... see: Tip #21: Outline! So That You Have a Plan to Ditch Once You Start Writing
Here's a summary:
Here's a summary:
"No plan survives contact with the enemy."
– Helmuth von Moltke the Elde
- re: above quote: note Helmuth’s implication that you should actually have a plan (outline) in the first place.
- your script is not an improv play, a jazz saxophone performance, or a stream-of-consciousness poetry jam.
- your script is more like a space shuttle launch. No word should be out of place, no character arc less than fully realized. Every single thing in your script has to go exactly right, and for that you need a plan.
- any writer who claims to never write an outline is more likely to be so good at it (e.g. through experience) that they form the outline in their head without having to write it down. This doesn't mean that they don't produce an outline - just that it remains within their head when they do.
- you need an outline to tell you what happens and when. Without an outline, you’re walking out onto a tightrope without a safety net. So write the damn outline, already.
- you need an outline to find out what your story’s about. Since "structure is character and character is story", if you don't do so then you don't even know your main character(s).
- you need an outline so you can deviate from it. You may have to alter your battle plans on the fly. But at least you’ll know the strengths and weaknesses of your troops. You’ll know where to redirect them when the time comes to change the plan. That’s what a good outline is for.
Excerpted from Screenwriting Tips, You Hack by Xander Bennett © 2011 Elsevier. All rights Reserved.
