Column D: Starting Your Script – Somebody Wants Something
Drew Yanno talks about the importance of starting your script with a strong idea.
In this post, I want to continue our discussion of the starting point of your script – the idea.
In a previous post, I talked about how to measure the strength of your idea. Namely, should you invest the time and effort to pursue that idea and turn it into a screenplay.
Now I want to talk about how to think of and frame that idea so as to attract the attention of a studio and, by extension, an audience.
In doing so, I want to emphasize that I am talking about a commercial idea. One that will be told in three acts, following the classic myth structure. If you want to write the next Source Code, by all means do so. I’ll be first in line to see it. Source Code was one of my favorite films of 2011. But in this post I’m limiting the evaluation of the idea to classic three act stories.
When you come up with your idea, see if you can frame it so that it fits into this paradigm:
“Somebody wants something badly and goes after it against great odds.”
That is a simple description of what all great three-act stories have in common.
Eleven words that sum it up nicely.
Think about it.
“Somebody.” A single main character (protagonist). As in the classic myth “hero.”
“Wants something.” Has a desire.
“Badly.” A strong desire.
“And goes after it.” Takes action.
“Against great odds.” Meets resistance. Big time.
It also contains all three acts.
Act 1: “Somebody wants something badly." The setup
Act 2: “and goes after it against great odds.” Conflict.
Act 3: implied. They either get it or not. Resolution
It has all that you need for a classic myth story:
Person.
Desire.
Thing.
Urgency.
Action.
Conflict.
Whatever your idea, you would be best served if you can express it along the lines of that paradigm. Once you can do so, that then becomes your logline.
To help you with this, take some of the bigger grossing three act films of the past few years and see if you can express their “idea” in that fashion.
Think The King’s Speech. Think True Grit. Think any of the Toy Story films. Animated films especially follow this expression of the idea. (Think Up. Or Finding Nemo.)
Most writers tend to come up with ideas that are situational. For example, an asteroid is racing toward earth and it must be destroyed before civilization is wiped out. However, there must be a main character who is chosen to complete the difficult task.
Go back and look at Armageddon and see if you can frame the idea by using Bruce Willis’ character in the logline. (Which you should easily be able to do. Probably why Armageddon did better than Deep Impact which had the same idea behind it.)
If your idea is similarly situational, you then must decide upon and develop your main character so that you can express it to fit the paradigm. Once you can comfortably do so, you will be on your way to writing a more commercially viable screenplay.
In other words, think “somebody” at the start.
- More articles by Drew Yanno
- 5 Tips to Turn Your Script Into a High Concept Idea
- Jeanne's Screenwriting Tips: 2 Tips for Finishing Screenplays
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Drew Yanno began writing for film in 1993 and has been a member of the WGA since 1995 when he sold his script No Safe Haven to Universal Studios after a six hour bidding war. In 2000, Drew founded the screenwriting program in the Film Studies department at Boston College where he taught for eleven years. He is the author of The Third Act: Writing a Great Ending to Your Screenplay. His second book Idea to Story to Screenplay: a Workbook For Writing the First Draft of Your Screenplay is now available as a Kindle e-book on Amazon. Drew’s first novel In the Matter of Michael Vogel was released in March 2013 and was named one of the best Kindle Books of 2013 by Digital Book Today. In addition to writing and teaching, Drew also worked as a script consultant and served as an adviser to actor and producer Will Smith on a number of projects. Prior to becoming a screenwriter and screenwriting professor, Drew was a practicing attorney and taught law in the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Follow Drew on Twitter @drewyanno.
