Five Step Script Frenzy Preparation - Step 1

My quick and simple guide to generating and developing a script idea that you can take the distance.

GENERATE MULTIPLE IDEAS
What you need today are ideas. Lots of them.

Ideas to a screenwriter are like rocks to a sculptor. Not all rocks make good material for a statue, just like not all ideas are the basis for great screenplays. Sometimes, on the surface, the idea looks solid, and so the screenwriter plows ahead. Then, somewhere in the work, the idea falls flat and the writing becomes difficult.

Two weeks into a month long competition is not when you want your script idea to crash.

That is why today, your goal is to come up with several ideas, so that like the sculptor, we can pick the best rocks to make our masterpiece.

WHAT IS A LOGLINE?
A logline is a thumbnail sketch of your movie idea. In a sentence or two, a logline details your protagonist, their goal/want/problem, and an antagonistic force.

Open up a word processor or take out a piece of paper and write down as many ideas as you can come up with that follow this pattern:

It’s about a [person] who… wants [this]… and must [do this] to get it… or else, [this] happens.

Here’s an example:

It’s about a [nerdish boy] who wants [to date the hottest girl in school] and must [convince the jocks that he’s cool to win her approval] or else [she’s going to the dance with the football captain].

Pathetic example, which illustrates my point of writing several so you have better ones to choose from. Here’s one more I culled from a real movie:

It’s about a [farm boy] who wants to [join the Rebel Alliance to fight the Empire]. When his world as he knows it is destroyed, he must [help an old Jedi deliver plans for a space station] or else [the Empire will gain control of the galaxy].

Again, a loglines should have 3 major elements. 1) A protagonist; 2) a goal/want/need/problem; and 3) an opposing force or antagonist.

NEXT UP - STEP 2
Write as many as you can today. Tomorrow, we’ll pick the most promising ideas and develop them further, chipping away at the lumps of rock to see what’s beneath. Some rocks will be beautiful portraits of dashing heros, while others will be hideously deformed chunks of chipped rock.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Also, if you have large amounts of free time (who doesn’t), you could check out “The Secrets of Film Writing” by Tom Lazarus. I have field tested this book. It’s a quick read, with good writing and a great structure that builds simple concepts on top of each other. It’s the perfect book to digest right before Script Frenzy.