The mind of a screenwriter is a fascinating jungle of ideas. Many of us get ideas from a recent encounter, life experience, strangers conversations, a movie, etc.
What is the most common way you notice yourself finding an idea for the next script? Is it by having a specific character in mind and having that character develop the plot? Or a situation/problem/theme and creating characters that serve that situation/problem/theme?
I often find myself creating scripts from a situation/problem/theme. Then developing characters that cater to that situation.
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Kay, That's an interesting approach. I most definitely will try this out. Thank you!
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I have so many ideas for movies and one for a TV show they sort of just come to me in the middle of the night .
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Depends on the genre that I'm aiming to write. If it's along a drama, I may base it on a theme or message I want embedded from a part of my life or something in life from another. If it's a horror, I'll sit and create the world in my mind probably based off the environment I want it to happen around. I find recently though, stories hit me when I'm just randomly going about my day. Like the more I delve into screenwriting, it's just become more a part of me you know.
Kay, I must agree with Kehinde, that approach sounds really interesting. I'll have to try it out myself.
I do exactly what you do. I often find myself responding to a news or current event story and then trying to imagine placing interesting and relatable characters into that situation. Creating a believe story/plot around that theme, at least the start of one and seeing then where it takes me.
As for me, ideas either come from dialogues, scenes, characters i watched like "and if" or from every day life, something i saw, read in the news or a discussion i had with someone
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Honestly I get inspired by doing nothing and Ideas just pop into my head sometimes in the middle of the night I will wake up with a brilliant idea so I keep pen and paper by my bed to jot down those ideas and I will be inspired by movies that I have seen .
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For me, stories start with one seed, one scene, a very moving scene, in which the main characters, their goals and problems, their backstories, and the entire vibe of the show/movie is encapsulated. From there, it's just my job to spend time with it.....and the branches and blossoms just occur of their own accord. Sometimes the unfolding is a bit of a mess, then I have to become the gardener and 'beat it out'. I'd say writing is 90% walking/musing/observing the unfolding, and 10% ass-on-chair.
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I'm a lot like Ashley Byron where ideas pop in from everywhere. I keep notebooks all around the house. When I'm stuck with a scene or a sequence, I wander or read or watch something and let the back of my mind chew on it. Ideas spill forth and I jot them down, then go to work on the better ones. The more you do this, the more often story ideas come. I love Kay Luke's idea, and it works great. When you think of an intriguing dramatic situation, place different character types in the scene for hugely different results. It's a fun and very useful exercise.