Screenwriting : Oops I did it again... by Travis Sharp

My current plan is to stumble upon a wise, old, Asian, maintenance man who makes me perform various writing chores for him only to find out the chores have taught me how to write. It seems an unlikely scenario.

I do what works best for me. I formulate an idea/premise....and theme/themes.....I have a big board on my wall...4 feet by 3 feet...and I start charting it out. It's like a snowball running down a mountain at that point. Just seeing the board almost makes me salivate.

The main hurdle for me is making as many of the beats that I can to be unpredictable. I want to tell a story that people can universally relate to, but have never seen like this before. I also craft my characters carefully, and make sure they are three-dimensional with some idiosyncrasies/foibles. Throughout the process, I can start to see the scenes and the characters, and the big scenes. Then I can start actually making scene cards, and answering all the questions I have for the purpose of each scene.

I put a lot into that story planning process. Writing is easier at that point, because I know where I'm going every step of the way, but the actual writing is still never easy. Dialogue has to be purposeful and fluid. Subtext has to be there. Narrative has to be visual and evocative. The story has to lift off the paper, and not be flat. And it has to keep the reader turning those pages.

It's never easy to create something as big as a story, and especially a story that has depth and is intentionally trying to evoke feelings. It's real easy to fail in any segment of it. It takes at least several re-writes to make sure I have all the best words, inner/external conflict maximized, memorable characters, really good dialogue, a good continuous visual story, and hopefully a meaningful story at the end.

Best of luck, Travis!

Thanks Bill. I suck at organization but often what you suck at is what you really need to do...(that’s what she said)

Very nice, Laura, thank you.

Travis, this may sound odd but stop worrying about what others may think. Imaginary readers, producers, directors, etc... tune it all out. Focus on your own thing, your own writing. Often the way to do that is to cut yourself off from all the noise. Ignore it. Write what interests you. Write what makes you happy. All writing is good practice. You already have the foundation of screenwriting and craft, but the only way to develop your own sense of it, to develop your own process is to dive in and do the work. Take what you have learned and put it into practice. Develop your own voice. Once you have a better sense of your writing, you can be much more constructive and objective when seeking feedback or guidance. Hope that helps!

Thanks Beth

Hey, I don't know why, but for some reason I was really drawn to your profile. I tend to trust my gut, and it led me here, so I'm hoping you still check your notifications on here. <3

Travis, If ure writing a "business card" spec, then yes, Beth is right, but If you do consider the script to enter competitions or you intend to pitch it around, then yes It does matter what would "they" think as "they" are the ones that will place it on film...I suggest you follow the stream on whatever the genre you're working on and see how much can it be implemented in your story. However, there are no guaranties.