Screenplays need a fast pace if you want to attract the attention of the "gatekeepers" that stand between you and that producer or actor that you want to get to read your script. Production companies get hundreds of scripts from people every day ranging from your teacher, actors, janitors, waiters, doctors, lawyers, your mother and the list goes on. Everyone thinks they have a great story for a script. Putting aside the fact that you need an agent to submit your script to those production companies you still need to write the darn thing but how do you do it?
You have an idea for a story now what do you do? Well, the problem with most scripts writers come up with a great beginning, they know the killer ending of their screenplays but the middle of the script is where they run into problems. Writers often "lose steam" as the story progresses, then you'll come up with a fantastic ending. The in between part is where writers usually run into problems. One "trick" in overcoming this problem is to use a beat sheet. A beat sheet helps you come up with a obstacle every then minutes. It pushes the story along at a nice pace because before you can get bored something happens and your your protagonist will be throw another curve ball. The beatsheet is a sequence of 12 major plot points. Each sequence is ten pages and ten pages equals ten minutes. If you make a beatsheet if you'll have enough problems coming up to make your script interesting and even better catch the attention of one or more of those gatekeepers.
Tomorrow I'll go over how to make a beat sheet. Today start thinking about your story and remember- keep writing!
You have an idea for a story now what do you do? Well, the problem with most scripts writers come up with a great beginning, they know the killer ending of their screenplays but the middle of the script is where they run into problems. Writers often "lose steam" as the story progresses, then you'll come up with a fantastic ending. The in between part is where writers usually run into problems. One "trick" in overcoming this problem is to use a beat sheet. A beat sheet helps you come up with a obstacle every then minutes. It pushes the story along at a nice pace because before you can get bored something happens and your your protagonist will be throw another curve ball. The beatsheet is a sequence of 12 major plot points. Each sequence is ten pages and ten pages equals ten minutes. If you make a beatsheet if you'll have enough problems coming up to make your script interesting and even better catch the attention of one or more of those gatekeepers.
Tomorrow I'll go over how to make a beat sheet. Today start thinking about your story and remember- keep writing!
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