Hello!
First time posting in a while. I'm pretty reserved and shy on forums, but I'm trying to be more active and engaged in this great community of ours. So...I figured I'd turn hard right into that by sharing a personal part of my writing process that I've only shared with a handful of people. Most of you will probably find this weird or unnecessary, but who knows -- Maybe it will help someone out there, or encourage others to share something that does.
For me, especially EARLY ON in the story design process, I need a MACRO-VIEW SNAPSHOT of what the film in my head is shaping up to be. I tend to get sucked into the details & minutiae of outlines and treatments that I have trouble seeing the forest through the trees. In the ATTACHED SCREENSHOT, I've erased most of the details inside my scenes & climaxes for obvious reasons, but I hope you get the gist. Also, the color coding is something that just works for my brain (you don't want to see how bad it gets in my google docs hahaha).
I call this my "BrainMap" and build it in KEYNOTE. Certainly not what Keynote is meant for, but it's been working for me the past 8 years for my screenwriting. I used to draw MY STORY TIMELINE on legal paper or my living room dry-erase wall. Something like, ok...this is my opening scene, this is my inciting incident between p.12-p15, I'm not sure what my Act 1 climax is on p.30...but I know Act 2 climax is likely XX on p.60"...and on it goes until I feel like I have what I've set out to do and can begin an outline or treatment (where the real crafting, decisions, turns, choices, and dialogue happens). This works a lot like how many of us use INDEX CARDS, but for me...I have a tough time seeing the whole picture when working with index cards, and I need to see everything arranged. I've also tried some of Final Draft's features, but they just don't match with how my brain operates.
The reason I switched from writing my initial thoughts down on a legal pad and index cards, was that I discovered I tended to be impulsive and without consideration of how that new scene or detail might effect other scenes and sequences. I would be so excited in the moment that I would scribble it down, not realizing the domino effect that one "surefire idea" was going to have and how it could cancel out or erode other scenes I had carved out real estate for and my story as a whole. By using this process, it has forced me to be more purposeful when I first start visualizing a scene or sequence and how they all fit together.
It also comes in handy to have a screenshot of it in my phone that I can always look at throughout the day when I have 5-30 minutes to go to my new world. Maybe I'll come up with new ideas when I do, maybe I won't. But it always allows me to see what's there so far and travel to my imagination with ease. Over and over again. Maybe it will be a chunk that already exists, and I'll get more familiar with, or maybe it's the unwritten gaps that I'm going to dream-write as I go for a walk. And within weeks or months, the timeline / brainmap fills out and rounds out. And when it does, I will know if that is a story I want to see...and am willing to go to the war of writing for.
Again, this is just my preliminary process. I CAN'T WRITE WHAT I DON'T SEE IN MY HEAD, so I need to do it this way so I can START TO SEE the film in my head and keep track of what's there. Then it goes to outline and then treatment which is a whole different process, and where the writing really comes into focus.
What do you think? Does this speak to anyone? Have you called the white coats on me? Feel free to share a personal part of your process some people might call crazy!
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Wow, Ian this is great! I wish I could get that organized. I write in a notebook the idea and the do a quick outline, once I think of the character's names (learning to do treatments, first) and then as ideas for scenes pop in my head write it down some where... and then just start writing... not the best way to do it, but right now it works for me as a spec-script writer.
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I'm so fascinated by this approach Ian Milne . I suspect you've had a career that's very process oriented and precise. I love it.
I spent 36 years in healthcare and finance and it is interesting doing self analysis and seeing where that leads. I realized that even though my writing comes from a creative side of my personality I manage it in the same way I managed the platforms I was responsible for.
I was a loose and big picture type of leader and I write exactly the same way. I usually let it sit and stew in my brain for a week and flesh out a big picture of what I'm trying to accomplish, establish the overarching premise and then set it loose haha.
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thanks JD Bock Whatever works for YOU is the key. I too used to write everything in a notebook (or 5)…but now that’s evolved to where I keep all my notes in my NOTES app on.my iphone (usually between 60-150 notes, some that go on forever). also color coded, and with assorted emojis that mean something to me — to help navigate them. it’s added some organization to the chaos and encourages me to write the bad ideas along with the good ones.
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you’re correct Darrell A Pennington ! I think it’s my time as a creative producer that this stems from. Keeping track of internal & external notes, and edit notes has forced me to be very organized. I’m typically a very disorganized person. But when I’m in a crunch or ideas are flying too fast, I’ve discovered having things organized extremely valuable. Very cool that your background has shaped your process too!
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ia Ian Milne This is awesome! So organized! My approach is dry erase board and notes lol. I guess that comes from my album recording background. lol
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A wall and cards were used at one time. When sticky’s/post-its came along they were brilliant. Just move them around on the wall. Horizontal was time - Left was the start right was the end. Scenes, events, moving them around to get structure and plot points right - so your method is similar to that once often used. Theres a lot of issues you can solve faster with a wall than on a page or a screen. Final Draft has cards in it which is great but they are not as great as the wall method.
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David Taylor HOW could I have forgotten the sticky note days?! All would be well…until a strong breeze scattered my organization to the wind. I recall someone coming over my apartment once, and upon seeing my sticky notes saying “oh, so you’re a crazy person”.
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Not weird at all! I often have trouble in those beginning stages, so it’s super satisfying to find a method that works for you.
I usually notecard, but when I was looking for a digital equivalent last year, I landed on Scrivener. I can do notecards that become summaries of scenes in an outline that become actual scenes. More versatile than the notecard view in Final Draft or WriterDuet.
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Neat Mike Boas ! I'll have to check that out. It's important to know our process, but also to evolve and try new things. Thanks for sharing!
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That reminds me of how I outline, @Ian. I outline in Microsoft Word. I have a lot of notes, research, links, highlighted words, bold words, words in all caps, and colored words in my outline. My outlines might look really weird to people, but the way I outline makes it easier for me to stay organized and write my scripts.
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thanks for sharing Maurice Vaughan ! Yes!!! I love hearing these things. I’m big into highlighting in Google docs when I start outlining & the treatment phase
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You're welcome, @Ian. I haven't tried Google docs yet. I might try it for outlining. I also save my outlines because I turn them into treatments later for when I pitch my scripts. And sometimes I'll use things from outlines for new outlines.
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I also like to make a section in my outline where I put the most important/urgent things so it's easier to find them, Ian Milne. And sometimes I make a second outline that's shorter to do the same thing.
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This was very validating to read! I've always felt my brain needs "too much" organizing, now I'm starting to think it's more normal than not. I'm curious, how do you balance b-story plot lines structurally? I always find that I want to set everything up right away but that's very overwhelming for a reader so I'm looking to find a nice middle ground.
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glad to help Delenn Kerkhof Besides, what is “normal” other than a setting on the dryer ;)
as for balancing subplots structurally, that’s hard for me to say because I think it varies from project to project when that subplot needs to come in. it might be used to delay something in the central plot…or emphasize…or juxtapose, so it really depends. But that is a great type of post / question to put out to the entire Screenwriting Lounge. I bet there are so many valuable answers from users!!