How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method

by Viki King

Overview

In this classic bestselling screenwriting guide—now revised and updated—author and film consultant Viki King helps screenwriters go from blank page to completed manuscript through a series of clever and simple questions, ingenious writing exercises, and easy, effective new skills.

Viki King's Inner Movie Method is a specific step-by-step process designed to get the story in your heart onto the page. This method doesn’t just show how to craft a classic three-act story but also delves into how to clarify the idea you don't quite have yet, how to tell if your idea is really a movie, and how to stop getting ready and start. Once you know what to write, the Inner Movie Method will show you how to write it. This ultimate scriptwriting survival guide also addresses common issues such as: how to pay the rent while paying your dues, what to say to your partner when you can't come to bed, and how to keep going when you think you can't.

How to Write a Movie in 21 Days, first published in 1987, has been translated in many languages around the world and has become an industry-standard guide for filmmakers both in Hollywood and internationally.

For accomplished screenwriters honing their craft, as well as those who have never before brought their ideas to paper, How to Write a Movie in 21 Days is an indispensable guide. And Viki King's upbeat, friendly style is like having a first-rate writing partner every step of the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062405401
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/03/2015
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	273,333
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Viki King is well known in Hollywood and internationally as an adviser to luminaries in the entertainment industry, as well as new writers just beginning their first projects. She can be contacted through her website www.vikiking.com.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

Promises, Promises

So you want to write a movie? You've come to the right place!

The Inner Movie Method takes you the shortest distance from your great idea to a completed screenplay.

It covers everything you need to know about structure, content, and characters; it even tells you where to set the tabs on the typewriter.

The Inner Movie Method will help you find out what you want to write and then help you write it.

How to use this book.

This book is divided into three sections: Beginning, Middle and End, just like a screenplay. Beginning is set-up, middle is action, and end is resolution. We'll set up your movie. You'll write the movie. We'll resolve any obstacles that keep you from finishing your movie.

Beginning: How to get ready.

This is where we'll work out everything you'll need to write your movie. We'll find your story, discover your characters, work out the best structure for your story, and then show you how it should look on the page.

Here's a sample of what you will get:

• How to know what your idea is.Exercises to find out what you want to say. Actions to get you to say it.

• How to tell if your idea is really a movie:

• Find out if your idea is a song, a play, or a novel, rather than a movie, and what to do if it is.

• How to become a technical expert in 2 pages:

• Type the 2-Page Picture Show and thereby discover all you'll need to know about screenplay form.

Middle: Writing your movie in 21 days.

Here'swhere you'll do it. You'll write a fast random draft from your heart; you'll rewrite from your head. This section shows every step you need to take and when you need to take it to complete your script.

Here are some questions you'll find answered:

• How did I lose my hero and how do I get him back? What's my story again? I keep forgetting.

• How come nothing's happening?
• How do I get my characters to talk like real people?

• I know the beginning and I know the end, now how do I get here from there?

We'll go hand in hand, step-by-step, all the way through your movie. You'll even learn:

• How to Know When You're Done:Test questions that can only be answered when the script is absolutely finished.

• How to Pick Two People for a Test Reading (excluding all members of your immediate household):Questions you ask the reader to find out if you said what you wanted to say.Questions to have the reader ask you to find out if you've said it the best possible way.

End: Embracing the impossible obstacles.

This is where we'll demystify any blocks, doubts, or circumstantial difficulties you might have along the way.

No other screenwriting book deals with the fact that you think you're going to die of this. You'll use this section to identify why you've stopped, so you can take action to keep going. We'll cover:

• How to keep going when you think you can't.Statements you can have a loved one say to you. Confidence builders, including "How to Write a Fan Letter to Yourself."

• Why you have to believe you can do it and what to do when you don't.

• Why you get the flu when you're on Page 90.

• Exercises to keep going. Pick one; pick ten-don't stop.

And if it's too hard and you just can't go on, the Inner Movie Method covers such details as

• Where to arrange your workspace.

• How to schedule work time.

• What to say to your spouse when you can't come to bed.

Chances are you'll want to go directly to the section on how much money you're going to make. In There's No Business Like Show Business, you'll find answers to these questions.

• Do I need an agent?

• How do I get an agent?

• What do I do until I get an agent?

• And we'll go even further.

• How do I know when I'm in the business?

• Can I succeed in Hollywood if I live in Buffalo?

The Inner Movie Method asks all the obscure questions you haven't thought of and answers all the questions you already have.

We won't say "this is the definition of this" and "that is the meaning of that." You just start right in, right away, and finish before you can worry about how to begin.

So, grab a pencil and the blank page you haven't been able to fill; we're going to write a movie. The Inner Movie...