In considering screenwriting, the first thing you have to come terms with is that film history is littered with good manuscripts that never got made.  With so many elements and players involved in pre-production, getting a screenplay produced can be quite a trying experience. 

Though it's possible to make a handsome sum out of writing screenplays that will be never be seen or produced it can also be a somewhat demoralizing process.  Before worrying about all that, the first step is to write the best manuscript you possibly can.  Remember that a good screenplay is a story and stories are critically important.  Write about what is familiar to you and what you are passionate about.

Because a screenplay requires strict structure and format it makes a lot of sense to first write a treatment or outline.  A treatment can mean different things, it can refer to an outline of the plot, or to a detailed plan that you use to help you write the screenplay.

In structuring a screenplay it’s imperative to remember that all stories should have a beginning, middle and an end, but not always in that order.  Many interesting scripts don’t follow a linear story line and can begin at the end and end at the beginning.  Regardless, all screenplays need the following components:

1.         A main event or an inciting incident

2.                   A struggle against all the forces of life

3.                   A crisis

4.                   A climax

5.                   A resolution.

Writing exposition is the next process that follows after creating a treatment.  The exposition is the facts of your story.  It's all the facts about the characterization, the history, the society, the physical setting and so on.  You only need to include the facts that the audience needs to know at any given time and no more!   Remember to dramatize these facts when you include them in your screenplay.

When creating characters and dialogue it can be helpful to write detailed notes on the history of your characters but follow the same principles given for exposition.  Remember some characters will need depth; what they say and do may be very different from their secret desires.  To help you write realistic sounding dialogue, listen carefully to people around you.  Remember that the real drama of a film is underneath what is being said and done.  Helpful tips to facilitate character and dialogue development are reviewing and rewriting, reading your screenplay aloud to hear if it flows well, paring down your dialogue, and remembering that film is all about images.

A script is a document that outlines every aural, visual, behavioral and lingual element required to tell a story. A film is a highly collaborative medium and the director, cast, editor and production crew will, based on your script, interpret your story their way when it is filmed.  They may consult you, or they may not.  Other writers may be brought in or you may be asked to re-write the entire thing.  That's life in the world of screenwriting.  But because so many people are involved in the making of a film, a script must conform to standards that all involved parties understand and thus has a specific format or layout, margins, notation and other conventions.  This document is intended to overview the typical elements used screenplay writing.  Essentially this is how it should look:

EXT. THE WRITERS SCHOOL - NEW YORK - MORNING

A grand New York City building houses this graduate school for aspiring WRITERS who mill about the front entrance.  JERRY, an enthusiastic man in his thirties, with long dark hair and glasses stands by the front door greeting the semester’s new students.

JERRY

Welcome to the Writers School, I’m Jerry Wilson a second year student.

Scripts have to look a certain way. This point can’t be stressed enough.  You must present your work like an insider.  The sheer volume of submissions makes it so that if anything about your script looks strange it's headed for the circular file.  If you don't know the game they won't play.  The scriptwriter has to adhere to conventions covering everything from how many pages to what font, Courier 12 pitch in the U.S., and that's just the beginning.  It’s highly recommended that you follow these rules because the people you'll need to work with are all accustomed to this standard format. 

It is critical to remember that film is a visual medium.  You don't tell your audience your story, you show them.  You must learn to write a screenplay visually.  Write what they will see and what they will hear.  You might love your characters and know what they are thinking, but the discipline of screenplay writing is how to show it on the big screen.  When it happens, it may be just done with a look, often improvised on the movie set.  So just write the pictures, sounds and speeches, and leave the rest for the filmmakers.

Movies most loved often feature characters that swept you up, who captivated your emotions, got you involved.  The audience viewing a movie not only wants to be interested in and care about the people they see on the screen, they want to be passionate about them, whether they like them or not.  Great heroes and heroines inspire us; great villains make us want to jump into the screen and defend.

There is always something at stake in a good movie.  Not just something someone wants, something that must be acquired, no matter what the risk, as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Sometimes it can be an intangible thing, like the freedom of people in Lawrence of Arabia or Gandhi.  All these things drive the character's quest, even gives the hero superhuman strength.  It can be something personal (romance) or for the good of all (saving the world from aliens) but it must be powerful and grow more desperate as the story unfolds.

There are always obstacles, which provide that catchword that actor’s love so much, conflict.  This is the heart of drama.  Someone wants something and people and things keep getting in the way of them achieving the goal.  In most good stories, the protagonist will also have an inner obstacle, some mental or even spiritual problem that will be resolved by the time s/he reaches the outward, physical goal of the story.  Some people call this inner demon a "ghost," while others call it a "wound."

Hollywood buys genres.  Agents, managers and producers are drawn to and specialize in specific genres so approaching them with something they can recognize is a good idea.  Successful stories are fresh but are identifiable at the same time.  You know what makes your idea unique, but can you describe it quickly to others?  Is it a fast-paced thriller, romantic comedy, action adventure?  Whatever it is, it should be why people will leave the comfort of their homes and plunk down their hard-earned bucks at the local cineplex.

Andrew was educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and the University of California at Santa Cruz.  He has authored The Cigar Connoisseur along with numerous magazine articles on cigars, food & wine and travel.  Aside from these areas of interest, Andrew has written for both film and television having sold an original screenplay as well as a two-hour A&E Biography.