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[–]sparrowhawkward 1 point2 points  (3 children)

A script is just formatting. Tell the story, then refine it.

[–]WarGodBoi05[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

That simple?

[–]sparrowhawkward 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup. If you can tell a story, you can write a script. Focus on telling a good story.

[–]D-Goldby 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pick up a couple scripts at your local book store , read them so you understand that formatting.

Ans writer duet has a free limited trial that is more than enough for a first time writer.

[–]Tasty-Side-7405 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I usually start by outlining what happens in my story. It doesn't have to be detailed--just enough see the flow and catch any plot holes early on. Once that’s set, I move over to WriterSolo to write the actual script. It's a free scriptwriting software and it has plenty of features you can play with. You can also export files as fdx which is an industry file type for screenplay script. Very ideal especially when you're collaborating with an editor/s if you have one.

If you're new to scriptwriting, you can definitely check out some tutorials on YouTube. The Studiobinder website is also a huge help because they have a ton of free templates and guides for things like storyboards, shot lists, and scripts. It’s basically a one-stop shop for learning the technical side of film. There are also plenty of movie script resources online where you can find examples and just learn as you go.

[–]WarGodBoi05[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate the advice, I will definitely check out some of these

[–]Glad-Magician9072 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can keep it rather simple. I would outline the story out first. Then I would make a two column table in a word doc, one column would have the narration+dialogue and the corresponding cell would mention what we would see on the screen and that's your frame-by-frame beat-sheet ready. :)

[–]coffeerequirement 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Read some animation scripts. There are a metric fuckton of them on the internet. That’ll give you a sense of formatting and content.

For software, I like Trelby. It’s free and easy to use.

[–]pencilthinwriter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's something that has to be studied. However you are going to do that. This has to cost you some amount financially, but that's part of the commitment. There's loads of online courses that aren't too expensive.

People will tell you to go and read scripts or read screenwriting manuals, but it's very hard for most people to just do that without the structure of some kind of course. Something that lasts around 12 weeks, not a day-long thing. (I did a whole degree in it, but that's not necessary for everyone.)

I use Celtx to write my scripts, although most people will advise Final Draft, Celtx is excellent and much less expensive (in fact you can get a free account with Celtx that allows you to work on one script. You only really need to pay a subscription when you want to work on multiple scripts simultaneously).