Think Cinematically

Odds are your writing is never going to be made into a screenplay and filmed by a Hollywood producer, requiring you to give a 5-minute acceptance speech at the Oscars. However, thinking cinematically by creating a screenplay outline will help you focus and organize your writing.

A screenplay describes characters, scenes, and action—all essential elements of storytelling. And, whether you’re writing a novel, a poem, a family history, or even a non-fiction book, your written product should tell a story.

Here’s an example of what you could create as an aid to get your writing juices flowing:

Screenplay: The Quick Family Makes a Decision

Act I, Scene 1:

The characters: Rural mail carrier Hugh Clyde Quick and his wife, Maggie. Their teenaged sons, Leonard and Lawrence; their teenaged daughters Ruth and Doris; their school-aged children Donald and Dale; and their baby Helen.

The setting: The year is 1914. The scene is the kitchen of a two-story farmhouse in rural Iowa. It is early morning with first light streaming through the windows. The entire family is gathered around a broad kitchen table. On an ordinary day, the father and elder sons and daughters would already be at work, Hugh driving his team to town to fetch the mail, Leonard and Lawrence tending to the cows, Doris gathering the eggs, the school-aged children feeding the chickens and rabbits. Maggie and Ruth cooking breakfast with Helen nearby sleeping in her bassinet. This is not an ordinary day.

The action: Hugh has assembled the family for an impromptu meeting. Everyone is anxious to learn the purpose of this unusual get together. Even the baby seems to anticipate what will happen. Rising from his customary chair at the head of the table, Hugh holds aloft an unopened telegram. Clearing his throat, he speaks.

Hugh: Early this morning your mother and I received this telegram by special messenger.

Leonard: (speaking to his siblings with an excited tone) I knew it! Didn’t I tell you I heard a horse? Didn’t I…

Maggie: (gently but firmly) Your father has the floor, Lenny.

Leonard: (apologetically) Sorry, Pop.

[And so on. If you go this route, you won’t need to write out an entire screenplay. Just create a title, name the characters, set the scene, and sketch out motivation (emotions characters are feeling) and basic dialogue). These beginning scenarios are great ways to form the basis of each chapter.]