The Tools of Screenwriting

A script writer has only a few tools. One is his/her brain, IQ, talent, experience and storytelling ability. The other tools of screenwriting for movies, tv and film can be obtained through classes, courses, books like "The Bare Bones Book of Screenwriting", getting a mentor, watching movies, studying film screenplays and writing script after script, with re-wrote after re-write and editing until your fingers bleed. Add Band-Aid to your screenwriter's tool-kit.

Format is basic. It's easily taught, and most creative writers won't have a hard time formatting once they educate themselves.

Story is king - and hardest to nail. As a newbie, or novice screenwriter, story, structure, character and dialog will prove to be your biggest challenges of writing, even if you don't see it.

Most professional WGA screenwriters working in a career as feature scriptwriters, ghost writers, spec script writers, TV writers, and co-writers have written dozens of scripts, and probably trashed most of them.

Writing your first screenplay is a big deal. Finishing the screenplay's final act should bring joy. Drink some wine, smoke a Cuban cigar or dabble in another form of mind alteration to reward yourself for completing a screenplay. That's better than most dummies who stop during the outline phase.

Outlining is vital to screenwriting, in the same way a blueprint or architectural plans are to building. The script outline should be 8-20 pages and be editable, which means it takes less work to edit structure or problems during the outline process, than dealing with 120 page screenplay.

Movies are visual. Dialog is cheap. The outline should contain the whole story and sub-plots, but not so detailed, and without much dialog. The outline will be read by your boss, if you're a hired writer, or never seen. But it is the best tool for screenwriting. and