Huzzah for you, Jonathan. Forging into writing a script without an outline is likely the single biggest reason why most screenplays do not get finished. Anyone can write a first act -- it's the story's set-up, you intro the main characters, establish the central problem and story conceit, lay in a major plot point, then zoom - you're off into Act Two. And maybe you get 10, even 20 pages into the second act, then you... find... your... story... petering... out...
The title of the thread is somewhat misleading. I'm not really going to try telling anyone who loathes outlining how to stop resisting. But perhaps if a number of us share our fondest experiences with outlines, others may be persuaded to give it a try. I wrote three scripts before giving in and outlining my entire story, beginning to end, before typing FADE IN.
Now I'm nearing the end of script #4. And I won't for a moment claim that outlining is fun or rewarding. But finishing a project surely is, and what I've recently realized is that the outline will hold your hand and usher you alllll the way through your story, kindly laying its jacket on the ground so you can hop over mud puddles along the way.
I got through half of this script before I really realized what the outline was going to do for me. Things were going fine, I was on track to complete the script faster than any of the previous ones, while also having it be tighter and cleaner than other first drafts. I credited the outline for this step forward in my development, but now I realize that wasn't the real gift.
The real gift is that it allowed me to skip over troublesome scenes/sequences as I came to them in the page 60-75 range. You know, where things turn to shit.
I know what happens after that black hole, and nothing in those pages is going to change the ending of the story. I need to clarify some things to make the ending as pitch-perfect as possible, but for the first time in my scriptwriting life there's a detour rather than a dead end. Instead of getting discouraged and stalling and avoiding working on the scene that's driving me crazy, I simply give it the finger as I zip on by.
I'm assured of reaching "the end" right on schedule. Sure, it's somewhat delusional to think of something as finished when you know there's still 15 pages you have to go fill in. But getting to the conclusion of the story always feels so good, I can only see that making me eager to go back and nail those missing pages. Even if they're a real bitch and still resist being written, I'm sure in the end I'll have saved a ton of time by putting them out of my mind for a while. Not to mention the strong possibility that writing the scenes that come after them will magically suggest exactly what I need to do in the preceding scenes.
I was one who once feared the outline would stifle creativity. I now think that's hogwash. I think it frees your mind to be creative as you're writing because you've done the nuts and bolts plotting and structuring up front. And if you're stuck, you can move on and write a later scene, never having to leave your desk hating yourself for not making any progress.
I realize this post isn't helpful in any practical sense. It's really just a testimonial. But hey, the message board is in its infancy and needs posts. Plus, I've been busying myself avoiding a difficult scene for hours, and this seemed a good way to kill more time.
Wait a second...
Where to go? What to do? I'm lost! Help!
And into the recycling bin go your script pages. On the other hand, if you spend the necessary time in prep-writing, busting your story there, and create a scene-by-scene outline, chances are exponentially greater that you will finish the script.
As to the "outlines stifle creativity" argument, I offer one of my favorite stories. Igor Stravinsky was one of the greatest, most creative minds in the 20th century. He re-envisioned classical music by his emphasis on dissonance and rhythm, per the latter often changing time signatures dozens of times in a piece.
Speaking to some music students, he was asked if he found composing on the piano to be restrictive. His answer [paraphrased]: "Not at all. These 88 keys give me a context within which I am free to do anything. If I didn't have those boundaries, I would be lost."
As a parallel, by having the structure of your story worked out in advance, you define your 'boundaries," and within that context, you are then 'free' to write the hell out of your characters.
How about you? Do you use an outline? Do you loathe them? If the latter, what is your writing process?
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I'll start. I do not outline. I consider my first draft part outline, part treatment. I know my characters (to a point and some better than others), I know the setting, I know the conflict and I know where I want to end. The most important pre-work I do is carrying the story and the characters around in my head for a good long time. I mean a good long time. If I can't hold all the elements in my head long enough to do a first draft, then I consider the project an unworthy vessel, to quote William Burroughs.
I'm sure I'm just as likely to outline a mess as write a great script off the top of my head and I'd rather waste my time writing a bad script than making notes and outlines that may or may not come to something. I need the scene-writing practice.
Or maybe I'm just lazy and disorganized. I'll allow for that.
My writing partner and I always outline, but I've started doing one more step ahead of the outline.
I write the one sheet first.
For the screenplay we're writing right now, I skipped over the logline and went right to the 3-4 paragraph breakdown. I filled in most of the details, leaving the ending as I wasn't quite sure about that yet, and THEN I went over it with my writing partner.
We wrote the outline immediately after that, and we finished the first draft two weeks after the outline.
This has already paid off for us, because prior to this script, we wrote an outline for a different spec. And the outline just didn't work for us. Yes, it was a movie, but we didn't like it. We did start scripting, but we only got a few pages in before we both called it quits.
I think doing that probably saved us six months or so at minimum. I mean, if the outline and/or one sheet isn't any good, the script has no hope at all, so why waste the time?
Outlining shows you many (not all) of the flaws in your script ahead of time, so that you can fix them before you start scripting.
Susan
My last script got a request for a treatment. After researching the somewhat ambiguous definition of a treatment, having the script mapped out on index cards made the treatment much easier to finish. And by much easier, I mean in the two or three days that I had to finish it. I just wish they'd give me a yes or no after several months.
Agreed Susan!
To me, outline is story.
I mean, unless you're a genius and have the entire story worked out beforehand in your head, in detail, I don't know how you can expect to sit down and write anything that resembles a well-structured story.
No doubt about it: the outline is where all the agonizing work takes place.
And once I have the outline done, writing the actual pages becomes a fun game for me: I wake up each day knowing what I have to work on, and limit myself to dreaming up the details for just one scene.
Re: Stravinsky's quote:
"Not at all. These 88 keys give me a context within which I am free to do anything. If I didn't have those boundaries, I would be lost."
As a parallel, by having the structure of your story worked out in advance, you define your 'boundaries," and within that context, you are then 'free' to write the hell out of your characters.
For me, Stravinsky's quote describes screenwriting in general and explains its main appeal to me, as opposed to, say, writing novels. I love that screenwriting has boundaries and an expected "form".
On the other hand, the infinite possibilities and "lawlessness" of novel writing scares the hell out of me. I would never attempt it...
charts, absolutely. outlines, i actively loathe. although i guess the difference between the two is small. something about writing a prose outline drives me crazy. whereas if i draw up a schematic, i find it easier to "see" the flow of the story beats.
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