New Idea

Back in early May, I was driving one morning and an idea came to me for a followup to a movie like "The Imposter." The idea could be very interesting and would be easily shot (very few locations or company movies).

Before I could start writing the idea down, I got a call-- an idea I had pitched back in December to a producer in NYC just got the greenlight. A script was needed immediately. Thus began a whirlwind of one of the fastest movies I've written and directed. We are almost at the point of locking the edit.

So now I can begin to finally think about other things.

I've been asked where I come up with an idea, or how do I get started writing a script. The answer is different for every single person. When I started screenwriting, I bought all the books-- even a system for "Write your screenplay in a year" which had you doing backstory until about month 6. For my impatient personality, this didn't mesh. But I do believe it works from others.

For me, it's Outlining. I love outlining. I can see the structure, the form and can easily move things around. Or delete them and add others. I can outline at the beginning-- or if I hit a wall, I can skip to the end of the second act or wherever.

You can outline in any good word processing program. I've been using StoryView by Movie Magic. I like the timeline view. I also like the fact I can export to the scriptwriting software with all my scene headings and action for the scene in place.

With an exhaustive outline, the actual first draft can be written in as short as a week (but maybe I did spend weeks and weeks outlining).

Anyway, that's how I do it. So I'm going to open Storyview now and save the title as "72."