Start a script

[aj1981]

Ok. Good point. Thanks again. I'm using all of these notes to hone my craft. Thanks, guys!

[rnbrewer]

Don is very right about this. The first ten pages of your script can make a world of difference. Granted, you want the rest of your script to be just as enticing, but when it comes to beginning the journey I follow one simple rule: Jump into the action!

Put your hero(s) into imediate conflict or danger. Check out some of the classics like Indiana Jones & The Raiders of The Lost Ark. It starts off slow, but eerie. All of which builds up to that memorable moment when Indy enters the cave, makes it past the traps and then has to escape with the statue while running away from a giant boulder.

Your script doesn't need to have a man with a fedora and whip running from a boulder, but you get the idea. Action! Even if it's dramatic or comedic. The first ten pages sets the tone for the rest of the movie. If it's an action movie then go with the boulder (metaphorically speaking of course). If it's comedy then open with some big laughs. If its dramatic then open with the boy and his brother walking along the street in the summer '69 just before the "accident" happened.

[ScriptNurse]

This is one of the key areas where newer writers seem to stumble.  Some think that it's essential that the viewer/reader have all of the background information needed before they begin the set-up.  It's not.  If you're writing a murder story, don't wait until you're halfway through the movie to show what happened in flashback ... do it right up front in the first five minutes and then take it from there.

In my script HASBEEN HOTEL, it opens with a guy winning a seemingly posh Hollywood hotel in a poker game to show up and find out it was posh in the 1950s.

In MUD ALLEY MIDGETS, the opening scene is of two dimwit brothers wrestling a dead body on a mission to get it buried ... where it will be discovered by a kid's baseball team ... and hidden by the kids throughout the rest of the movie from the brothers, the mob and the FBI.

You're writing for a TV generation ... get to it quick.

[aj1981]

I have a lot of notes and story ideas already down on paper. I just need to figure out how to start it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to start a script?