Write A Treatment - Jumpstart Your Screenwriting Career
By Marilyn Horowitz
Writing a treatment is a skill that can help any screenwriter succeed, at any point in the creative
process.
There are at least three parts of getting a screenplay sold or financed. Learning to write a
treatment can jumpstart a writer's career because it allows a screenwriter to communicate his or
her screenplay idea in a brief but compelling way. It also can be a powerful diagnostic and
creative tool.
I am often asked if a writer has to actually write a screenplay, or can they just sell ideas?
You can't copyright an idea, only the execution. If you have a great idea, the only way to own it
is to write it. Writing a treatment is a fast way to test out an idea before the screenwriter commits
to writing a script. If it isn't terrific, move on.
Part of of succeeding as a screenwriter is to write at least one great screenplay. There is no
substitute for craft. Screenplays are hard work and take time to perfect. If a writer has
completed a screenplay, writing a treatment can help the writer determine whether or not their
screenplay is viable, because the treatment creates distance. This allows the screenwriter to get
an overview of their work and look at it objectively.
If the basic story is not something an audience will want to see, no amount of rewriting can fix it.
This is a problem I encounter over and over in my work as a writing coach. Screenwriters often
forget that they are writing for an audience. Writing a treatment before you write your next
screenplay can help you work out problems and determine whether your story idea is a diamond
in the rough, or just a lump of coal. The goal is to combine stories told from the heart with a
deep understanding of what other people want to see.
Craft and good ideas don't necessarily go together. I have worked on several scripts with great
ideas and poor execution and the reverse. The successful screenwriter must be able to master
both aspects. One tip: Always remember that a screenplay, unlike a novel, is not a complete
form in itself but a step along the path of making a film, so the goal of any screenwriter is to see
the film made of his or her screenplay. It's easy to forget the goal when you are wrestling with
your script.
Ideally, every serious screenwriter should have two really well written, well-structured
screenplays as writing samples. Then it makes sense to devote time to learning how to write
treatments because they force the writer to focus on structure and character development. Once
the writer gains a comfort level with this type of rigorous story development, years of struggling
can be saved, If the writer can attain writing excellence in his or her full length scripts, and can
write treatments with his or her intended audience in mind, success must be inevitable The key
is this: If the scriptwriter wants to see the movie of the treatment he or she writes, then so will
other people.
Writing a treatment helps a screenwriter assess his or her work wherever they are in their
process. I cannot recommend this process enough.
What Is a Treatment?
There is controversy about the length a treatment can be. Some say up to 60 pages, but the
point of the treatment is to communicate your story as quickly as possible, so brevity without
sacrificing juice is the key here.
There seem to be three opinions about what a treatment is.
One opinion is that it is a one page written pitch. The second, which I agree with, is that it is a
two to five page document that tells the whole story focusing on the highlights. The third opinion
is that a treatment is a lengthy document that is a scene by scene breakdown of a script. I
consider this an outline, and a waste of time as a marketing document, though it can be an
important step in the creation process In my experience, the two to five page version works
best, and an example is included in this article.
How To Write a Treatment
This two to five page document should read like a short story and be written in the present
tense. It should present the entire story including the ending, and use some key scenes and
dialogue from the screenplay it is based on.
What Should Be in the Treatment?
1. A Working title:
2. The writer's name and contact information
3. WGA Registration number
4. A short logline
5. Introduction to key characters
6. Who, what, when, why and where.
7. Act 1 in one to three paragraphs. Set the scene, dramatize the main conflicts.
8. Act 2 in two to six paragraphs. Should dramatize how the conflicts introduced in Act 1 lead
to a crisis.
9. Act 3 in one to three paragraphs. Dramatize the final conflict and resolution.
The Three Act Structure
Any discussion of treatment writing should at least touch on basic screenplay structure.
Although everyone reading this article is probably familiar with this information, revisiting the
basics can be helpful.
In his seminal book of fragments, The Poetics, Aristotle suggested that all stories should have a
beginning, middle, and an end. The writing method I have developed uses the expressions Setup,
Conflict and Resolution as more evocative terms for describing the movements of a
screenplay.
Breaking the movement of a story into three parts, gives us a 3- part or act structure. The word
"act" means "the action of carrying something out."
Many screenplays are organized into a 3-act structure. The tradition of writing in this form
comes from the theater and was followed by filmmakers. Think of it as a foundation for building
a house that others can easily identify, even if the details are new and original.
Act 1, called the Set-up, The situation and characters and conflict are introduced. This
classically is 30 minutes long.
Act 2, called The Conflict, often an hour long, is where the conflict begins and expands until it
reaches a crisis.
Act 3, called The Resolution, the conflict rises to one more crisis and then is resolved.
How To Write The Treatment
Find A Title
Whether the screenwriter is creating a new story or writing a treatment based on an existing
script, the first step is to make sure that the screenplay has a good title. The first contact a
prospective producer has with a script is the title. Pick a title that gives a clear idea of what
genre the screenplay is written in. (See my 2-part article that appeared in this magazine for
more detail on genre. A good title can predispose a producer or reader to like a screenplay
because it suggests the kind of experience that is in store and arouses curiosity. Great classic
film titles include It Happened One Night, Psycho and Die Hard.
A film I recently consulted on is called, And Then Came Love. This is a good title because it
describes the story and the style or genre it's written in - a light romantic comedy.
The title does not determine whether or the screenplay is good but it can be a great marketing
tool. There's a famous quote that is helpful to keep in mind when naming screenplays: "What's
in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". Romeo and
Juliet (Quote Act II, Sc. II).
If you want a producer to read your script, pick a name that matches your story.
Write a logline
The second step is to write a logline. Preparing a log line for your screenplay is a basic
marketing tool that I have repurposed for developing treatments. It is similar to the summary
given in TV Guide. It is a technique for boiling down a plotline to its essence that has been
described as trying to vomit into a thimble.
Follow the example below when writing a logline:
And Then Came Love is a character-driven romantic comedy about a high-powered
Manhattan single mom who opens Pandora's box when she seeks out the anonymous sperm
donor father of her young son.
Write a synopsis
The third step is to a synopsis. Begin by expanding the logline into a three-act story
Start with the end. For example, Let's work with The Silence Of The Lambs:
Act 3: Clarice Starling catches the killer and saves the intended victim.
Then break down into three acts. For example,
Act 1: While still a student at The FBI, Clarice is asked to help on a case. She's eager to help
and interviews Hannibal Lector who gives her a clue.
Act 2: With his help, she is able to overcome many obstacles, and finds the identity of the killer.
Act 3: She confronts the killer, saves his intended victim and atones for the death of the lamb.
The scriptwriter should follow this break down for his or her story, and then expand this into a
synopsis.
Follow the example below of And Then Came Love:
Julie (mid 40s), a successful Manhattan reporter-turned-columnist believes she has it all - a great job,
a rent controlled apartment, a boyfriend and best of all, an adorable six-year-old son named Jake,
whom she conceived via an anonymous sperm donor.
Her perfect world, however, is rocked when she's called in for an emergency parent-teacher
conference and learns that her son has been acting up, needs to be 'tested' and is on the brink of
expulsion. Over-whelmed, Julie instinctively blames herself... it's easy to do since her mother has
made her feel inadequate for not being a stay-at-home mom.
Julie, however, will not concede that her mother could be right, so she places genetic blame on Jake's
anonymous father. Through a private investigator, Julie learns the identity of the donor and meets him
- Paul, a struggling actor and law school dropout. Julie has neither intention nor desire to reveal her
identity to him, she simply needs to check her sources, get the facts, and move on.
A child psychiatrist tells Julie that Jake does not appear to have ADHD, but could benefit from a "father
figure" in his life. Julie's boyfriend, a charismatic photo-journalist is up for the challenge and proposes.
Julie believes her life is back on course until Paul, the donor, shows up, hoping she'll promote the offoff
Broadway show in which he's performing.
Jake instantly bonds with Paul. No matter how hard Julie tries to keep Paul from complicating her life,
the more he does as he begins to fall for her, and she finds she can not deny her feelings for him, and
her boyfriend is pushing to set a date. ( written by Caytha Jentis, writer/producer)
Writing Treatment
Once the synopsis is written, the preparation is complete and the screenwriter can take the
synopsis and expand it into a treatment by correcting structure and adding detail.
Now write your treatment following this example. Good Luck, and don't forget to register
your treatment with the writer's Guild of America.
Marilyn Horowitz is a Writing Coach and the president of ArtMar Productions, a script consulting and film production company based in New York City. She is also a Senior Writer for Script Magazine and has contributed articles to Hollywood Scriptwriter. Her private students include published novelists, award winning filmmakers, screenplay and television writers. Marilyn was the script consultant on the Warner Bros. film, Then Came Love, starring Vanessa Williams, Eartha Kitt and Ben Vereen.
In 2004, Marilyn won the coveted New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies Award For Teaching Excellence, where she teaches Writing The Screenplay In Ten Weeks, a course based on her workbook, How To write A Screenplay In 10 Weeks. Marilyn also teaches Writing The Feature and Aesthetics II in the New York University Graduate Film Program. Her workbook is used as a textbook for both of these courses.
Turning Writer's Block Into Stepping Stones
By Steven Barnes
Years ago at a presentation at the UCLA Extension Writer's Program, I promised an audience to teach them to conquer this beast once and for all. Later, another instructor approached me and said "why did you say that to those people? It's not possible."
Poor woman. All she was saying is that SHE cannot break writer's block, which told me all I need to know about her career. In all likelihood a promising beginning, perhaps an award-winning poem or book.and then pain.
It is not only possible to end writer's block forever, but you can actually use it to your advantage!
First, let us define it in some useful way: Writer's block is the inability to:
1) Produce new text.
2) Edit and polish existing text
3) Finish projects on a reasonable schedule
4) Send those projects out for editorial judgment.
5) Continue sending them out until they are sold.
Accepting the above, I'm going to give you a definition of the root cause of Writer's Block that will actually help you in every arena of your life.
"Writer's Block is nothing more than a confusion of two different states of mind: the Flow state, where you produce new text, and the Editing state, where you evaluate and polish what you have written."
The reason WB is such a killer is that most of us have done far more reading than we have writing, and spend far more time in critical analysis of finished, polished work of the masters than in experiencing our own early drafts. So when we try to create text, we measure our first draft efforts against the polished work of the world's great writers. Immediately, that "this is garbage!" voice goes off in your head, and you have a block.
It is said that novice writers must work through a million words of garbage before reaching their true voice. How in the world will you ever get through it if you constantly judge every word? If you will learn to turn that voice off, you will learn a massive and important lesson about the structure of the human psyche.
But what exactly is "Flow"? It is the psychological state where time seems to vanish, where you "fall into the page", where the rest of the world floats away as you concentrate. This is similar to the "hypnogogic" state experienced just prior to sleep, and the first thing in the morning. It is experienced in distance running, dancing (remember the lyrics to "Flashdance"? "She's moved into the danger zone, where the dancer becomes the dance") and, to be perfectly frank, it is experienced during sexual relations in the moments just prior to orgasm. It is the dissolution of the subject-object relationship sought by numerous schools of meditation.
1) Alternate days (or work sessions) between flow and editing. If necessary, wear different hats, or sit in different chairs for each. NEVER DO BOTH IN THE SAME SESSION
2) Set yourself a daily output that will get you to your goal of one million words in less than 5 years. 1000 words a day will do it in three years. That's roughly comparable to earning an AA degree. Not too shabby!
3) Explore and specifically study "Flow State" as a discipline. Do your internet searches and find a physical or mental activity (running, dancing, meditation, Tai chi, yoga, etc.) that opens a doorway to this inner world.
4) Listen to largo rhythm, sixty-beat per minute string music. Vivaldi is perfect for this, and induces "Alpha" (flow) state rapidly and effectively. Stay away from music with lyrics, but soft jazz is also terrific.
5) Practice making pictures in your mind, and then writing down what you see WITHOUT judging the quality of your descriptions. You want to enhance the connection between your deep consciousness and your typing or writing.
6) If you can't find a good meditation technique, just sit and "listen" to your own heartbeat for 15-30 minutes a day.
There are many other ideas, but these will get you started. The most valuable thing you will learn is to "turn off" or ignore the negative voices in your head. And an artist who learns to do this on demand is on the way to integration of the deep levels of the unconscious.and greater joy in the act of creation.
NY Times Bestselling author Steven Barnes has published over three million words of fiction, been nominated for Hugo and Nebula Awards, and wrote the Emmy-winning "A Stitch In Time" episode of the Outer Limits. He is the creator of the LifewritingT high performance system for writers. Get a free daily Lifewriting tip at: www.lifewriting.biz
Act II - The Elusive Heart of the Screenplay
By Jengo Robinson
Act II is the longest and most difficult part of any screenplay. It is the 60-page heart of the script. But it's a broken heart, split into two very distinct halves, and the dividing page contains the most critical part of the story. This must happen at the mid-point on page 60.
How To Create a Mid-Point Shock
The show-stopper of a Hollywood screenplay should burst like a thunderbolt halfway through the second Act, exactly one-hour into the drama. Figure this out, because Act II cannot generally fall into place until this moment is established.
Anyone can read books on this subject, even more can become totally perplexed by all the diverse and confusing points, moments of enlightenment, crises, percentages and general lack of clarity. However, my disciplined method is a simple way of structuring Act II, in line with Hollywood standards.
How to Structure the Act II Mid-Point
Imagine a tale about a sexually nervous college graduate who is seduced by an older woman. At the end of Act I, she makes it very clear she is available, and given half a chance would jump straight in the sack with him! But the movie must end with the hero's love for the older woman's forbidden daughter. To win her hand, he must destroy an arranged marriage, barricade the church and run away with her.
I give you the 'The Graduate' with its perfect set-up and brilliant conclusion. Act I and Act III. But, the trick is the pace of the 60-page Act II and its correct structure. Ben has to progress from sleeping with Mrs. Robinson on page-30, to the low-point on page 90, where he has apparently lost all hope of marrying Elaine.
You must divide Act II in half. Watch 'The Graduate' again. And again. It is perfect. Look again at the significant events in Act II.
They are as follows:- Night one in the hotel with Mrs. Robinson and the montage that follows. His father berates Ben about his future. "And would you mind telling me what those four years of hard work were for?" Ben's unforgettable response, "You got me."
Then we get the first argument between Ben and Mrs. Robinson in the hotel room, and the incendiary topic of Elaine. We move to the first date with Elaine. Ben tries to tell her he has slept with her mother, and then that devastating moment when Mrs. Robinson appears, hears and coldly calls the police. Elaine is sent back to Berkeley. What now for the pitiful Ben?
Devastated, he drives to Berkeley hoping to find Elaine, but discovers she has a new boyfriend and a virtually arranged marriage. Ben is helpless. His life shattered, his love lost, beaten by his lust and his true self. This is the low-point. This is how Act II plays out in order. The significant event is the turning-point when Mrs. Robinson becomes enraged at Ben's interest in Elaine. Not until then do we suddenly think, "Uh, oh. This lady is dangerous."
This is the classic page-60 event, dividing, changing and heightening. The fling with the mother in Act II A, the fling with daughter in Act II B. It's that simple. Don't get caught up with theory. Just neatly divide Act II in this fashion - sharp as the slash of a dagger.
How To Figure A Mid-Point
And, as ever, there's a knack. Look for the moment where the drama is heightened. At the beginning of Act II A, your hero is pursuing his goal, dealing with conflicts, until suddenly, something changes his course.
In 'The Graduate,' Ben discovers Elaine is very beautiful, and that he's falling in love with her. As her mother's lover, this is a potentially disastrous moment, loaded with unimaginable consequences. Therefore, 'The Graduate's' mid-point must be the arrival of Elaine, and the first glimpses of Mrs. Robinson's fury. They filmed this scene so skillfully, so movingly, Ben could be seen before our eyes to begin losing his attraction to Mrs. Robinson, and Elaine now represents the conflict that will carry the rest of the drama. Mrs. Robinson becomes the nemesis.
Watch films with a stop-watch to hand. Concentrate on this moment. With practice, you will never miss that flip-the-script moment when the course of the movie is suddenly set in marble. Every Hollywood producer looks for it and expects it bang before his eyes.
Next Step - The Low Point
The Low-Point is where your hero has just about run out of options. All hope is lost. His goal no longer seems attainable. Notice the words 'just about' and 'seems.' This is the key. Nothing is finished, but it must appear that way. Your hero, on page 90, must be beat-up, battered, and emotionally cooked. This is the first time he's been this distraught, this helpless. Ben Braddock is in the boarding house. Mr. Robinson is threatening to sue. Elaine is getting married. Mrs. Robinson has orchestrated his worst nightmare. He's disgraced at home. It couldn't be worse. This is page 90. The audience is suicidal. This is the low-point.
And of course, there's a trick to creating a devastating page 90 which will keep the drama alive. And it's everything to do with time.
Ben cannot spend the afternoon hanging around the University of Berkeley, remembering better times, because Elaine is getting married right now. He must race north, find the church, break down the door, and save her from a fate which only he appreciates represents cold horror.
What follows is one of the greatest Act III's ever filmed. The hero must act now or never. If he doesn't get dressed and get moving, he will lose the only girl he would ever love. The race is against time.
Another example of a brilliant low-point comes in the gangster movie 'Scarface,' when Tony Montana kills his best friend after he discovers him with his sister. Tony guns Manny down, and without emotion, steps back into his Rolls Royce, and drives home. But he inhales a mountain of cocaine, and suddenly realizes he's murdered the only man he ever trusted. "Oh, fuck, Manny. How the fuck I do that?... How the fuck I do that Manny?" The brash, cocky, kiss-my-ass Tony, in tears of remorse.
This leads directly to the final battle of Act III. But like Ben in 'The Graduate,' Tony Montana has no time to wallow in his sorrow. Sosa's army has arrived to finish him.
You need a low-point thunderstorm where the hero is weak, maybe even broken, and the nemesis comes forward like Atilla the Hun. The time element will usually solve itself.
Once you have established the mid-point and the low-point, it should be plain sailing to the movie's end. That's if you've planned it meticulously. With the Act II A cliff-hanger halfway, and the Act II B roller-coaster to impending catastrophe properly set out, your run-in to an interesting end is nothing like so difficult as the minefield of Act II. Page 30 to page 90. That's when you face death. Tread carefully and plan properly.
Jengo Robinson has a BA in Creative Writing and Art History from the University of East Anglia. He's written eight feature film scripts, and has a 1 yr diploma in screenwriting from the New York Film Academy. He works in London as a script consultant.
