write down a couple of lines and wing it and there are so many
things that can go wrong and why not turn in the most amazing first draft you can. I don’t see the problem with that. And in fact like I say you have to (when you
are doing assignment work) you want fewer drafts, you don’t want eight drafts because
nothing is working. You want to turn that in where they go “Wow!” My assignment is that I did two drafts and
two polishes, we’re done. That’s what they like. They don’t like five “You’re not getting
it.” That’s where they get fired and they hire
somebody else where they can facilitate the notes and get it moving. It’s creative but it’s also a business
at the same time unfortunately. Tamika Lamison, Screenwriter: When I have
to I will but it’s very uncomfortable. I fell like my organic process is just different. I understand why it works for people and I
understand why they do it, but my body and brain just goes “Just write it! It’s right here. What is this outline stuff? You are wasting time. Just write the script.” Gary Goldstein, Screenwriter/Journalist: I
look at the Coen Brothers movies (some of the greatest movies of our time), amazing
stories, incredible character, incredibly creative. Those movies are not (I don’t know how they
outline, if they outline) but they don’t feel as specifically structured as most movies
you see (some are, some aren’t) they are really brilliant. They are able to infuse their stories in their
own world and their own structure for example. If you can do it, it’s great. I think I’ve just seen too many writers
who get lost in the process because they haven’t sort of laid it out ahead of time. But again it works for me and I never look
at it like “Oh it’s putting me in a box or using a formula.” Not at all, it’s just how I write and especially
when you are on a deadline. You have a limited amount of time to write
something, it really helps me move more quickly and gives me a system of sort of checks and
balances on my material and it helps me not overwrite as well and ultimately not lose
too much time on any material that I’m not ultimately going to put in the script. Adam Skelter, Writer/Author/Instructor: I
don’t believe in any right or wrong. There is this one writer Bob Sines, he is
amazing. He says he doesn’t outline, he is successful
and writes great stuff. He wrote Extracurricular and it’s fantastic. I read the script, it’s so good! And he doesn’t outline but he knows how
to write. He gets where he needs to go and he knows
how to tell a story. So it’s like what works for you is fine. The important thing is to be able to sell
it to the producers, to engage the people who need to be engaged. You are writing for readers largely. So you want to learn the language of what
you expect, but within that, it’s whatever gets you there. I don’t think you have any obligation, but
generally speaking the average person would benefit from taking the time to plan out where
there story is going to go and have a good idea of how it’s going to end and then work
toward that. A lot of people they will stare at the blank
page. I’ve never understood staring at the blank
page because by the time I’m ready to write a scene, I’ve already had like pages of
writing. It’s like a slingshot, you are slowing preparing
getting all of the scenes, getting the character, getting the plot, the conflict, you know what
every character wants. So when you sit down and you’re ready to
write, you let go and you’re just flying. But it really comes down to everybody discovering
their own process. I’m not a purest and lots of people don’t
outline and they are very good writers. A lot of that is their intuition or their
experience that informs it.
