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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Screenwriting Discussion    Screenwriting Class  ›  How do you come up with short script ideas? Moderators: George Willson
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LuisAnthony
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 12:02pm Report to Moderator
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I´ve written many, many shorts (a lot of which aren´t on here) and I confess myself worn out of ideas.

I am much stronger at writting feature length films, i can´t exactly pinpoint why, but when I write full feature films the writing just flows naturally as I don´t limit myself to a certain number of pages.

Now that I have written a lot of short films, I´ve been struggling creatively to conjure up new ideas. How do you guys come up with new ideas? It would be very enriching for me if you shared.

Thank you.
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Nomad
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 1:56pm Report to Moderator
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Wikipedia.

Just go to the home page and write something about their featured article.

Today it's about the Kuiper Belt.  

How about a story of the first manned mission through the Kuiper Belt where the astronaut runs the risk of igniting the frozen methane with the engines on his craft and must decide whether to use most of his fuel to try and stop, but possibly not have enough to get back to Earth; to turn his engines off and float through the Kuiper Belt but run the risk of crashing into something; or to do nothing and just hope that he doesn't die.

It's a story of the choices we make in life and what we do to justify one action over another.

Jordan


Read my scripts here:
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 8pg-Drama
THE BRIDGE 8pg-Horror
SCHEISSE 6pg-Horror/Comedy
MADE FOR EACH OTHER-FILMED
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AnthonyCawood
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 3:22pm Report to Moderator
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I tend to draw inspiration from what I read, see and listen to...

Reading,
Various websites about unexplained phenomena, future technology, Snopes etc... I also subscribe to email newsletters on the same subject.

See.
I watch a lot of movies and TV, they often prompt ideas, but seeing is also the everyday things around me, drove along a little lane the other day which was called Cripplegate, immediately sparked. my imagination.

Listen.
I download and listen to a variety of podcasts, unexplained, short stories (Lore, Lime Town etc) and screenwriting podcasts too.

These all help to spark ideas and 'what ifs' in my mind, which I then record in Evernote where I have categories for shorts, TV and features.

Using those methods my shorts ideas in Evernote number well over 300.


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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Nomad
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 3:26pm Report to Moderator
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How good is your memory, Anthony?

I have a pretty good memory and I think that helps me connect the dots between several seemingly unrelated tidbits of knowledge allowing me to craft a story.

Jordan


Read my scripts here:
SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 8pg-Drama
THE BRIDGE 8pg-Horror
SCHEISSE 6pg-Horror/Comedy
MADE FOR EACH OTHER-FILMED
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AnthonyCawood
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 3:31pm Report to Moderator
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Hey Jordan

My memory is awful, so I try and get things into Evernote as soon as possible, I've even resorted to dictating into my Apple watch before now

But whatever muscle controls the 'what ifs' works pretty well with that connecting of the seemingly unrelated dots - thank god!

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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LuisAnthony
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 4:35pm Report to Moderator
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Thank you Jordan and Anthony!

Code

Just go to the home page and write something about their featured article.

Today it's about the Kuiper Belt.  



I actually had never heard of your Wikepedia method, and it makes perfect sense!! I will experiment with that, thank you.

Code

Reading, 
Various websites about unexplained phenomena, future technology, Snopes etc... I also subscribe to email newsletters on the same subject.



I have tried the whole looking around thing, that´s how I came up with a lot of my shorts. However, I had never thought about listening and reading on unexplained phenomena, that is genuis! I tend to gravitate a lot towards the horror, mysety department, that idea is definitely right up my alley.

Thank you guys so much for answering this burning question I had. If anyone else has a different method, please do share.
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eldave1
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 4:39pm Report to Moderator
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I never wrote a short script until I participated in the One Week Challenge (OWC) here. I have now written 9 shorts - 7 of which were for OWC's.

So, for me, it was the tight parameters of a challenge that forced me to brainstorm topics/stories for the Shorts.  So, to get your juices going, you may want to go to the OWC thread which still has every challenge for the last decade, look at the parameters laid out and see if any stories come to mind.


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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Grandma Bear
Posted: May 12th, 2017, 8:27pm Report to Moderator
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I don't really write shorts anymore, but have probably written 80+. One of my last is titled Initiation (currently in post). That idea came to me while watching American Graffiti. There's a scene where this "cool" guy is forced to drive someone's little sister around and it makes him embarrassed and he just wants to get rid of her. At the same time, there was a lot of incidents in the news where black males were being treated unfairly by cops. To the point where they were afraid of cops. So, I thought like Anthony said, what if, there was a really nice black guy with romance on his mind who gets tormented by a thirteen year old white girl, then stopped by a white cop? It was sort of an intense script and I was approached by several filmmakers about the script. Why? Because it had a lot of conflict = drama.

Anyway, that's where that idea came from. A scene from an old movie combined with current events.  


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eldave1
Posted: May 13th, 2017, 10:58am Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Grandma Bear
I don't really write shorts anymore, but have probably written 80+. One of my last is titled Initiation (currently in post). That idea came to me while watching American Graffiti. There's a scene where this "cool" guy is forced to drive someone's little sister around and it makes him embarrassed and he just wants to get rid of her. At the same time, there was a lot of incidents in the news where black males were being treated unfairly by cops. To the point where they were afraid of cops. So, I thought like Anthony said, what if, there was a really nice black guy with romance on his mind who gets tormented by a thirteen year old white girl, then stopped by a white cop? It was sort of an intense script and I was approached by several filmmakers about the script. Why? Because it had a lot of conflict = drama.

Anyway, that's where that idea came from. A scene from an old movie combined with current events.  


Imaginative. This one sounds very interesting.


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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LuisAnthony
Posted: May 13th, 2017, 4:04pm Report to Moderator
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Code

So, for me, it was the tight parameters of a challenge that forced me to brainstorm topics/stories for the Shorts.  So, to get your juices going, you may want to go to the OWC thread which still has every challenge for the last decade, look at the parameters laid out and see if any stories come to mind.



Thanks for the advice, I will definitely give this a try. Sounds like an stressful, yet enriching method, which is what I need. So again, thank you. Just out of curiousity, do you feel like you can hammer out the best quality when you write shorts very quickly like the OWC, or do you need time to gather your thoughts to write something that you are proud of? I know some writers can write 1000mph and still have it not deteriorate their creativity, and if you´re like me, you really need to take your time. I feel like the OWC can also be very good to exercise that muscle.


Code

I don't really write shorts anymore, but have probably written 80+. One of my last is titled Initiation (currently in post). That idea came to me while watching American Graffiti. There's a scene where this "cool" guy is forced to drive someone's little sister around and it makes him embarrassed and he just wants to get rid of her. At the same time, there was a lot of incidents in the news where black males were being treated unfairly by cops. To the point where they were afraid of cops. So, I thought like Anthony said, what if, there was a really nice black guy with romance on his mind who gets tormented by a thirteen year old white girl, then stopped by a white cop? It was sort of an intense script and I was approached by several filmmakers about the script. Why? Because it had a lot of conflict = drama.



Thank you for using a personal example, it is very helpful. Also, the way you have described your short has highly peaked my interest, if the script is available anywhere I would love to read, or perhaps watch the final product once that´s available. Thank you.
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eldave1
Posted: May 13th, 2017, 4:13pm Report to Moderator
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The tight constraints are better for me - forces focus


My Scripts can all be seen here:

http://dlambertson.wix.com/scripts
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AnthonyCawood
Posted: May 13th, 2017, 8:04pm Report to Moderator
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Dave is a masochist

The constraints of an OWC dont work for everyone, but you do get 20 or so writers commenting on your script and you can revise it to you hearts content afterwards,


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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Pale Yellow
Posted: May 14th, 2017, 11:38am Report to Moderator
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I like to watch people...in the airport, in bars. Or listen to people... on the bus...or train... or airport bathroom wherever..... LOL Sorry but stories are everywhere... in conversation ... on a walk through the forest... in the things that have happened in our lives or others we know...  I love listening and watching people most of all to get ideas.

If you need a prompt... just look at one item on your desk and make up a story. I'm looking at a ceramic unicorn with a broken horn as I type this.
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LuisAnthony
Posted: May 14th, 2017, 12:02pm Report to Moderator
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eldave1 or Anthony, do you happen to know when the next OWC will be? I would love to participate. I�ve been in the forums for years but I have never been as involved as I�m starting to be right now. I was too young, but now I want to focus on my writing as much as possible.
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LuisAnthony
Posted: May 14th, 2017, 12:04pm Report to Moderator
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Quoted from Pale Yellow
I like to watch people...in the airport, in bars. Or listen to people... on the bus...or train... or airport bathroom wherever..... LOL Sorry but stories are everywhere... in conversation ... on a walk through the forest... in the things that have happened in our lives or others we know...  I love listening and watching people most of all to get ideas.

If you need a prompt... just look at one item on your desk and make up a story. I'm looking at a ceramic unicorn with a broken horn as I type this.


Thank you for your input!! Always appreciated!  
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