Being a Scriptwriter Is a Little Bit Crazy

Being a scriptwriter is a little bit crazy at times, because this is what you’re doing. You’re pinning beats on the board, beats and beats, and then more pin boards and more beats on the pin boards. Little tiny cards, writing out beats, putting them on the board, shuffling the board, seeing what works, seeing what doesn’t work, waking up the next day, deleting the board, starting it again.

And it just goes round and round.

Feels a little crazy but it works for a scriptwriter.

So for my latest short film, Alien Echo, I did the beats and wrote the script, and then realised there was an issue. I had to go back to the drawing board a little bit and redo some of the beats. Once I knew those beats were right, I was happy to write it.

Now that I’m in the editing phase, I’ve put the beats back up to remind me what the point of each scene. I am using the beats on the pin board, to get from there to the next part of the story, and to progress our key character, Lola, so she can make it to the end of her journey.

By putting the beats back up, even though I’m now editing, it reminds me of all those key beats I need to have in there, and makes sure I’m still delivering on those key creative parts.

Be a creative punk.