Movie Outline Screenwriting Blog

When you first get the idea for a story it will probably focus around an interesting character, event, act three plot twist, high concept or thrilling action sequence, but one thing we do not normally consider at the start of the creative writing process is the time frame of the piece. Is your story set in a single day?  During the course of a week?  A month? Or even over several years?  The time frame you choose will have a significant impact on how you tell your story and the pacing of the narrative.

Clarifying the timeline of your story right from the start will save you a great deal of time and effort in rewrites further down the road when you ultimately discover that you have either tried to squeeze too much information into your script or conversely need more scenes to pad it out.  But even if we put the technicalities of the time frame aside, choosing a time frame to suit the genre or story can actually enhance the drama.

Think of a film like John Badham’s Nick of Time in which Johnny Depp has only ninety minutes to save his six-year-old daughter.  And then there’s the excellent TV series 24 which not only uses the time frame of a single day to heighten the tension and suspense but also as a stylistic device by presenting multiple events that are happening in various locations simultaneously through split-screen.

When you plan your script, consider what will be the best time frame for your story.  There’s nothing wrong with having a drama take place over many years.  This will of course slow the overall pacing of the piece but that may be appropriate to your story choice and help an audience identify with your characters as they develop.  However, would the same time frame work for an action movie?  It may, so long as you have given it some thought at the start, understand the possible obstacles your chosen time frame may introduce and create some innovative solutions to these hurdles.

Remember, there are no hard and fast rules and every story is different, principally because every screenwriter has their own voice.  This is what makes screenwriting so interesting.  Just be aware of how important time frame is to storytelling and how the wrong choice at the start could create a mountain of problems either for you as a writer or for an audience trying to engage with your tale.

To help you understand story pacing and how to write a script that keeps the reader turning the page it may help to think of your screenplay as a piece of music.  The music can be in any genre since most pop and rock songs share the same constant as is apparent in classical pieces – they all have a melodic rhythm with highs and lows. If they didn’t then essentially it would not really be called “music” but “noise”.

Let’s first consider a pop song.  Some start out loud and fast with an intro that reflects the chorus or the actual chorus itself and then dips to begin the first verse which is normally slower.  After this comes the bridge which steps up the pace a little leading us into the chorus.. and then this repeats until the end of the song.  About three-quarters of the way through there is normally the middle-8 section which is different from the verse, bridge and chorus in rhythm and melody and this helps break up the pattern before the last chorus.

All of these different sections of a typical song create pace, fast and slow, slow and fast and this pacing keeps us engaged.  Let’s not forget, a song is more than music, it’s a story in itself, whether it has words or it doesn’t have words.  Even classical music tells a story through the choice of instruments used, the melody and the arrangement.  That’s why it’s so natural to compare musical rhythm and pacing with script writing because they share the same core principles.

Another great analogy is the roller-coaster ride which also applies to movie making and screenplay writing. A roller-coaster also goes up and down.  Trust me, you wouldn’t go back to Six Flags theme park if all of the rides literally went from A to B on the same level at the same speed – would you?  No, they good rides create tension, anticipation and excitement through the design of the twists and turns, where they are positioned, the acceleration and deceleration, and the slow climb followed by the dip.  All of these ingredients combine to create “entertainment” for the participant and as a script reader or audience member you want to experience the same thrills when reading a script or watching a movie.

Remember, it’s your job as a screenwriter to keep the reader turning the page.  You have to build toward those key moments of heightened action or drama in your story and then follow them with a lull that becomes the beginning of the next big crescendo.  By visualizing your narrative in this way you will ensure that your script stands out and provides a roller-coaster read!  And if you want to analyze the pacing of your own creative writing projects, I recommend our screenwriting software Movie Outline 3 which includes a unique and innovative story pacing feature called FeelFactors.

As a screenwriter it is important to remember that while the stories we tell should reflect real-life (or aspects of it) in order to engage an audience and help them identify with the narrative and characters that inhabit the world we create, life is different from movie life.  In real life events occur in chronological order and time passes much, much slower.. even though some days may not feel like it.  If we recounted the story of our day in minute detail minute by minute to our friends over a drink after work, they’d probably shoot themselves or jump off a bridge with suicidal boredom because most of the events that occur are insignificant and uninteresting.

From the moment we are awoken in the morning by our alarm clock to the moment we arrive at work, many, many things have happened.  But put them all in a screenplay and it won’t be a blockbuster, unless of course your entire story is about an hour in the life of an everyday man who gets kidnapped on his way to work due to a case of mistaken identity!

A movie may begin by showing a man waking up, getting ready for work, feeding his dog and jumping into his car, and that’s fine.  It reveals certain things about the character that may be important for us to know before the story unfolds.  Similarly, a scene in the middle of a movie could contain these events, but ONLY if it is important to the character, plot or pacing.  Otherwise, condense those events into a shorter sequence of shorts or cut them altogether.

And that’s where the concept of “getting in and out early” plays its crucial part.  When writing a screenplay, you only have so much time to tell the story and so you must not waste those precious moments on things that don’t matter.  Why not cut from the alarm clock, to his irritated expression in bed and then right to him sitting down at his desk?  It still works, doesn’t it.  Absolutely.  And the great thing is we now have more time to spend on more significant plot and character developments.

I’m not saying go through your script and condense everything to the point that it’s all cut – cut – cut.. that would be equally annoying and give us a headache.  Pace means highs and lows, fast and slow, moments of intense action and lulls for us to contemplate what has passed.  The key is to find an effective balance and part of that is understanding when there is too much “chaff” in your scene to scene progression. So remember to get into your scene as late as possible and out of it as early as possible. This will tighten a flabby script and help focus your audience’s time and attention on the things that really matter.