Reginée

So there you are minding your business and enjoying life and all the sudden, this grand stroke of genius hits you and you're like "holy hell that would be a great idea for a movie or tv show!"

But then you realize, you don't know how to turn the idea in your head into a functional reality on the page. Listen, I get it. Once upon a time, the same thing happened to me. But I'm here to help and give you the practical steps in getting your idea written on the page.


Choose Your Medium

Do you want to write for film or television? Are you wanting to write a short film or full length feature? Or do you want to a write a one hour drama or thirty minute sitcom? What do you initially see your idea as? Answering those questions first, will do a lot of heavy lifting for you as they will determine the type of story structure to follow.

Now as you start to develop your idea more, you may decide that your feature film may be better served as a limited series or that your one hour drama would be better as a sitcom. This does not mean that your idea was bad, but you've opened the doors of other possibilities to consider. That's a great problem to have. My advice is to remain open to the fact that your idea and your story will probably take you somewhere unexpectedly different but will work out better in the long run.

To Outline or Not to Outline

You don't have to outline your script. You also can outline your script. Neither option is more right or wrong than the other. I have successfully completed scripts with either option. You are not less of a screenwriter if you don't outline your scripts and you are not better than another screenwriter if you do choose to outline.

However, if your goal is to be a working writer in television, I do recommend that you get comfortable flexing the muscle of writing pretty detailed outlines because television shows require it for the writer's room to keep everybody on the same page.

Whatever option you choose, be sure to see it through for the draft you're working on. If you choose to outline initially, and then abandon that outline and just wing it, it can (and probably) will reflect in your script. You risk your story becoming sloppy or meandering along because you no longer know how to end it or you miss the smaller details that can add value and clarity to your script. Now once you've completed the draft and feel like you would be better served doing it differently for the next draft, then go for it. But the goal is to keep your writing and the clarity of your writing as tight as possible.

Study Films and Television Shows

There is seriously a wealth of information in past film and television shows. Do not sleep on the past. You get a chance to see elements of shows that you like and resonate with and those elements you don't like and resonate with. You may get inspiration from a story tidbit that wasn't explored very much in a series but you think would be perfect for your series.

You can also get a good idea for how many characters you need to flesh out your story and create the dynamics and tension for your characters. For example, if you want to write a cop procedural in the vein of Law & Order, you'll see that there's always the two detectives that are partners, the captain that they answer to, maybe another detective that also works with them or gives them information, a killer, a victim, a coroner, lawyers, etc. You get a very clear sense of the roles of the characters and how their profession drives the story forward and/or create conflict for the detectives trying to solve the case.

If you want more tips and advice on how to develop your idea, be sure to check out my video on YouTube and let me know your favorite way to develop an idea.