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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Screenwriting Discussion    Screenwriting Class  ›  How do YOU develop ideas to stories? Moderators: George Willson
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  Author    How do YOU develop ideas to stories?  (currently 2027 views)
DanielV
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 6:11am Report to Moderator
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Hi guys,

I apologise if this is in the wrong forum, but I'm curious to learn from other writers about this one.

One of my sticking points is developing ideas into outlines.

Great...so an awesome idea pops in your head but its rather green and has plenty of holes!

How do some of you develop it further?

I know some writers will start writing an outline or treatment. Others develop index cards and work out events or scenes. Others start may start writing a beat sheet.

Me personally I develop a bit of a spreadsheet which I start out by trying to identify the major plot points (inciting incident, lock in, mid point, crisis at end of Act 2 and the climax) and then work out my scenes from point to point.

But what about when you have an idea, but have no idea where the story goes? how it starts, how it ends...you just have an idea for a general theme!

Curious to know how you kick off your projects.



thanks
Daniel  
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Dreamscale
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 10:19am Report to Moderator
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In complete honesty, I take a hike...and do so as many times as I can.

While walking, I just literally plan things out in my head...characters, scenes, actions/reactions, even some dialogue.

I'll do this for as long as it takes until I'm happy with my concept, then I'll start writing.
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Female Gaze
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 10:32am Report to Moderator
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Sometimes ideas are just that...ideas. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip. I have ideas for things that end up going nowhere on there own but sometimes they work in a different narrative.
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Grandma Bear
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 12:43pm Report to Moderator
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I get an idea and I get a LOT of those, then I first try to come up with a logline. Doesn't have to be a perfect logline, but it has to spell out what the script will be about. "A scientist who accidentally sends his team 24 hours into the future, must figure out how to get them all out of an infinite time loop in order to save their lives." Crummy logline, but it helps me focus on the core of the story.

Next, I'll write down 45 bullet points. Each one will be a scene from the script. There can be more scenes, but ideally not less.

Next I'll think up the ending. Something I've learned over the years is that it's much easier to come up with the rest of the story if I know where it's going to end.

After this I just try to fill the bullet points. Sometimes it takes a bit of thinking. Other times it just flows. I ones plotted an entire feature in two hours. Wrote the script in two weeks and then optioned it. It's still with the production company. I just need to rewrite it, but I haven't had the time...yet.  There has also been scripts I've spent a LOT of time on that went absolutely nowhere. You just never know.  


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eldave1
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 1:18pm Report to Moderator
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There are probably as many approaches as there are writers. For me, it kind of goes in this order:

1. What is the theme? Moral of the Story?

This can range from the obvious, tried and true (e.g., don't judge a book by it's cover, love conquers all) to more subtle. The point being - I have to get the moral of the story set in my mind before I start doing anything else.

2. Who is the main Protag and the main Antag.

3. What is the Protag's goal and what is the barrier. How does the Antag play into that barrier

4. What happens to my character if they achieve that goal. What happens if they don't.

Those are my four basic steps. The ones after those really vary depending on how much steps 1-4 get me into the story. Sometime I can blow right ahead without an outline - other times - not so much.  


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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Steven
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 4:31pm Report to Moderator
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I listen to a lot of podcasts, watch a lot of TV and movies. Sometimes I'll hear a kernel of an idea and then extrapolate on them. Sometimes I'll find a little seed and ponder it for a few hours.

Like this morning I was listening to a podcast covering Westworld and consciousness and morality came up. I went from there and thought of something really strange, and heavy sci-fi.

I'll most likely be working on it soon.
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AnthonyCawood
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 5:02pm Report to Moderator
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My normal approach is to put eh idea into Evernote and then leave it to ferment... eventually things will start to connect, sometimes it will be adding other ideas, others just a deeper understanding...

Then I kinda do what Dreamscale does, without the hiking, and let it play in my head... then I'll start to write and see where the story takes me.

Anthony


Anthony Cawood - Award winning screenwriter
Available Short screenplays - http://www.anthonycawood.co.uk/short-scripts
Available Feature screenplays - http://www.anthonycawood.co.uk/feature-film-scripts/
Screenwriting articles - http://www.anthonycawood.co.uk/articles
IMDB Link - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm6495672/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
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Scar Tissue Films
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 5:40pm Report to Moderator
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A little bit of all of the above. I've recently developed a system that works for me using a lot of the screenwriting software. Contour, Dramatica Pro, Story Weaver. Often alongside John Truby's book "Anatomy of Story". You can get Truby software, but it's the same as the book and really expensive, as these things go. Contour+Anatomy of Story is a cheaper alternative.

Dramatica Pro is quite extraordinary when you get your head round it. You can create a story from pretty much any angle. There's a certain danger in getting trapped in a kind of analytical, rather than writing, frame of mind...but once you get past that, and its dated UI, it's amazing for developing any story. The learning curve is extreme, however and oddly non-linear. You need to learn a lot before it's usable..but when it is..wow.

All the things in the software packages can more or less be done on paper, but I like the nature of filling in the questions. It feels more like chatting on Facebook than hard work, so it's quite fun and easy. It's helped me create some very solid outlines recently on a lot of features, and it's the sort of thing I can do in front of the TV.

Storyweaver seems pretty basic, but there's some good ideas in it for creating characters and examining who your main character should be.

Contour is simple, but in conjunction with Truby's Anatomy of Story, can quickly get you to a completed outline in a couple of hours. It's great for genre stuff.

I also use Storybase occasionally, which gives  possible story-lines based on certain parameters you input. It's far from exhaustive, but has helped me out of a couple of tight spots when I've hit a seeming dead end.

So, basically...I use Storyweaver to map out some characters, and work out the POV, then use Contour and Truby to map out a simple outline, and use Dramatica Pro to go into deeper depth about the theme, then use Storybase in the event of a brain freeze on what happens next.

Together, they're a pretty robust model for mapping anything out.
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Dreamscale
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 6:04pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from AnthonyCawood
... then I'll start to write and see where the story takes me.

Anthony


Yep, totally agree with this, as opposed to Pia's and others, I'm sure, way of coming up with the ending before seeing where the story and characters take things.

I find this to be much more organic, and "real", as opposed to trying to stick round pegs into square holes.

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Grandma Bear
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 6:21pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Dreamscale

I find this to be much more organic, and "real", as opposed to trying to stick round pegs into square holes.

I used to write like that, but I find the way I do things now works better. And, by knowing the ending doesn't mean I write those scenes first. It's more like, Jeff and Stevie finally admit that they love each other and walk off into the sunset together, kind of thing. That's all I need to know.

Another reason I need to know the ending is because I've learned over the years that when you step up to a bigger arena and the budgets get bigger, the people funding the films want a very satisfactory ending so people remember the film and continue to talk about it after it's over and they recommend it to their friends. This is huge.

I don't see knowing the ending as trying to put square pegs in round holes at all. The more I learn, the more I realize you can't just wing it and see where things might take you.

And as far as the hiking to think goes, I used to drive. I would go outside, close my eyes, spin around and when I stopped, I would drive in the direction I faced. Many times, I drove all the way to Daytona, plotting stories. My way nowadays, takes less time and don't cost a lot in gas.


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Dreamscale
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 6:33pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Grandma Bear
I used to write like that, but I find the way I do things now works better. And, by knowing the ending doesn't mean I write those scenes first. It's more like, Jeff and Stevie finally admit that they love each other and walk off into the sunset together, kind of thing. That's all I need to know.

Another reason I need to know the ending is because I've learned over the years that when you step up to a bigger arena and the budgets get bigger, the people funding the films want a very satisfactory ending so people remember the film and continue to talk about it after it's over and they recommend it to their friends. This is huge.

I don't see knowing the ending as trying to put square pegs in round holes at all. The more I learn, the more I realize you can't just wing it and see where things might take you.

And as far as the hiking to think goes, I used to drive. I would go outside, close my eyes, spin around and when I stopped, I would drive in the direction I faced. Many times, I drove all the way to Daytona, plotting stories. My way nowadays, takes less time and don't cost a lot in gas.


  You're funny, Pia.

I hear what you're saying completely and don't disagree at all.  I guess what I'm saying is that although I may have an intended ending, it can and does change often, and when I look back on my original ending, I'm glad I left things open to change.

I'm also not really talking about shorts, so much, as these need to be figured out pretty much before you start writing, based on the limited space available.

I prefer writing for large budgets, and agree the ending has to be a WOW, which is always my plan...and I tend to write things back loaded, meaning things always pick up as they get going and end (hopefully) on a high note.

Bottom line, though...obviously, different thangs wok for different peeps.

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leitskev
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 7:04pm Report to Moderator
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I was just reading about the writing method of Nabokov used for his stories. He would write on index cards anything important that came into his head about the story. After a long period of doing this, he would organize his cards and his story into a structure. Then he would simply take the index cards and expand each one into paragraphs and pages until it call came together.
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TonyDionisio
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 7:52pm Report to Moderator
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Damnit, get to the point!

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I make deals with the devil for writing ideas. Hope he never comes to collect.
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Female Gaze
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 7:56pm Report to Moderator
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Don't worry I will.
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Dreamscale
Posted: December 7th, 2016, 8:54pm Report to Moderator
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Nabokov?  WTF?  Russian dude died 29 years ago!

Kev...you OK, bro?
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