It’s both exciting and terrifying to start a new screenplay — whether it’s your first, second, third, or beyond.
The excitement takes hold because you’ve had this idea playing in your head for a while and you’re finally committed to getting that idea — and its story and character elements — onto the page. It’s always exciting to see your concepts come to life.
The terror can reside in the fact that you now have to bring those visuals and thoughts into the realm of screenwriting structure by way of laying it out in script format, story structure, scene description, dialogue, and characterization.
That’s the thrill though. That’s why screenwriters do this. You want to see your ideas and concepts grow into compelling and engaging cinematic tales that entice Hollywood to buy them and bring them to life on the screen for audiences to experience.
But for all of that to happen, your scripts have to not just be good — they need to be amazing. You always want to showcase your best work to the powers that be.
With that in mind, here we’ll share five screenwriting prep exercises you should do before you write a single word. Front-end screenwriting tasks are key to the success of any screenplay. If you do the front-end work before you jump into the writing process, your script will be far, far more successful than just jumping into the writing and “vomiting” out a quick first draft.
1. Think of Your Concept as a Seed That Needs to Grow
Too many screenwriters start writing their scripts with only a core concept, some characters, and a few sequences in their heads. They’re so excited to start writing the script that they forget to develop the basic foundation necessary to build a successful cinematic story:
- Story Arcs
- Plot Points
- Character Arcs
- Acts
- Effective Opening Hooks
- Evolving Conflict
- Compelling Climaxes to Build Towards
That’s the sometimes terrifying and intimidating part of screenwriting, right? Giving your concept depth and structure.
It doesn’t need to be terrifying though. You can go into the writing process prepared with those script elements with some simple and easy front-end work.
Help the Seed to Grow
A movie concept is like a seed. It needs to grow before it takes full shape. Seeds need good soil (story foundation as far as basic plot and characters), water (some story/character arcs), and sunlight (conflict, pacing, catharsis, etc.) to grow. Most can grow even faster and stronger with some fertilizer as well (visual inspiration).
Let’s use Steven Spielberg’s Jaws as an example.
Concept (Seed)
A great white shark is terrorizing a local island community.
That’s the basic core concept of the movie. It’s compelling. It’s intriguing. We immediately see the possibilities of a thrilling cinematic story. But it’s not enough.
Foundation
A local Chief of Police is tasked with dealing with the shark attacks. He’s facing pressure from the local community and its leaders as tourist season is about to begin. The Chief is a newcomer. He has a wife and two boys. Meanwhile, a shark continues to wander the depths of the shore waters, looking for its next victim.
We have now added some basic story and character foundation to the concept — story and character windows to tell our tale within.
Story and Character Arcs
The Chief of Police is new to the community. He’s not an islander. In fact, he’s afraid of the water. He moved from working the streets of New York City in search of a better life for his family. Now he must face the most horrifying threat found within the waters he fears so much.
He enlists the help of a celebrated oceanographer who shares his concern of the threat that the community leaders refuse to take seriously. This character helps the Chief unlock the mystery of this very dangerous terror.
Meanwhile, a local fisherman has volunteered to hunt down the shark. However, at first, the community leaders refuse his services. It’s not until the Chief and the oceanographer prove the threat is real and ongoing that the fisherman’s boat and services are utilized to stop the threat.
We now have many story and character arcs to explore that give depth to the core concept.
Conflict, Conflict, Conflict
Conflict is everything in screenwriting. The more conflict (sunlight) you attach to your concept, the better the pacing and catharsis as we see the characters deal with ever-growing stakes. This is what keeps a story moving as all of the foundation you’ve set supports compelling and engaging story and character arcs that keep the script reader and eventual audience invested and wanting more.
The shark has killed a child in plain view of the community. Everyone now knows that the first death wasn’t an anomaly. The community and its leaders are reeling. They finally see that the Chief was right.
But now the real conflict begins. The Chief charters the fisherman’s boat and services. He also takes the oceanographer along to utilize his expertise. But the three of them don’t see eye-to-eye. There is constant conflict between them on their quest into the deeper waters of the ocean. And then as they face off with the shark, there is evolved conflict upon evolved conflict thrown at them. Things get worse and worse until the boat is lost to sea and sinking, one of them is dead, the other is missing and presumed dead, and the Chief is left to take on the shark face-to-face.
We’ll get to the fertilization in a bit as we talk about visualization before you type a single word. But as you can see, it’s fairly easy to add all of these front-end elements to your concept.
It’s not enough to have a cool or intriguing concept. You need to do the front-end work of story and character development before you type a single word.
Take a month or so to let that seed grow. But it’s also not enough to write down or log character and story beats, arcs, and conflict. You need to see the story come to life in your mind before you start typing.
2. Visualization Is Key
Film is a visual medium. How can you possibly tell a visual story without seeing the images in your mind first?
Far too many screenwriters miss this step. They may have done an amazing job of developing their characters and stories (see above). They may have even written a detailed outline (see below), laying out the scene-by-scene structure and beats of the script.
But if you haven’t taken the time to visualize this movie in your head, you’re going to struggle writing a script that is easy for script readers (readers, producers, development executives, managers, agents, directors, and talent) to visualize as a movie.
Screenwriters who don’t take the time to visualize their stories often find their script overly reliant on overly-expositional dialogue.
Remember — your scripts are blueprints for cinematic movies. They need to read and feel like moving pictures.
How do you accomplish this? By visualizing your script before you type a single word. Take the time to let the visuals grow in your head. You should see those visuals, see your movie, and see the most prominent scenes and sequences in your head before you type a single word. You should see how the movie will be directed, filmed, and edited. While it’s not your job to go into details of camera angles and camera directions, you can and should visualize and write how an overall screenplay is edited by way of eventually writing like an editor edits to create a great flow of scenes. Once you visualize that, you can interpret those visuals into your script.
You Can Write Without Typing a Single Word
Writing isn’t just about putting fingers to keys. You can do most of your writing before you type a single word of your script.
- Daydream during work/school and during breaks throughout the day.
- Visualize how your movie is going to begin, how it’s going to progress, and how it’s going to end.
- Go on runs, walks, or bike rides and imagine those scenes.
- Lay in bed before you go to sleep and visualize a scene/sequence or two (your brain will actually continue that process as you sleep).
- As you read any outline or beat sheet you’ve hopefully written, visualize those moments as you read them over and over.
- Visualize the bridge scenes and moments between each of those story beats, scenes, and sequences.
Here’s one pro trick when it comes to visualization — hold off the typing of your script during your writing sessions until you are bursting with visuals of those scenes and sequences in your head! The words will flow so much faster when you’ve done the front-end visualization.
Visualize Before Each Writing Session
As you go on in your writing process, be sure to visualize every scene you sit down to write during each ongoing writing session. Don’t go in blind. Don’t find the visuals as you type. See them first.
This process is so vital to the success of your script because you are tasked with describing what people should be seeing (and hearing). You need your scene description and dialogue to look, sound, and feel like a movie playing on a screen in their mind’s eye. And before you can do that for them, you need to do it for yourself.
3. Watch Similar Movies and Shows
This is the added fertilization of your concept. To visualize your story, you sometimes need visual inspiration. It’s not about stealing visuals or outright lifting scenes from somebody else’s script/movie — it’s about feeding your imagination so that your brain can apply that inspiration into the context of the visuals your script needs, creating your versions of what has come before.
The greatest cinematic directors screen similar movies for their casts and crews — similar in the form of genre, tone, atmosphere, aesthetics, etc.
The greatest screenwriters take the time to feed their collective cinematic library of visuals by watching similar movies and shows.
When you do this, your brain will take over and help you better visualize the story you are trying to tell.
4. Research, Research, Research
During your visualization process — as well as the other front-end tasks we’ve suggested — you should also begin researching your concept, world, subject, and character archetypes.
Whether you’re crafting a fictional world for your character to explore or digging into the life and legacy of a real person or historical event, research should always be a foundational step in your screenwriting process.
But it’s not just about building the world, understanding the story, or getting the facts right.
One of the most overlooked yet critical parts of developing a screenplay idea is researching the concept itself — to make sure it hasn’t already been done.
We live in a shared creative culture where similar inspirations strike many minds at once. Conceptual overlap is inevitable. And for many emerging screenwriters, one of the most painful experiences is pouring months into a script only to realize that Hollywood has already released — or is currently developing — a project nearly identical to theirs.
It’s a crushing realization.
So as soon as your idea starts taking shape, open a browser and start searching. Look into whether a similar premise exists, is in development, or has already been told. If you find something close, don’t panic — use that knowledge as an opportunity to tweak your concept, give it a new perspective, or make it stronger than what’s already out there.
5. Find the Perfect Title and Logline
Some pundits and online commenters will refute this, saying that script titles will change and loglines aren’t needed until the marketing process.
Here’s another way to look at it. Every pro screenwriting contract is signed after an established or working title and logline has been agreed upon (as well as a general synopsis has been written). Sure, those elements can change. But it all starts with a title and logline — the core elements of the script.
Here’s a more creative reason, though. It’s exciting and fun to give your script some instant identity. What’s the first thing most parents do before their child is born? They choose names. Have fun finding the perfect title. Then it’s time to see the personality of your concept come to life by presenting the core concept, core conflict, and core protagonists — this is the logline of your script. One or two sentences is all you need.
The logline can also work as a great compass for you. If you find yourself making the common mistake of getting away from the concept you started, you can always find your way back with your original logline.
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The excitement and terror of starting a screenplay are both positives and negatives. The excitement can force you to jump into the process too early. The terror can ensure that you do the above front-end work to calm yourself to the point where you’re ready to move forward.
You need the excitement. You need the terror. Those are the emotions that will fuel you to write the best possible script.
Do the front-end work before you type a single word and your script will be far, far more amazing because of it.