Screenwriting Games
My writer’s group plays a game that forces us to think about the fundamentals of screenwriting. It’s quick, it’s fun, it’s some of the best creative practice I’ve ever had. Let’s build on this!
What is Your Project?
This is the place that all projects begin. It’s where you start with an idea, and it’s where you’re going to introduce a producer to your script. That idea, when forged correctly, should be conveyed in two powerful tools: the concept and the logline.
The concept is an easily communicable idea that gets people excited. Ideally told in as few words as possible (think: sound bite), this is an idea that you should be able to tell someone, anyone, and have them pass the idea onward like a game of telephone. Only the idea here is that the concept communicated doesn’t get garbled along the way.
I have used a terrible concept in this blog multiple times, and I’m not stopping today!
“Ghosts on a roller coaster.”
Yes, this is a concept. It’s an idea that’s easily communicable, but it’s not really enough to generate a sale. Why? Well, it’s kind of boring. It doesn’t create excitement in the listener. Questions, maybe, if they’re generous. It also doesn’t promise great scenes as a result.
But… I created this dumb concept while blogging at 4:00AM, drunk off my ass, as fast as I can type. That’s how I write all my blogs. And if I can create something as mediocre as ghosts on a roller coaster in that state, you can do much better.
Do You Wanna Play a Game?
Of course you do. Games are awesome, unless we’re in a horror movie. In my blog, games are awesome!
In one of my writing groups, a talented writer whom we’ll call Melvinne, has invented a game. I won’t give away her game to you, but it’s main focus is on logline generation. Each week, under her guidance, we’d write a logline in under two minutes.
Some of my loglines were terrible.
Others were a lot of fun.
How can this help you? Last week, I spoke about one producer’s journey to find great concepts on Reddit. I gave advice to steadily create a body of work where people can discover you. I think this would greatly benefit all of us, but I didn’t stop there.
I considered the fun, creative challenge of coming up with concepts on the fly.
I thrive off challenges like this. I wrote a breakup scene in class that blew my mentors away. Not because it was ground-breaking. It was because they saw me as a family friendly writer, and the scene I concocted in five minutes was bonkers (and NOT family friendly). They saw a different side of me. That changed the trajectory of their advice moving forward, and that scene was turned into a very funny R-rated script.
All thanks to a game.
We can do that for each other. Games that force us to generate ideas or writing are SO EASY to set up. So you have a mission today: if you’re part of a writing group, set up a creative game that you can do every time you meet!
Gaming Gurus
There’s a few things you need to make a fun game.
Prizes and winners are NOT two of the things. Believe it or not, you can play for the thrill, for the exercise, for the practice, and still have everyone enjoy it.
You need a challenge. You need a time limit. You need a rubric.
What is a rubric? Well, that’s what makes the game more interesting. If your game was “Create a Concept,” well, that’s how you get ideas like ghosts on a roller coaster. But if you add some needed rules to that, such as “create a concept that evokes conflict,” well, now you’re cooking.
The same with loglines. Loglines need to have a protagonist in their status quo, an inciting incident, and a decision. That’s a lot of ground to cover.
The scene I referred to above? We had a great rubric for that one: create a breakup scene in a bar with a twist ending. Five minutes. GO! I LOVED this. Want to know what my twist ending was? I had a character cement the breakup by making out with the weird bar regulars in front of her newly minted ex.
How did I come up with that so fast? I wrote an all powerful LIST.
Lists: The Great and Powerful
I had such a short amount of time, and we had no idea this challenge was coming. You know what, I’m going to throw something like this at my mentees this week. That’ll add some chaos to their regularly scheduled programming! Right, the list. I had such a short time, and the “twist” ending rubric really forced me to think.
What had I not seen before in a breakup?
That is, after all, a question that would generate a lot of twists. I wrote about seven ideas as fast as my hands could go until I landed on my answer.
I immediately dove into the pages and put it on paper. I was just as surprised as the class was for that one.
When it comes to concept generation, a list is the greatest thing ever. A few lists help you connect dots. Lists can be great for narrowing down the perfect adjective to describe your protagonist in the logline. Lists are exactly how we started writing jokes for Stand-Up 101 when I took a class on that.
Lists are the greatest thing ever for most idea generation. When I start to get behind on my blogs, I write an all-powerful list of ideas just so I have some runway ahead of me.
Lists are a great way you can also get your writing group thinking. Hell, this advice is truly wonderful nearly everywhere. Got a problem? Write a list! Have something challenging your team in a professional setting? Get everyone to write down INSANE SOLUTIONS as a game with a short time limit.
Where Idea Meets Action
What do you all think? Do you have a writing group that would have fun doing creative games / challenges like this? If not, do you want me to create one?
It could be fun. Once a month, for an hour or two, I could throw live writing challenges at us all and see what we create. If that sounds like something you want, tell me. I’ll build it. If you’re implementing these ideas among your own peers, let me know!
I truly believe games like these make us much better writers. They focus on the fundamentals. They keep our brains active. They keep us sharp. It would be a lot of fun, so if a few people are keen on this, I’ll get to work.
Don’t sleep on this. Either join me, or create your own, but this habit will greatly help you as you progress on your writing journey.
And as always, Happy Writing!
Before you go, would you consider sharing this blog? It would help me a lot.
In return, I’ll put your name in a raffle for a script read! Who doesn’t want a free read? There’ll be notes! Helpful ones!
Thanks for considering it! And I was serious, let me know if you want me to make some creative games we can all play together. K bye!
So fun! Love this!