Write a Screenplay in One Month: Week Zero
by Jaden
photo credit: preciouskhyatt
For the month of August, I will pursue a self-imposed challenge to write a script within one month.
Interested in a perilous journey full of procrastination, fatigue, and freaking out? ‘Cause that’s what we’re talking about here.
If you would like to join me and write your own script, that would be splendid; I will help you the best I can. I, too, could use your encouragement.
The majority of deadlines for the top screenwriting competitions are in May and June, so you will have plenty of months to perfect your script. At some point, I will compile and list the best money-awarding, agent-grabbing, legitimate contests you ought to enter.
Let’s get started writing a screenplay.
1. Buy a screenwriting book.
The first book I ever had and am still fond of is Michael Hauge’s Writing Screenplays That Sell. If you don’t have time to read a book, Hauge also put out a highly rated 3 CD set called Screenwriting for Hollywood to which you may listen while sitting in traffic, watching the kids, or cleaning the house.
Another Hollywood screenwriting insider bible for story structure and character, the information from which you may apply toward any type of storytelling, is The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Originally written in the 1940s, this exciting mythological story breakdown has guided such greats as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to enormous success.
2. Brainstorm.
While you are doing your menial tasks of the day, think! Pick a story from your mental repository and start thinking about the characters’ traits, a story arch, twists, turns, and surprises you want to include.
3. Write a treatment and/or outline.
A treatment will be 2 to 30 pages, a short story version of your screenplay written in prose. This will be your guide. You may also write an outline if you want; this would be a bullet point list of scenes.
4. Flesh out your treatment into a screenplay.
Use your screenwriting book to guide you on format or go to my resources section to see scripts and formatting. You may also type keywords into my search box or go to vocabulary to find answers to your questions. Whether you have a book or not, go to Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences for precise formatting tips and examples.
I will be back next week to tell you how far I am with my script and to answer any questions you have and help you with yours. Considering I am working some heavy hours and have family in town all weekend, the first week will be difficult indeed.
My script will be a comedy. The story structure will be modeled after a successful old story that was a favorite of my father’s. I already know the title, which is two words, and the main course of events to ensue. My main challenge will be to write funny lines of dialog.
I hope you will join me for this adventure. I am happy to help you along the way. Good luck folks!
FLASH FORWARD: Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four
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33 Responses to “Write a Screenplay in One Month: Week Zero”
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Nice I have a rough idea of a comedy I’ve been wanting to start. Now I just have to find the ideas & one liners I have written in random places.
Hey Jaden,
I began my second comedy script in July and have about 20 pages down thus far, but the past two weeks have been difficult…this will give me the push I need to try for at least a page a day. My goal is 90 pages…
Anyway, I’ll try to join you on your August quest. Had no problem knocking out the first 20 over two weeks in July, but then again was “on vacation” or as close as one comes to on vacation while posing as a freelancer!
Adam & Muzz — Yay! I am so excited to have company on this journey. That makes 3 of us then. Yes, I am shooting for 90 pages too. (I always go over.)
Great idea! Of course, you can do it. Do you know that John Hughes wrote The Breakfast Club in just two days? TWO DAYS! And every November, thousands of people sign up for NaNoWriMo and write entire 50k word novels in just 30 days! From what I hear, the trick is to turn off your inner editor and don’t worry about getting it right — just get it written. You can edit, revise, and perfect later. Good luck!
I did the NaNoWriMo challenge too.
They tell you to just WRITE…dont’ edit yourself, don’t cut and paste..just WRITE, whatever comes off the top of your head.
So that’s what I did. And there was such FREEDOM in doing that. My God..the stuff that came out of my head, that I didnt’ realize was there.
I didn’t quite do 50K words, but I did get as far as 39,000. Probably not worth a complete novel, but I did end up with a huge ammount of material for blog posts and short stories, that I’m still sifting through.
Good luck with your screenplay. Let us know how it turns out.
Melissa & Friar — Thanks for the support. Critiquing myself is my biggest problem; I will heed your advice and just go for it. As I want my movie to be PG, I will be changing curse words into those replaceable while en route, though.
Okay, Jaden. I’m in. I’ll get the damn novel done with (estimate 100 pages left) and start on the screenplay. Maybe I’ll base it off the novel. That was my big fantasy, anyway. I won’t be able to write it in August, though. If I have till May or June of next year I can do it.
I’ve had one screenwriting class, but I’ll check out the books you mentioned. Thanks.
Nice picture. Looks like you’re done with your screenplay. hehe
Very cool, Jaden! I participated in Script Frenzy back in April in an attempt to adapt my book for the big screen. It turned out to be a miniseries. It was great fun, though, and it helped me to (finally!!!) master the art of outlining. Well, maybe “master” is too strong a word. Perhaps “take a small step forward” would be more accurate.
Anyway, if I wasn’t on a self-imposed NaNo this month I’d join you in your script-in-a-month endeavor. Maybe another time! :-)
Oh…I forgot to ask. Have you read Robert McKee’s “Story”? If so, what did you think of it?
– Ellen Wilson — Adapting your novel to a screenplay is a great idea. It also opens up your possibilities of to whom you may submit — different agents (literary or screen).
For the record, re the photo: I am saucy, but not as saucy as the girl in the photo… and I don’t smoke either, unless I am really drunk and being silly.
Loved this picture though: seductive, sexy, bold, and politically INcorrect, just like Hollywood.
Yes, it is like the smoking of when one is finished with something, eh-hem, like writing a screenplay. The joke around my household is that I count my chickens before they hatch. I’m always thinking about my next vacation while I am still counting the pennies for the milk.
– RJ Keller — Cool! I am so proud of you for finishing. Takes a lot of dedication that few people muster. During my travels, I often meet people who say they want to write a book or they have a special story they want to tell, but few actually sit down and carve out the time to write.
Last summer, people kept telling me how “courageous” I was for taking off the summer to write a novel. I said, “I think I am an idiot; nothing may ever come of it and I am going to be broke!” And they said, “That’s why you are courageous.”
Re: Robert McKee… I have not read STORY, but isn’t he the famous guy that screenwriters always reference jokingly in their movies? Like in Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation when he goes to a seminar? I have only heard jokes about him, but no one has whole-heartedly recommended him, so I never picked it up.
Here’s a 2004 funny and fantastic CNN interview with McKee about it:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/30/robert.mckee/index.html
Yes, that’s the guy! I’ve got his book and I think it’s pretty good.
“Adaptation” was brilliant. But then I love everything Charlie Kaufman’s done.
“How to write a movie in 21 days” Viki King
Worked for me.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Movie-21-Days/dp/0062730665
Jaden,
This is a great idea. I may join in on the fun. I’ll have plenty of time next weekend to get started. I will have to use some of your resources though before I begin. I look forward to hearing how everyones screenplay turns out. XOXO-Conchita lol
dunK — Thanks for adding more information.
Brunette Bombshell —
That would be fantastic if you join. You have so many really great stories from which to choose. That’s going to be your hardest part. Knowing many of your stories, if you want to write something in league with your website, I think you should focus on WHO IS YOUR MAIN CHARACTER first, and then revolve the stories around that person. Pick a moral, theme, a message you want to get across and then choose the best scenes that relay that message. I am happy to help you, so fire away with any questions.
BB, my guess is that you will have a character-centric screenplay. The one I am writing is character-centric as well, as all scripts should be, but mine is about the story first and foremost, and I created the character to drive the story. In your case, I think your character will drive the story, which can be a bigger challenge because you have to refine and tailor your stories to the character.
BB, you are really good with dialog and action, which is what screenplays are all about, so writing screenplays could be a perfect medium for you.
What a great idea and challenge! I’ll be taking on the challenge but in September or October. I finished the “Screenwriting for Dummies” book and I’m now reading “Filmmaking for Dummies”.
Jaden, the whole time I’ve been reading your blog and loving your work, I would think “it’s so cool to be able to do that and to want to do it.” Today, when I saw Screenwriting for Hollywood, I remembered that I have that book and several others. In my 20s I wanted to write a screenplay, long before I was writing for a living. I had buried it so deep it never surfaced in my memory. Maybe, just maybe I’ll give this challenge a shot. Thanks Jaden!
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I started writing a screenplay last year out of complete boredome with my visit to Blockbuster. As I walked past bad movie after bad movie I said, WTF, I can do this. In about a week I had 39 pages of scenes and perhaps a genious movie in the works. I put it away and left it on a thumbdrive and just forgot about it all summer. Well today I looked at it for the first time and read what I had done last spring, I still laughed at my own BS. I’m picking it up and including more real life stuff that’s happened or witnessed that can feed this.
Any good news on your script from August
I am really interested in screenplay writing. I already written two screenplays.
i read things like, john hughes wrote breakfast club in 2 days. it’s probably true, but i’m sure the process in his mind took years. quotes like this give me hope. i’ve written so many pages over the years, only to trash them. i’ll write when i’m ready. i haven’t forgotten a damned thing i trashed. i just won’t write til i get it right in my mind. i’m clearly not a technical person. big fucking deal. i look at the shit that makes it to the screen now. “puke”. any moron with a pencil can write a screenplay. i’m a frist class moron and i’ll have mine.
Please can you advise me how to contacr a screenwriter in Hollywood to polish up dialogue and screenplay for a script that I have written
My story also unfolds in the slums of Bombay but has more drama then the movie: SLUM DOG MILLIONAIR.
Kind regards
Chris Nand
Chris Nand — I offer screenwriting services. I will email you directly.
Steve Shannon — People in Hollywood are full of shit, especially with their stories of rapid and easy success or rise to fame. Anything worth doing is hard work. I am like you, thousands of pages written and trashed, and that is also how all successful screenwriters are as well. Don’t rush yourself, but do give yourself some deadlines to keep you moving forward. When the time and the script are right, you will know it. You will have to learn technical formatting though if you ever want to sell a script, otherwise, you can just make the movie yourself with your messy script.
Anthony DeLoach — Congratulations on your 2 scripts! That is no easy feat.
Minnesota Bound — Yes, I know the Blockbuster recurring nightmare, it is astounding how much crap is made and the millions of dollars spent on making it! Am so glad to hear you are working on your own ideas. If your script made you laugh much later, that is a great sign. Most of my old stuff makes me want to croak, but there are a few things that blow me away or make me laugh still, those are the gems I pull back out too.
Karen Swim & Sizzling Popcorn — Been a while now, you two ever get to working on the scripts?
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[...] Write a Screenplay in One Month: Week Zero [...]
Staring at the procrastination pie chart. I’ve been waiting for enough down time to start. The universe heard my call and tore my ACL. I’ve written more in the previous sentences than I have on my story. I don’t know if anyone still checks this site, but I’m declaring right f….in now that i will take advantage of this opportunity and at least start.
Kimberly — We’re still here! Just holler if you have any questions or need some help. You go girl! Challenge yourself. Setting deadlines for myself is the only way to get things done sometimes. Even if you set a small goal like one page a day, no matter how busy or tired you are, on computer or notebook, on the toilet, or whatever, if you write 1 page a day, which is reasonable, in 3 months, you will have a first draft of a script. Good luck.
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