Screenwriting 101: Michael H. Weber

“We don’t have a set format for the outline. It’s not as if the outline is the same every time. It’s just that it’s a document for us. We’ve been lucky. We’ve never had to turn in an outline. It’s just a map for us. How do we get into the scene? How do we get out of the scene? Are there any important points, moments, ideas, or jokes that we have to hit in the scene?

It’s somewhat informal, and yet it’s crucial for us. In fact, it probably wouldn’t even make sense if anyone other than the two of us looked at most of our outline, because we’ve been doing this for a while now. We almost have our own little secondhand language with a lot of things.

Then we will oftentimes spend as much time outlining as we do writing. I think it’s why we write quickly, is because we spend so much time on the outline. It’s so much easier to diagnose problems in an outline.

You have the viewpoint to see everything from an outline, and you can’t always see when you’re simply writing. You don’t find yourself‑‑that expression a lot of writers use‑‑in the weeds. You don’t really find that happening as much with the more extensive an outline you have.

Because if you’ve already done the heavy lifting in the outline, the writing becomes a little bit paint by numbers. Put blue over here, put red over here. It’s worked so far.”

— Michael H. Weber

From Go Into The Story interview, March 2013

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