Screenwriting : Screenwriting Tip by Maurice Vaughan

Great tip! Sad as it is, sometimes a scene, plot device, side character or sequence that seems great but doesn't have a place in your script may need to be cut. But keep these things written somewhere as they may be the solution to something in another project in the future. The coat hanger gag in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was the second time Spielberg tried it.

I do that, Ewan Dunbar. I save things for future scripts.

Does anyone think this is an outcome of “beat sheets” or “formula”. The need to have something in a story, rather than have the story dictate the beats?

"Rather than have the story dictate the beats." I like what you put, Craig D Griffiths. I outline my script beats before writing a script, but I leave room for them to change as I write a script.

I start by writing a strong, sharp hook. Then I write a satisfying ending scene. Then I set the script aside for awhile while I mull around a few paths between the opening scene and the ending scene. I don't rely on any predetermined beats to get from here to there - the story unfolds in its own way or it does not. I really hate the recent trend toward the 'write-by-number' story development that I see so commonly today.

Doug Nelson Yep, knowing where you are going to end up is a good first step :)

Where I am not working to a deadline, I start with a scene. It has a strong character who is conflicted somehow and must make a choice. Then I decide why that character is noble and where they might go, and I build scenes around them. I almost always have a kind of ending in mind, but usually the actual ending doesn't come clear for some time - and I cannot quite write it all until that happens. The first scene I wrote may or may not survive or may or may not be a pivotal moment by the time I and done. Like Doug Nelson once I have a first draft I like, I set it aside for a time - a couple weeks to a couple months, and come back to it and see if I like it and if it makes sense. Where I am working to a deadline, I sketch out a beginning, and ending, a plot and then construct the minimum number of scenes I need to get from beginning to end. Those projects are always on commission or due to production issues where a script fell through but financing didn't (it happens more than you think) and in those cases I sometimes have to write specifically for a specific cast, or to entice a name actor. It's a very different process. However, at the end of the day, while I prefer the first process, I can't say I get any different results from either process.

Killing your darlings is one of the hardest things, creatively, you'll ever have to do.

I came up with this motto during the revising process: "I serve at the pleasure of the story rather than my own needs as a story teller." Sometimes it helps to put on a different hat when revising your story.

I like that saying, Ty.

When in doubt, cut it out. --Zemeckis/Spielberg

Yeah, Matthew/Zemeckis/Spielberg!

Always be willing to kill your darlings

I'm curious to know, does anyone in this comment thread actually start with an outline? I always write a comprehensive 2-to-3-page outline discussing characters, plot points, act structure, etc. If I feel the outline is weak, I won't even bother writing the script.

I write detailed outlines before writing scripts, Frank. If I think the script won't work (during the outline stage), I don't continue on to the script. Same as you.

Every writer writes differently. Some have to start at the beginning and write through to the end. Some have to outline. Some start at the end. The only method is the one that gets the script written. If you outline and never write a scene, what's the point? If you start from the beginning but abandon it because you don't know where the story is going, what's the point?

What I tell my students when they're first writing a screenplay is this: start with the scene that made you want to write the story in the first place. It could be (and almost always is) the opening scene. It could be the end. It could somewhere in the second act. I wrote the first act, then jumped all around the story because I know there were certain scenes I definitely wanted in there to tell the story. Then I connected those scenes with the narrative. If something didn't work, it either got moved or cut. My entire opening scene got a moved to a flashback later in the story because it just didn't work as the opening scene anymore.

Yes. I wrote a flashback. I'm very ashamed.

@Frank Baruch I guess it depends how you define "start" - I can't see doing an outline until I have the concept. So for me it starts much earlier, and the initial spark can be a scene, an experience, even a visual. That gets a story idea happening. and only when that is fairly well developed would I even attempt an outline. I personally find that more of an intuitive process and more artistic. The outline itself begins to apply technical constructs to the artistic expression which I don't find useful until I have a full story. After that, I analyze whether something is useful to that story or not.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg To answer your question, an outline is probably my second step over title, concept, idea and climax. I've written outlines for scripts that I've abandoned halfway through, not because the concept is bad, but because I don't believe my work is up to par. And I'm sure a lot of people have abandoned their ideas in the concept stage only to realize they were sitting on gold. I just think it's a great guide overall in regard to keeping on track when you actually come to the writing stage.

Hey Frank, Like Maurice, I too, outline the script first...need the blueprint to build from.

If you want it badly, IT HAS to be in the script...now, that's why there is outlining/treatment-ing/re-writing to solve that...

Did Tarantino had to have cursing, self-loathing, "N" word thumping black man in "Pulp Fiction"? No, could have been just plain ol' introvert thug as they usually go...

Did Benchley/Gottlieb had to have 10 meter long shark in "Jaws"? No, 2-3 meter bloodthirsty one would have done the same job nicely...

Did "Baywatch" really had to have Pam Anderson nude? No, that's why she ain't...

Haha .David. you're not ashamed you used a flashback. I like your sarcasm. A flashback used in the right way is a very powerful tool.

Yea, hurts though :) Like you, I save them for future projects.

Or you could do the opposite and use the same again and again, and be famously known for that one thing/ example is Shane Black movies always take place during Christmas time.

Give producers the "Barton Fink" vibe at cheaper rates! :)