Screenwriting : Writing process. by Stevan Šerban

Anyone?

writing Act II which is why I spend a lot of time getting the outline right

The not writing and waiting between drafts.

The words, mostly.

I'm with John. Act 1 -then a miracle happens, -Act 3, is usually how it starts for me. Story is core. Keeping everything moving in the right direction is what I often struggle with.

Getting distracted by Stage32. :-)

Just learned some English 4 or 5 years ago ... I think to achieve in the depths of a language, style, modernism, etc is more possible when you are native in that language. The person who edits my scripts says to me that gradually I will improve my 80 percent in grammar... Hopefully!!!

Concentrating and attention span.

For me it's trusting my gut. I find it hard to stop second guessing myself sometimes.

Oh I know that feeling CJ. For me it's about confidence.

Do you first build a story structure in your head, or paper, or start with strong character and let him to lead you through the story?

For me, the most important part is setting aside a regular time slot to work. Trying to cram writing time into a busy day is difficult. I find that writing is much easier if I set aside a certain time during certain days of the week. I'm a morning person, so I work best right after I have my morning coffee...four days a week. I don't even try to write any other times.

I can only put pen to paper if there's no one else around.

Hi Stevan, in reply to your comment about what comes first, for me, if i have an idea for a story or character i can build a story around, i try to visualise the whole high-level story in my head ‘with my heart’ first. if i can't do this yet, i make a note of the idea in my book, and come back to it another day. if i can visualise it and i feel emotionally good about it when i do, i start the development process. for me this starts with index cards to capture and build the heart of the idea into a story: what’s on page 1, page 3-5, what's happened by page 10, the key event at the end of Act I, the point of ‘no return’ in Act II, the unexpected event that trips up Act II and takes you into Act III holding your breath, and finally the climax of Act III, Relief. Regret. Joy. whatever is the emotion you want to feel at the end when you breathe again. then i build the structure into a detailed outline, scene-by-scene. to your closing comment, this is when i let the characters lead me through the story, build the structure and content. describe each scene, every action, the characters and even the dialogue. then when i have tested my outline again and again (typically 3-4 drafts) until it flows visually in my mind and i can hear the characters talking, then i begin writing the script. i don’t profess to say this is right, it’s just what i do. each to their own. i know some people can just write without planning but I personally like to plan, that just me i guess.

Hi John, the same is with me. First I must construct the whole story in my head, than I am going to find a character who can handle with my story, but sometimes like a thunder struck I have clear vision on some strong character and quickly write everything about him than built a story around him.

Staying true to my theme and myself.

Alle, so every aspect of writing process is difficult for you? Where is the joy of creation, passion?

why does difficulty have to equate to no passion or no enjoyment? plenty of GREAT writers have expressed they found writing difficult.

For me it's slowing down and not forcing it just to get it down.