Introduction – You are a Storyteller

We interpret our lives through narratives, stories. You probably did not think this book on screenwriting would begin so philosophically, but screenwriting is a form of storytelling and understanding the prominence of stories in our lives will help us in grasping story structure.

Think of a significant memory, a memory you go back to often, an event that has stayed with you. That memory, more often than not, plays out like a story in your mind. We have to set up the memory, where we were, what was going on before the meat of the event, then we have the heart of the memory, what truly stands out, and then we have the aftermath. Think about when you get home from work or from wherever at the end of the day. Often, we recap what happened during our day to a spouse, partner, family member, or friend. We organize this synopsis into a narrative – this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened, and so on. In effect, we tell the story of our day.

You already have some understanding of story structure. You know that you have to set up what is going to happen, for instance, when you tell the story of your day or relate a memory. That is the beginning. You know that the story has to lead somewhere, events have to build. That is the middle. Lastly, you know there has to be a payoff, a point to the story. Yes, that is the end.

Before you begin to write a screenplay, know that you are a storyteller and that a screenplay is just another way to tell a story.

You’ve spent hours and hours watching movies and TV shows. Some of them have moved you to tears. Some of them you can quote dialogue from verbatim. Some of them you have forgotten. Some of them, frankly, were terrible.

All of that watching has led to this moment, this thought: I can do that. I can write a movie.

The short answer? Yes, you can write that movie. The long answer? Well, the long answer is this book. It does take a lot of work to write a screenplay. However, there are steps you can follow that will help.

That is what this book does. It takes you through a process for writing your movie. There are numerous ways to go about creating a screenplay. This is one method. It may be the best method to help you. This isn’t about a right way and wrong way of writing. This is about ONE way of approaching writing a screenplay, but it is a way for which many of us have an affinity. I hope it works for you because the goal here is for you to write that movie and for the screenplay you write to be DAMN good.

But I warn you: the most important part of a screenplay is its structure, how the story unfolds. We all love to write dialogue (well, most of us) and we all have cool scenes in our heads that we just know will look awesome on screen. Without a good structure? Those things do not matter. Creating a good structure is the coal mining of writing a screenplay. Writers are not just magically hit with inspiration and then produce reams of beautifully crafted pages. No, writing is not easy and requires hard work – rewriting, deleting scenes, and on and on. This book gives you a way to approach structure and understand it. Hopefully.

Please note, in this book we focus on a Western narrative structure, especially as it relates to American movies. We analyze the screenplay from a three-act structure point of view.

There are other wonderful structures for movies. Bollywood has a unique structure that works beautifully well. Many anime films follow a four-act structure called Kishotenketsu. There are numerous ways to tell a story. However, our emphasis is just one storytelling path.

We will reference a number of movies throughout this book, but three movies in particular we will return to again and again: Legally Blonde, Captain America: Winter Soldier,  and Barbie. Watch those movies and have them handy to refer to as we go along.