An Ultimate Guide to Write Movie Scripts

by Jessica Fender

Writing a movie script may sound like a super-easy and fun thing to do. You’ve got an idea in your mind so, how hard can it be? But, talent and great ideas aren’t sufficient for writing a great movie script. It’s certainly an obligatory precondition, but it takes more than being super-creative and imaginative. Apart from that, you need to know how to develop the storyline and cover all the elements of writing a great movie script. 

That’s why we’ve put together this guide with all the steps you need to make. We’ll teach you what you need to do and what order to follow when creating brilliant movie scripts. Let’s take a closer look!

1. Story Summary

You need to start from the basics, so just focus on defining your main storyline. At this point, it would be best for you to do it in one sentence.

This will be your starting point that you’ll go back to whenever you start losing focus.

Here’s a couple of examples:

• In a city full of crime, one young policeman stands up to fight it.

• A boy born during a storm soon discovers his secret powers.

• High school friends reunite after 20 years, realizing there are some unresolved issues between them.

Your story summary should be as brief and as simple as in the examples above. 

2. Develop the Characters

For your movie script to work, you need to develop the characters who will hold it all together. Start with your main characters first.

Brainstorm and think about:

• their physical appearance

• their personality 

• their peculiar characteristics

• what they’re wearing

• how they’re talking, walking, or doing anything

• what’s their background

Try understanding your characters on a deeper personal level, as if you’ve known them your entire life. Think about how your audience will respond to them and what will make them fall in love with the characters.

3. Create a Setting

Where is the movie storyline happening? You need to develop a setting and elaborate on all the details that fit into your story.

Your setting can be anything you want:

• today’s modern London

• ancient times in Rome

• the magical world of wizards

• a futuristic world 

Make sure you understand the setting fully and describe the world that's surrounding your characters. Create a bond between the characters and the setting and find a way to make them blend into each other.

Focus on awakening all your audience’s senses.

4. Opening Scene

Your opening scene is another extremely important element of writing your movie script. You need to ask  yourself the following questions:

• Where does it all begin?

• What’s the first thing the audience will see?

• What’s happening/what’s the problem?

• What atmosphere do I want to open with?

• Which characters do I want to introduce?

The opening scene should be impactful and creatively written to make sure the audience has your full attention. It needs to introduce enough detail to pull them inside the story and keep them there until the end.

5. Act One, Two, Three…

Now that you’ve got the necessary preparation steps out of the way, you need to start digging deeper into the story.

Divide your movie script into acts and numerate them to organize your script better. For each act, make sure that you:

• have a clear idea of what’s going to happen

• discover, introduce, or resolve something new

• give your characters an additional depth

So, for example, Act 1 will introduce the plotline and give context to what’s happening and why. Act 2 might dig deeper into the relationships and the main conflict, while Act 3 might introduce the first big revelation.

Set goals for each act and make sure to reach them.

6. The Main Conflict

Every movie script needs to have that one moment when things are seriously starting to heat up, and the audience wants to stay tuned to see what happens.

This is the main conflict, and your movie script needs to have one. Take a look at these examples to understand it better:

• The ship hits an iceberg and starts sinking. (Titanik)

• The students discover there's a huge snake in the school castle. (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

• Allie has to go back to New York and leave Noah behind. (The Notebook)

Everything in your movie was building up to this moment, and now your audience is sitting at the edge of their seats. 

Your main conflict is what might get you a place on future top movies lists, so make sure to do it right. 

7. The Final Scene

This scene might just be the most important one in your entire movie. This is the last scene your audience will see, after which they’ll start summing up their opinions and talking about what they think.

There are several ways for you to end your movie:

• make a huge revelation and catharsis

• leave an open question for the audience to answer

• introduce a sudden twist that might lead to a sequence

You can see the difference between movie endings if you compare American and European movies. American movies love ending with a bang, revealing everything, and resolving all the issues. European movies like to keep things unresolved, realistic and challenge the audience to make their own conclusions.

Use your best creative and writing skills to write this scene. In case you’re interested in doing some other types of writing, check out these online writing accounts to see how.

Choose the style you like and write our final scene accordingly.

Final Thoughts

Writing a movie script is a creative but challenging process. There are so many details to think about and so many pieces of the puzzle to put together.

Hopefully, this ultimate guide will help you write your movie script with ease and enjoy every second of the process.