Screenwriting : Outlining by Desiree Argentina

"Screenwriters Bible" by David Trottier, might have some answers. After helping me with that link to my screenwriting contest thread I wanted to return the favor. I am told this book has EVERYTHING!! Good Luck. Binghamton huh? My friend lives in Delhi in Delaware County which I think is about an hour south of you. Good luck!!

My humble advice is to write the ending scene, then a really strong opening and then connect the dots. Shorts are a great way to start but learn to be very concise - condense your 30 pages to under 20 and still tell your story. It's hard but very good exercise. If you need some help, let me know.

Every story has a natural length. If you are having difficulty, it may be you have reached close to that, and the story doesn't want to be longer.

With all due respect, David.... I don't believe stories have natural lengths. Stories are as long as the writer chooses to make them. I can take ANY 91 page story and make it 90 without missing a beat. We build stories, stories don't build us. ... Desiree, I would focus on the opening and closing images of your lead. I believe those are the two most important beats of your story. Whatever you chose to do, good luck!

A short can be around 30 pages as long as it has a beginning middle and end. You might run into bigger problems if you try to stretch a story to 90 pages that is not mean to be.

Thanks so much everyone. Really great advice!

Desiree: Well....Spike Jonze beautiful short film - I'm Here - clocks in at 32 minutes....you'd be in good company. Some of his stuff is also three minutes.

I know that people say short film scripts should be like 10-12 pages...but crikey.....in reality....they go from 2 pages - 40 pages. If you're producing it, or have access to the full production/marketing/distribution package....the sky is the limit.

Good luck and Happy Writing, Desiree!

I've generally found it easier to cut than to add. But you might consider how many stories you're telling. There's the A story that's the focus of the work, but you can have B and C stories also. Often the A or B story is romantic--unless you're writing a romantic A story. The other thing you might consider is the size of the story. Blow up your story and see what happens.

I had a similar script. What I did was ask why every action in the short happened. This gave me all the story I needed.

John - the more you water it down, the thinner it gets. Stories depicted in script format may be complete in a few (7 - 10 pages), some need a little more and some need 100pages or more. It depends on the story.

I use Blake's beat sheet points after I've written the first draft - don't worry about the page position and not all points are included in every script all the time. I generally have at least an "A" & "B" story lines - often more. So different beats occur in different places within the various storys. I don't think that genre matters all that much - the basic story rhythm and flow is similar. The beat sheet is an excellent guide that I use more during the long rewrite process

My outline is more of a work in process. I start with the end, then try to write a killer intro hook. After 'most every scene, I pause to consider what comes next and jot down the next scene - based on the story rhythm and flow - keeping in mind that far off ending. Some days I pound out several pages, other days I'm lucky to get out a line or two. It's during the rewrite process that I make notes (Dull -cut it, More conflict, Expand, More action, Slow down...) So in a sense, I'm actually outlining even during the rewriting.

Thanks everyone. A lot of good points for me to consider. I've been working on the outline for a few hours now. I think I'm getting somewhere