Script Writing Essentials

Introduction:

This area gives you a basic idea on what you will need to start to develop your script writing skills, and get your ideas down on paper. It tells you that the best scripts are hard to write so if you are feeling under pressure because you are struggling half way through your script, then its probably going to be a good script.

Developing Your Idea:

When developing your ideas, you need to have a basic idea where you want to take your story too. This means you need to know want you want to make people feel. Whether you want your audience to feel excited or scared, you need to show your audience, whilst writing the script, how to feel otherwise your audience may not understand the story. Any basic ideas that you have need to be expanded on for your own personal understanding so you yourself know the story.  

Form and Format:

Before you even start to really get into writing a script, work out what will the best of showing off your work, whether this is on the radio or television. All good and strong scripts know where they are going and the audience can really get into the story. All bad and weak scripts struggle to get the audience really interested and don't have a clear path on what happens next.

Character:

A great character can make a good script into an amazing script. A great character can be created by you knowing who the character really is like, and how they would react in real life circumstances. You know you have created a great character when your audience can feel empathy for the character. This helps draw the audience into the script, even if the script isn't the best.

Beginnings:

The important thing is to hit the ground running. This is because you want to hook your audience in from the first minute. But make sure you have planned how it will start, end and all the little bits in the middle. This will help you create the impact that you will need to get your audience interested. 

Middles:

This is where your script could go from being a good script, to a boring awful script. You have to make things interesting and exciting to watch to a certain point, even if the story does start to become confusing, you have to make sure everything at the end of the day all comes together to make a great story. 

Endings: 

You need to work out how to not make your script not a let down for your audience, to help do this, make sure your ending makes sense and isn't too crazy, but it can't feel predictable at the same time. The audience will like a surprise! But try not to go over the top because it might not be relevant to the script.

Scenes:

Its a mixture of time, place and setting. This makes up the majority of a scene. Good scenes can help push the story forward whilst bad scenes can really hold the story back which may make the audience uninterested. Work out the affect on the characters in each scene so you can get the characters really involved. 

Dialogue:

When using dialogue, try to make it so it isn't all conversation. Try to make it so the characters can express their feelings in certain situations to make your story seem more realistic. Make sure you put yourself in the shoes of the character so you can think of something that the character is likely to say. 

Rewriting:

After you have finished your script, you need to leave it for a few weeks so you can detach yourself from the script emotionally. After a few weeks have passed read through your script again, then you should be ready to make notes on what should change. Then, once you have gone through it all, rewrite your script. Repeat this for every rewrite that you do until you think it can't be improved further.