I do a lot of research/reading and take plenty of notes. And when I start scripting I usually just have a page-long beat outline -- structure is king, after all -- and go from there. It still allows for spontaneity, but keeps the script on track. Besides, scripts are written during re-writing, so I can tighten and enhance or add or delete info as needed then. As Scott says, though, it's my process and works for me. I've tried more detailed outlines and just got bogged down in making the outline written perfectly. Trial and error, of course, but since I've discovered what works I've written a handful of features.

I've found Scrivener to be superb for outlining, research organizing, and treatment writing -- really, everything up until it's time to type FADE IN. I've always wondered how pros use electronic documents to prep, so that's good news for me that Justin Marks seems to be using Scrivener in the same way. Thanks!

Zach, I tell beginning screenwriters they owe it to themselves to at least once try to do an outline. They may hate it. They may find it stifles their creativity. But my experience is that even for the most right-brain types, they learn that they benefit from SOME type of prep work. My Prep class is structured so that a writer may get through the fifth week's goal -- 10 Major Plotline Points -- and decide that's all they want or need to know before hitting FADE IN. Which is completely fine. I've written scripts where I haven't got a beat for beat outline, I understand that a certain amount of latitude in what a writer knows and doesn't know can be a good thing, for example, in discovering surprising plot elements. So again, I don't think there is one right way to approach prep, just like I don't think there is one right way to write a script period. But it IS important for writers to work through a process or approach to prep-writing, even if it flexes from project to project just so you can have a certain degree of confidence you know what to do to go at breaking a story.

Matthew, I hear a lot of great things about Scrivener. Will definitely check it out, probably for my upcoming spec.

Oh man, the outline is the only way I can operate! The very first story I wrote from start to finish in one sitting was a prose-heavy outline that broke it down by scene and, unintentionally, acts. It was great! And with regard to prep work: one of my bigger stories involves a ton of research and I came to a point where I was almost over-saturated with info that I finally sat down to write pages and they flowed so easily. It's not to say any of it is viable (maybe 50% keeper), but it sure got me churnin' and burnin' because I had the story and the info etched into my brain. On the flip side of that, I've had a story jingle around my brain for a while and just thought 'what the hell? let's write." and I found that to be more difficult with regard to focusing on the story and characters... I'd rather go for overkill on the prep than shovel snow in a blizzard.

I go back and forth with prep and diving head first into the shallow end. I think that could be called prep work for the prep work :-) Whatever it is, I've got to get something happening in Final Draft to hear them talk and discover how they move. At some point, I do end up with what looks like prep work. It just takes some time getting there. Scrivener is the best thing to come along ever. It's nearly endless in its possibilities for sculpting a story, and it's so inexpensive! Your notes on the corkboard can instantly turn into a beat sheet, and if you can't keep it to simple beats, there's the navigator on the side where you can drivel on as much as you like without it mucking up the outline. Especially helpful is the area for research where you can put random notes and even photos of people and places and whatever. How'd we function before it came along?

Cyd, per your first paragraph, I think that's a dynamic tension for all writers. We have an itch to get into the page-writing, which is great because that can help overcome the single greatest challenge of writing: depositing one's ass onto one's chair to actually write. However we have to balance that out with with finding the story. Now some writers absolutely loathe and can't handle any sort of prep. They simply HAVE to type FADE IN (or if a novel, crack open that file) and have a go at it. Nothing wrong with that... if it works. Standing on the front line of aspiring screenwriter-to-pro-screenwriter as I do, having worked with literally hundreds of writers and interfaced through my blog with THOUSANDS, I can assert with some confidence that the single biggest hurdle there is not doing the prep. First, a writer is MUCH more likely to NEVER finish a script if they haven't figured it out before they type FADE IN. That enthusiasm to start wanes over time if they are NOT finding the story. At some point, frustration enters, then bitterness, then rejection. Second, even if they DO manage to get to FADE OUT - and acknowledging that a first draft is always going to be rough - unless they do 10-15 drafts, I doubt they will ever find the story they could have found if they had fully immersed themselves in it in prep. Brainstorming and character development especially, giving yourself the freedom to explore, test out a wide variety of narrative options as opposed to narrowing the field of choices BEFORE finding out other possibilities. Third, if a writer wants to have a realistic chance at SUCCEEDING as a professional writer, they have to be able to turn around stories in an efficient manner. You sign a contract on a writing assignment giving you 10 weeks to deliver, you'd better be prepared to do precisely that. Having figured out whatever sort of approach to prep you use is a big plus in that regard rather than watching the ink dry on your contract, then going, "Uh, what do I do now?" So different strokes for different folks and all that. And yes, we all want and need to leave room for the mysteries and surprises of stories to reveal themselves. If a full outline stifles your creativity, don't do a full outline. However you're going to figure out the story somehow. Why NOT do it in prep? Then you can concern yourself in page-writing with all the fun stuff of writing -- scene description, character interaction, scene construction, transitions, atmospherics -- rather than desperately attempting to figure out what goes where, does this work, oh my god I'm lost. Here endeth yet another rant on the importance of prep-writing!

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