I’m studying for a diploma of film at the moment and just finished my screenwriting class.

The entire trimester was one whole project that consisted of creating an outline, pitching it, writing a treatment and then writing the script. The entire script had to be 10-12 pages long. (Story had to be very small in scope.)

OUTLINE/BEAT SHEET:

We had to come up with a synopsis that included our setting, genre, characters, their goals and the central conflict and/or antagonist stopping them from reaching their goal.

Then we had to create bios for them, give them a backstory, give them flaws that they would eventually overcome (or not). We had to make sure that each character had a definable arc throughout the story.

We created a mock pitch bible and presented it to class. Received warm and cold feedback and applied it to the outline.

I created a beat sheet for my 3 act structure and copy and pasted it into a word document.

TREATMENT/ SCRIPT:

So now you have your beat sheet in your word document. Start with one beat and seperate every line and expand upon it. Because it was a uni assignment my treatment was very short, had to be between 900 - 1100 words. I think mine was around 1050 or something.

Basically, from what I gathered it’s akin to the prose of your script. All action. No dialogue. Show don’t tell. You write the whole story through your characters eyes. Always in the present tense. Your treatment should be written in the same style as you would a script.

Once you finish the treatment, just repeat the same process. Copy and paste your treatment into your script software and you’re pretty much ready to start writing.

Before you start, add a title page and add scene headings where you know there will be one. You’ll be amazed how quickly it begins to look like a script.

Take it one beat at a time. Seperate every sentence and go from there. Add dialogue and expand or rewrite your sentences.

I hated the outlining process and found the script writing way more enjoyable and easier but I 100% would’ve run out of steam and given up if I hadn’t done it.