In this month’s “Ask the Coach” article, I’m responding to a question about how much to develop a story before starting to write pages.
In this article, I talk about screenwriter Jeff Howard’s take on the value of outlining and developing a story, particularly for screenwriters, including being able to:
- Get back into a script more readily if life interrupts
- Meet contractual obligations to outline once working professionally
- Layer a story more effectively (easier to do at the outline stage)
- Maintain a consistent tone throughout the entirety of the script once you’re writing pages
My ultimate answer to the reader asking the question was: Yes, do the development work first, along with my reasoning based on their specific question and a recommendation on how to proceed.
It’s always tempting to want to skip over the hard part of solving those issues and just writing what you know so far, but you may well be writing yourself into a corner.
Want the full scoop? There are more details in the full article on Script Mag:
Ask the Coach: How Much Do I Need to Develop My Script Before I Start Writing?
Ask the Coach: How Much Do I Need to Develop My Script Before I Start Writing?
If you’ve got writing questions, please send them my way!
I’d love to answer them for you in my column.
I’d love to answer them for you in my column.
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