Screenwriter-to-Screenwriter.com » screenwriting beats

Q&A: On Screenplay Beats: Examples of Beats in Scenes

Monica — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:13:19 +0000

Dennis L. writes: I’m a screenwriting neophyte and if you could, please, give an example of a scene outline? I think I’m over-thinking what constitutes how a “beat” should read in a scene.

This comment is in reference to my article on the types of screenplay beats.

Monica says: Okay, so let’s discuss how a “beat,” or emotional [...]

Screenplay Openings: Most Beginnings Are Overwritten

Monica — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:13:59 +0000

This article follows up on Screenplay: The Importance of the First Five Pages.

In the last batch of scripts I read for one of the screenwriting competitions, I would say about 30% of the screenplays had beginnings that were overwritten. It’s not uncommon. In several cases, the real story didn’t start to pick up until [...]

Subject Matter: Don’t Write About Writers or Hollywood, Please

Monica — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:13:04 +0000

Today I’ve read a couple of stories about Hollywood aspirings – aspiring writers, directors, actors, etc. In this reading season I’ve probably read a number of these kinds of scripts. Please, people, no. Don’t do it. Ninety nine times out of one hundred, your life as an aspiring writer isn’t interesting enough to warrant a [...]

Screenplay: The Importance of the First Five Pages

Monica — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:13:11 +0000

The opening five pages of your screenplay give me a ton of information about the breadth and scope of your project. As with the opening of a novel or any other literary work, the opening of your screenplay should be a microcosm of the world of your script. It’s the first taste – but as [...]

What Happened to the Inciting Incident?

Monica — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:13:31 +0000

You’d be surprised – I have been – but a very high number of scripts I’m reading don’t have inciting incidents. I am getting to page 15, page 20, page 30, and there’s really no defined story. I would say that this is in about 25% of the scripts I’m reading. Obviously, these scripts are [...]

Look at it from the Reader’s Perspective…

Monica — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:17:01 +0000

I just got through another big push of scripts. There were a handful of recommends, but overall many of them were dismal. When writing, just get the words down on the page. Get through that first draft. But, then rewrite. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

As you get closer to the time you’re going to send [...]

The Scoop on Line Edits

Monica — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:13:17 +0000

A lot of writers really get all bent out of shape and neurotic about the level of control with the words on the page. In most cases, I look at this as a writer who’s inner critic has run amok. This is one of the many ways to self sabotage.

There was one girl in [...]

Breaking Story: The Six Major Beats

Monica — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:05:23 +0000

Generally, when people begin the outline process or look more specifically at the structure of any given script, they look closely at the six beats. In film school, it was explained to us that these are the major “tent pole” story points – the major points of story upon which you hang the rest of [...]

Screenplay Plotting: Where’s the B Story?

Monica — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:02:46 +0000

Many of the scripts I’m reading at the competition level are very unsophisticated in the plotting of their B stories. Many don’t have B stories at all. Your A story may be well plotted and the characters may be clearly and succinctly drawn, however, if there aren’t interesting B stories dense with subtext that inform [...]

“You Suck,” and Other Things You’d Love To Scream at Someone Giving You Notes on Your Script

Monica — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:50:25 +0000

I’m writing again about giving and receiving notes because it’s important. In this last week, I’ve had two hard notes sessions (giving notes).

Okay, we’re adults. We can admit it. Getting notes is hard. It’s usually shocking. We pour our heart and soul into something, we hear the notes, feel that the person “doesn’t get it” [...]