On a random Saturday morning, you hop in your car, pull out the driveway ready to go somewhere fun that you’ve never been.
You don’t know which fun place you want to visit and you haven’t quite decided who is going with you, what time you should arrive or what you’re going to do when you arrive at this place you didn’t plan to go. You don’t know the dress code, cost of admission or if they even have activity you will ACTUALLY like. Sound like a good trip?
Nobody sane plans a trip this way yet, when you start writing your screenplay without an outline it’s the equivalent of riding off into the sunset without a sense of direction. You already know. I’m not coming for your head and I’m not trying to make you mad but, I’d rather see you mad than left behind so I’m gonna tell it like it IS, not how it was.
I want to start with some common objections to using an outline.
The first I hear is that it “wrecks my flow”
Some writers like to feel free and easy when they start a screenplay. You jump in your chair, open up Final Draft (if you don’t have it, get it) then start creating scenes and it feels great. Until it doesn’t. Right? I’m gonna share a funny story in a bit but let me keep going to another objection.
The biggest one is that “I HATE outlines cuz they don’t work for me”
Some writers are able to move from concept to completion without EVER outlining or planning a single aspect of their script. I’ve seen it happen and it’s a kind of double edged sword.
The good is that you feel free to flow where your mind goes. The bad is that you’re free to go where your mind flows.
So how can that be good AND bad? I swear I’m not messing with your emotions. I’ll explain in a bit.
The last major objection I hear a lot is “outlines are too much work”
Digging deeper, the writers who hit me with this one find the blank page scary but I say don’t let no outline punk you out. You are a screenwriter and you got this. Too much? Ok let me calm down.
Some of my students have asked “why do I have to do ALL this work before I even get started on the story. I just want to write”. I see your point. A lot of us learned to hate outlines in high school when the English teacher was doing too much, marking our term papers low and messing up our report cards, got momma putting us on punishment. No? Just me? Ok what I’m saying is we ain’t in high school and nobody is judging your outline espy for your first draft. It’s your private document that you can SAFELY use to organize all your dope story ideas and make sure they fit together.
Now that we’ve covered the reasons people hate outlines, let me share my personal philosophy on outlining and some tips thar have helped my clients so maybe i can convince you to make outlining a part of your writing process.
First and foremost, if you DESPISE outlining, stay away from it. There’s no outcome that can justify fitting a square peg into a round hole and making you feel a way about the writing process before you even get started. Now as quickly as I say that, I still want you to know you need to get clear about your story some kinda way.
Three alternatives to an outline is a beat sheet which gives you the high level structure of your screenplay whether you’re using a 3 act structure or not, and then the hero’s journey which is a more character driven method of determining your story’s direction. Lastly there’s the Disney/Pixar story method which you can see in every film they’ve ever released. I’ve included links to learn more about all three methods below in episode notes and the video.
Even if you don’t use the methods I mentioned, here are 10 questions you should be clear on so you don’t feel intimidated and let writers block creep up on you:
- What does your main character want?
- Why does she want it?
- Will she get what she wants?
- How can you make her work for it?
- Who does she need help from to get what she wants
- What or who wants to stop her from getting it?
- Why do they want to stop her from being great?
- What does her opposition want/need?
- Where is the story happening?
- What if she DOES NOT get what she wants?
Write out these questions and answer them in a conversation with yourself but put your responses on paper with as much detail as you can. When the ideas stop, move to the next question. Now you have the starting point of your script that you can use to help keep you on track.
The second thing I like to mention is that IF you create an outline it can be one of the single most useful documents you ever create for your script project. I use my outline as input to create:
- Character profiles
- Scene details
- Synopsis
- Logline
- Pitch Deck
- Show Bible
- Mood Board
- Script revisions
- Plot twist creation
- Storyboards
And of course it helps me write a solid, workable feature length first draft in about 5 to 7 days versus weeks or months. Starting with my outline, I can write more than 20 pages in a day because I don’t have to wonder where I wanted the story to go.
Outlining has helped a lot of my clients avoid spending their limited writing time on the high level details. Without an outline or at least a sense of the story, guess what happens… Here comes writers block and another unfinished project. I don’t want that experience for you.
Industry note: If you want to work in a writers room, or as part of a team, you have to be able to give a high level overview of the story or episode and understand how your work fits into the larger project world so in many cases, outlining is non-negotiable.
When I was working with a development team on an animated feature, I provided outlines so that my teammates; animators, composers, storyboard artists, could get started on their work and the producer could give me a thumbs up before I spent hours writing something they weren’t happy with. So I hope you’re seeing the practical use of an outline beyond just writing your screenplay.
Bringing it back to my fun time example, when I have a destination in mind my outline works like a GPS and if I want, I can always choose a different path as I go but I know where I’m headed so when I change direction I can still land where I wanted to go. If my producer gives me notes on an outline, it’s easier to fix that than to fix the feedback inside a 90 page script. You want early eyes on your ideas. That’s how you can minimize dreaded plot holes.
Funny story. When my daughter first moved out, I decided I was going to visit and since I knew where I was going I didn’t use GPS cuz I just KNEW my way but, yeah…
I made one turn a little bit early and wound up taking myself more than a half hour opposite of the direction I should have been going because the street curved and of course I didn’t know it. You know I was mad right? Holla if you feel my pain.
My point though, is I use my outline like a GPS so it will keep me going in the right direction even though I always have control of the direction I take my script and if I get turned around, my outline is the reroute that helps me fix my mistakes. Plus the GPS don’t judge right?
That’s how I recommend you use any planning documents you create for your script.
One last point. Raise your hand if you have ever felt like your script was writing itself and your characters had taken over. I call that ghost writing and it happens for me when i get caught up in the emotional high of creativity. Remember I said that free flow of creativity is good and bad? It’s a beautiful feeling because I’m in my flow untiiiiil… i come down.
Once I’m off that high, I realize nothing i wrote is moving my story in the direction I need to go. now I got decisions to make. Now that Doesn’t mean I made a bad detour but if i don’t have a reference point, how can i figure out what works and get rid of what doesn’t?
That’s why I am an advocate for story planning whether you call it an outline or something else.
So let’s recap.
Outlines are a way to get clear on your concept. Write better scripts faster, create pitch and marketing documents, find and fix weak points in your story, organize your ideas and stay on track and communicate with your production team.
I’d like to leave you with an easy way to plan your screenplay so that you’re ready to face that blinking cursor like a boss.
1. What is the first scene
- Who is in it
- What do they want/need
- What are the one or two main events
- How does it end
2. Next scene….
3. Finally… this happens. The end
Give it a try and let me know if it was helpful as you script your success. Until next time, I wish you peace, love and happy writing as you script your success.