You want to write a professional, industry-standard selling screenplay, right? Just follow these basic guidelines and you’ll be well on your way to a great start.
First, you absolutely need to have a great story with influential characters. Make it original and something people will want to read (and watch!). Brainstorm ideas. Don’t be afraid to make a mess. Whether your ideas originate from real events and/or people you may already know, or from dreams and/or inspirations, this is the first stage to creating a script--brainstorming.
Also, write out character breakdowns of your characters: personalities, ages, appearances, relations to other characters, needs and wants, back stories, values, goals, conflicts (internal and external), etc. Anything! The important thing to remember when breaking down the character is to really get to know them as if they’re as real as anyone you personally know. (When you eventually write your story into screenplay format, these breakdowns will help you tremendously from the characters’ reactions to their conflicts to their dialogue.)
Now you have your story and characters. Take the brainstorming ideas and story and break them down into three acts:
Act I. (The Beginning) shall be your introduction and is also known as the attraction. Usually, although not set in stone, on screen this act lasts within the first twenty minutes to thirty minutes of the film.
Act II. (The Middle) is the largest of all three acts and is also known as the anticipation. This is the act where all the conflicts are taking place and how the conflicts are influencing the characters.
Act III. (The End) is the conclusion and satisfaction and how the conflicts have influenced and/ or changed the characters.
Before you begin, settings must be set to the industry standard font-- Courier 12 type.
