This essay is a bit different to what I usually write about. Instead of a think piece on culture and cinema, I am sketching out a step-by-step approach I have perfect over the tens of screenplays I’ve written over the past few years. As I embark on the journey of writing my newest feature film (send coffee and prayers), I thought it might be useful to showcase my process that ensures not only a successful completion of the script, but also a well developed narrative and visual language throughout the drafts.
Unlike traditional outlining that consists of pen to paper or digital bullet pointing, when writing a screenplay, I believe it is essential to build a visual document containing all the information because you are writing for a visual medium. As such, I love the creation of a master file (as you will see in my example below), also known as a whiteboard in Canva. A screenplay idea can come to you in different forms: as an exchange of dialogue, a flaw in a character, a shot of sunlight through curtains. Those are all valid, strong starting points that would traditionally employ an individual outlining approach for each of them. If it’s dialogue, you would perhaps start by sketching out a scene, if it’s a character - their profile, if it’s a visual - establishing a moldboard. The thing about the master file method is that in either case, you just pin it up on the board. So, let’s get into what the master is as well as a step by step on how to build one for your next project.