Black List writers on the craft: Story Prep

“Once I have a solid structure in place, I can go to pages and put all my focus on the emotional arcs of the story.”

Over the years, I have interviewed over 50 Black List screenwriters. Over the next four weeks, I am running a series featuring one topic per week related to the craft of writing.

This week: What aspects of story prep do you devote the most time and focus to?

What we learned this week is just as there is no one way to write a story, there is no one way to break a story. Indeed, you may find your story prep process varies from project to project. That said, if you want to write television, you must learn how to outline the story. Plus increasingly, before a writer gets a green light to go to pages on a feature script, we have to present a detailed treatment, beat sheet, or outline.

Which is to say, even if you loathe outlining, it’s a skill set you are well advised to embrace.

For Part 1 of the series on story prep, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

Part 6, here.

Next week: How do you develop your characters?