How to Outline Your Screenplay
I’ve heard of people who successfully finish a screenplay without an outline. I’ve also heard some people say that Bigfoot exists. I’ve yet to see either in person. The thought of writing a script without any sort of roadmap sounds like walking into an unknown forest at night without a headlamp; possible to find your way out but 1000 times harder.
A teacher once told me I always look for the path of least resistance. I agree. He actually said it as an insult but I’m choosing to see the bright side. I like to make things easier for myself and you should too. Writing is hard enough as is. Creating an outline, even the skeleton of one, can make things a little simpler.
Every writer seems to have their own process for outlining their story. Through trial and error, I finally feel I have a step-by-step guide to creating a screenplay. Of course, this came at the expense of 2 scripts that were started and scrapped because I couldn’t figure out the ending. That was a hard lesson to learn; know your ending before you start writing. It can help guide you through the most difficult sections to write.
Let’s say an idea hits you, I liken it to a lightning bolt that strikes me directly in the head (minus the negative connotations of such an event). I see an image or a concept that will be the basis for my screenplay. I immediately want to start writing it. But my trusty planning brain tells me that is cruel punishment I don’t deserve, so I begin the outlining process instead.
Two things to keep in mind before you begin: don’t judge any of your initial instincts and don’t get too attached to any aspect you write down. Being flexible in writing is important so you don’t get pulled down a rabbit hole that has a dead end. Sometimes writing means letting go of ideas you like because they don’t work.
Step 1: Write a bad logline first
A logline is a 1 to 2 sentence high-level description of a script.
IMDB’s logline for JAWS is “When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down”. Pretty dang catchy.
(This was the friendliest image I could find that alluded to the movie JAWS without actually showing a shark. They scare me.)
People teach entire courses on loglines so I won’t go into too much detail. Don’t use character names and only mention key aspects of the story. As you don’t really know your story yet, this shouldn’t be too difficult. Know it will change down the line.
For this exercise I might write: A girl and her dog set out on an adventure to find the girl’s missing mother.
Step 2: Write down everything you imagine for this script (good and bad ideas)
This part is a lot of fun. I tend to do it in bullet points. With my logline as a reference, I start to brainstorm all possibilities; locations, characters, maybe a few scenes, endings, pivotal moments, changes in character. I could have the girl fight a bear, the dog chases a squirrel and gets separated from the girl, the girl realizes the importance of family. Keep going until you’re out of points.
Step 3: Start elaborating
Next, you start elaborating on the main aspects of the story.
Write down your main characters: You don’t need names yet but you should have a general idea of their traits. Sometimes I write them as the role that they will play in the story, “Antagonist”, “The Comic Relief”. You don’t need all the details here, that will come later. This is to determine who your key players are. I should remind you, these characters might change. You might decide you have too many sidekicks or that one of your characters isn’t different enough from the main character. This is why being flexible is important.
Write down the general story: Again, no specific details required, unless you have them of course. This is a chance for you to see the flow of the story. It can be very simple. Girl’s mother goes missing, girl leaves house with dog to find her, girl meets new friend, they have adventures, girl finds out new friend is not a friend, girl is lost without dog, girl is hungry and injured, dog finds girl, girl recovers, girl and dog find her mother.
(Would watch this dog adventure movie)
Step 4: Get into the nitty-gritty details
This is where you start to dig in.
Characters: Start exploring who they are. I don’t ever get too far into what a character looks like unless it specifically drives the story. For example: if they always wear clothes that have holes and tears, you might gather that they don’t care about appearance. This could be telling of their personality and how they interact with people around them. What I want to know is:
Are they funny? Or serious?
How did they grow up? Was their family tight-knit? Did they struggle for money? How do they handle money now? Do they spend too much? Do they count every penny?
Who are the people closest to them?
What do they want most in the world?
Do they have anything from their past that they wish they could change?
How are they with food? Do they stuff themselves at every meal? Do they take tiny, precise bites?
What are their biggest fears?
These kinds of questions are important for shaping a character. These prompts will most likely have answers that arise in your script in some way. For example, if they are visiting with their family as an adult, they might see familiar dynamics playing out from their childhood but can finally stand up to their father rather than let him railroad the conversation.
This section is where you will start to write down supporting characters as well. You don’t need to explore their entire backstories, just who they are, their characteristics and why they are important to the main characters.
Story Summary: Here, you will want to write down as much as possible about what is going to happen. Do this in paragraph form (we will be doing a scene-by-scene breakdown later). You have character names now, start using them. Give as much detail as you can. I don’t mean “There is a turquoise room with a beige lampshade on the spare table”. I mean, “Tiffany Anderson lives an ordinary life. She goes to school, comes home, makes good grades. Then one day, her mother is late to pick her up. She decides to walk home but when she gets there, she finds the house has been emptied. Everything is gone, except for her trusty dog, Maple”.
Keep going like this until you have the whole tale. You don’t need every scene but the most important parts are the beginning, middle and end. That you should try to figure out. If you have some gaps, don’t worry. We will figure those out shortly.
Step 5: Write your beat sheet
This is another one of those steps that could get its own post. A beat sheet pinpoints the key moments in your script. There are various methods to writing your beat sheet. I follow Blake Snyder’s. (Suggested reading: Blake Snyder’s ‘Save the Cat’ outlines what each point is and why it is needed). If you haven’t used one before, make sure you read the descriptions of what each point entails and why it is necessary for moving the story forward.
Snyder’s sheet gets into specifics: Opening Image, Inciting Incident, Midpoint etc. I find these milestones extremely helpful in making sure that I’m on track with my story.
Sure, there are arguments for and against using beat sheets. I don’t think everyone needs to use one. But I think everyone should learn what they are and how it applies to writing stories. By no means do I follow beats down to the specific page counts but I know within the first quarter of my script, I’d like to set up the world and have something substantial happen that kickstarts the character’s journey.
Step 6: Write one line about each scene
Some people call this the 40 point beat sheet. I don’t want to put a number on it. I like to write out each scene of my script in a bullet point so I know what might be missing and where it’s all going. I include every scene that would get its own scene heading- even if it’s just someone walking on a sidewalk. For my girl and her dog saga, I might write:
Tiffany goes to school.
We see Tiffany at school. No one talks to her.
She comes home, her mother has a snack waiting for her. We meet Maple.
Tiffany and her mother watch a movie. Hint at what happened to her dad?
Tiffany is in class. She gets yelled at by a teacher.
Tiffany waits outside of school. All the other kids get picked up.
Tiffany walks home.
Tiffany enters her house. Maple is sitting at the door whimpering. Everything is gone- Mother not found.
I would keep going like this until I hit every point and got to the end. Now you can see it all laid out. Maybe it seems like things are rushing in the middle. Maybe the end needs a little more space between the final showdown and wrap-up. Honestly, these kinds of observations will come in time. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at identifying what is missing from your story. Try reading these points out loud to a willing participant as if you are describing an entire film. If you are getting caught up too often because you’ve forgotten a point or something is not making sense, it might need another revision.
Step 7: WRITE!
You must be relieved. It’s time to put pen to paper, or more accurately, fingertips to keys.
I use the software, Fade In, to write my screenplays. I find it intuitive and easy to figure out. Find one that works for you and make sure you check out basic formatting. Most people won’t even read the first page of a script if they see blatant formatting errors.
Focus on the scene bullets you carefully wrote out and let those be your guide.They might seem vague at first but they will allow for some magic to happen, where a character shows up that wasn’t expected and crashes the party.
Writing is tough and incredible and rewarding.
I wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of stories. Can’t wait to see what you create.
Dominique Roy is a screenwriter and producer based out of Vancouver, B.C. She can be reached by email at dominique@dreamboard.ca
