Below is an overview of the process I came up to write a screenplay.
STEP: 1 IDEA
Write down your story idea in as much detail as you can the second you get it!
The story itself is simple. The complications come from how the characters react to what's going on.
Each character has to have something he/she desires.
This desire is connected to something which has an emotional meaning to them.
This desire is called the B Storyline and it is what creates the actions the
character chooses to take - the A Story Action line.
This desire is the one thing you must figure out for each character,
the other stuff (usually called the character's backstory - what happened
to him in his life before the moment we meet him in the movie) is basically
irrelevant! Many people talk about how you need to know everything about your
character - his entire life story, when in reality what you basically need to
know is the main emotional thing that happened to them and is affecting their
present decisions.
STEP: 5 BEAT SHEET
From your story idea specific scenes will pop into your mind immediately.
Write down a 1-2 line description of these scenes. You'll need approximately 100 scenes.
The initial scenes you come up with will not be close to this number.
The way you get to that number is by adding additional character storylines to your script
and by making sure you have fully incorporated each main character's (any character
seen on the screen the majority of the film) experience and reaction to the experience
of what's going on in the story.
STEP: 6 WRITE
What you write will not feel forced if you have a solid story and characters who
have a reason to take action (their specific desire). In fact what you write in a
screenplay are action descriptions and character dialogue and this erupts out of
the Character's themselves. Basically you just put what they see and feel (their
reactions = the dialogue and action) onto paper. If it feels forced it means you need
to go back and develop your story more fully and make sure each character's desire is
clearly defined - what they want.
STEP: 7 EDIT
When writing you will not edit at all because you want to give your characters
plenty of freedom to do and say whatever comes naturally. When you've completed
the first draft you'll then go back and begin editing. One thing you'll want to
make sure and edit are the description parts. These should be no longer than 3
lines (not sentences - lines!) each. A way to do this is pretend you are a reporter
or detective describing the scene to someone who is getting off the elevator - you
only have a couple seconds to get across the vital details to them. Simple action
descriptions make your script marketable. In the descriptions only write in details
that are important for basic comprehension of the story. Ex. If the character is wearing
a red scarf - only include this detail if it somehow affects what happens.
