How to Guides

Welcome to Writer's Resources—your resources! This is the section you come to for how-to and formatting guides, an inspirational kick in the pants, and nifty icons and flyers. You'll find handy links to everything in the section there on the left, and here's a quick overview of each item on the list.


How To Guides

Screenplays

Introduction to Screenwriting
Screenplay Formatting Overview

Stage Plays

Introduction to Stage plays
Stage Play Formatting Overview

TV Scripts

Introduction to TV Scripts
TV Script Formatting Overview

Comic Books

Introduction to Comic Books
Comic Book Formatting Overview

How to Build Great Characters and Stories

Creating Great Characters

Cast your Characters

Writing

Writing Action and Description
Writing Dialogue

Conflict and Outlining Plot

Creating Conflict
Outline your Script
“Hollywood Formula" Worksheet  

Scriptwriter Bootcamps and Worksheets


The Young Writers Program Director, Chris Angotti, has put together a series of bootcamps and worksheets that can help writers of all ages develop their characters and stories. Check out these resources on the YWP Script Frenzy Resources page.

We've highlighted a few of these resources below to help you plan your scripts.


Four-Week Scriptwriting Bootcamp

In the next four weeks, our scriptwriting boot camp will teach you everything you'll need to know to tackle the great Script Frenzy challenge this April. Over the next month, you'll invent characters, hatch plots, practice writing dialogue, and even learn a thing or two about the mysterious art of script formatting.

Week 1: Choosing the Right Script for You and Developing Characters
In this week's boot camp, we'll help you decide what kind of script to write and introduce a surefire way to cast an amazing crew of characters.

Week 2: Creating Conflict and Outlining Your Plot
Get your characters off the page and into action in Week 2.

Week 3: What Makes a Script a Script?
Find out how to get from Page 1 to "The End" using dialogue, action, and description.

Week 4: Putting It All Together—Formatting Your Script
Script formatting is not as hard as you might think, and we're on a mission to prove it to you.


Scriptwriter Workbook

Complete this workbook to fully understand script concepts and effectively plan your own. (The most important pages are also included in the boot camp.)

How to Cameos: Articles by the experts

Outlining

A Procrastinator's Guide to Surviving Act 2
by David Ross

How to Get Started
by Alan Swyer

Know Your Story
by Greg Marcks

I Have the Best Idea for a Script!....Err, So Now What?
by Beth Brandon

Beginnings and Endings

Five Ways to Start a Script
by Nick Turner

Five Ways To End With A Twist
by Nicholas Turner

Dialogue

5 Tips for Dialogue That Makes Strong Men Weep
by Daniel Heath

Reach for the Evocative Word
by Lisa Drostova

Thinking Outside The Plot: The Set Piece
by David Warfield

Scene and story

Dynamic Scene and Action Description
by Jill Chamberlain

Top Five Reasons to Show Your Story Some Love
by Lauren Gunderson

The Three Most Important Things I Teach
by Alex Epstein

12 Things to Keep in Mind When Writing an Ending
by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

Three Secrets of Great Storytelling
by Jill Chamberlain

Midpoint—The Key to Cracking Any Story
by Blake Snyder

Five Building Blocks for a Rich Scene
by Liz Lisle

How to Make Your Scenes Dance the 'Wadoogee'
by Hal Ackerman

Building Satisfying Plots
by Angela Paton

After the Draft

Surviving the Rewrite: Part One
by Diane Duane

Surviving the Rewrite: Part-Two
by Diane Duane

I Hear Voices
by Fred Ritzenberg

Revisions the Pixar Way: Part One
by Max Brace

Revisions the Pixar way: Part Two
by Max Brace

Tenacity. Determination. Grit.
by Stephen Norrington

Structure and Format

Who's Afraid of Formatting
Part One
Part Two
by Stephen Norrington

Quick Tips on Shorts
by Will Bigham

One-camera vs. Three-camera (and everything in between): The Five New TV Formats
by Nathan Marshall

Five Questions to Help Pilots Take Flight
by Jonathan Abrahams

Screenplay Structure: Three Acts & Five Points
by Nathan Marshall

Characters

The Dreaded Middle: How to Get Out of the Doldrums
by Tom Kealey

Creating Character: Don't Be Boring
by Melissa Hillman

Grandma's Got a Gun or, "Who Are You Calling a Minor Character, Anyway?"
by Daniel Heath

5 Tips on Making your Romantic Comedy Lovable…Er, Relatable
by Lauren Miller

Five Character-Defining Opening Scenes
by Adam Kempenaar & Sam Van Hallgren

On the Process

Getting to Page One: A Producer’s Take On the Writing Process
by Stephanie Watanabe

Writing = Ass + Chair
by Jeromy Zajonc

Freedom from Fear
by Lydia Cornell

Catapult Yourself into Inspirationland
by Beth Lisick

Hot Tips on Writing a TV Script
by Jennifer Arzt

Forget About Writer's Block
by Nina Bargiel

The Best Part of My Day
by Hope Larson

Cameo: Animal, Vegetable, or Graphic Novel?
by Carla Jablonski

What's to Lose?
by Betsy Franco

Five Mistakes a Beginning Writer Should Avoid
by David S. Goyer

A Brief Primer On Things Not To Do When Writing
by Ron J. Friedman & Steve Benich

Five Screenwriting Pitfalls
by Nathan Marshall

Being a Professional Writer and the Power of Rewrite
by Beth Brandon

Writing Downhill
by Daniel Heath

Advice for Aspiring Screenwriters
by Melissa Carter

Comedy

This Stopped Being Funny 3 Minutes Ago: Things I’ve Learned Writing Sketch Comedy.
by Jon Wolanske

Five Secrets for Improving Your Comedy Writing
by Fred Rubin

Need a Lift? Others are on the Same Page as You!

You will not be hiking up a mountainous ream of paper alone! We will be with you each step of the way.
  • Click here to read pep talks from Sandra Salas, Program Director, and fellow Script Frenzy 2012 Participant.
  • Stop by the forums. Ask questions, give answers, try a word war, or discover a new way to procrastinate.