Contents
Screenwriting Basics
How to Come Up with an Idea for Your Screenplay
How to Determine Your Audience
How to Create Characters
How to Write Dialogue
How to Create a Plot
Act I: The Setup
Act II: The Confrontation
Act III: The Resolution
How to Structure Your Story
How to Format Your Screenplay
The Screenwriting Process
After the Screenplay
Is Written
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Act I: The Setup
Act I establishes the world of your screenplay—the setting, characters, and conflict. In a screenplay, everything is related and happens for a reason. A good setup leads to a great second act and a satisfying ending. Act I should be about 30 pages long (pages 1–10 are the most important)and include:
- Character-building information
- An inciting incident
- Plot point I
The First 10 Pages
The first 10 pages of your screenplay (which equates
roughly to the first 10 minutes) are the most crucial. Those in the film industry want to know right off the bat whether or not your story is going to work, and they don’t usually read past the first 10 pages to find out.
The difficulty of the first 10 pages is that you need to convey plot information, establish setting, build character, and set up conflict—and you need to do all of this in a compelling way. In those first 10 pages, you need to establish:
- Protagonist: Who is this person, and why is he or she at the center of the story?
- Premise: What is the story about?
- Genre: Is it a Western, a comedy, etc.?
- Setting: In what world does the story take place?
- Situation: What are the circumstances surrounding the action?
The Inciting Incident
The inciting incident is the event that propels the story into motion. It usually happens within the first 10 minutes and always alters the protagonist’s life. It can be an intense event, such as when terrorists take over an office building in Die Hard, or just two friends setting out on a road trip, like in Thelma & Louise. This is the event that definitively draws your reader into the action of the story.
The Opening Scene
The opening scene should hook the viewer from the outset. Construct a scene that effectively informs the inciting incident. For instance, writers sometimes open with either an attention-grabbing sequence, such as a murder, or a calm sequence that establishes the everyday life of the protagonist, which will soon be disrupted by the inciting incident. Remember, the best way to convey information in quick brushstrokes is through images. Long dialogue will slow your beginning.
Plot Point I
Now that your story has been set in motion, you need to maintain the momentum. Do this by creating plot points. A plot point is an event that spins the action in a different direction and moves the story forward. The first major plot point, typically termed plot point I, should:
- Occur toward the end of Act I, around pages 20–27
- Keep the story moving
- Keep the storyline on track
- Lead into Act II
In Thelma & Louise, plot point I is the point at which Louise shoots Harlan for trying to rape Thelma. This event turns a casual weekend getaway into the outlaw adventure that continues to unfold for the remainder of the movie.
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