Solid screenplay structure, as we all know, is the foundation of crafting a good script. It is one of a screenplay’s most crucial core components and immediately gives the writer who has mastered it the edge over one that hasn’t. A studio script reader simply won’t read past page 25 (or page10 these days) unless they have noted a clear set up and catalyst. At SRP, however, we receive many, many screenplays that overlook these basics of script structure.

We all know the importance of outlining a script before writing the actual thing. Robert McKee swears by it and most professional screenwriters outline heavily before writing a single word of dialogue. In fact, outlining is the hardest and longest part of writing a screenplay, (apart from Tarantino, of course, who just dives right in, but he’s very much in the minority.)

How many of you, though, know of the importance of writing outlines of films as you watch them? This is an invaluable exercise and we can’t stress enough the benefits it can bring to your writing. It will improve your sense of story structure no end, and the more you write the better.

Simply sit down with a laptop and write exactly what happens on screen as you watch. Each scene in a film fulfils a specific function, and it is this that you need to capture in your summary.

Sentences should be short and to-the-point, describing only the basics of what happens and avoiding extraneous details.

Click here for part two on screenplay structure.