Thread: Story Development question

I am in the process of writing a screenplay. I am noticing that as my story is developing, it is straying, in tiny steps, from my original vision/idea. Is this normal/part of the creative process?

It certainly can be. It depends on how strongly you outlined your original plot, and whether that outline took the story where you really wanted it to go.

Yes, very much so. Sometimes it's just better to let it go where it wants.

I don't write screenplays (normally short stories). However, they don't usually stay just like I imagined them. Sometimes I just know the beginning or the title, too. Faceless is a story that will appear soon (not in a professional market) and it is entirely different from how I imagined it.

Usually when I start a story I will have the beginning and the end already thought out. Sometimes the ending is where I start. But I don't usually know the middle. I just let the story meander and lead me that way. Sometimes it ends up so off in left field that my original ending or beginning will get shelved for a different story.

I think that's different for everybody. There are writers who know exactly where their plot will go, and have all the major turns laid out, and there are people who just wing it. There's no reason why you can't do a mixture of both, as well.

I'm writing a screenplay and I don't think I'd be able to do it without the synopsis and the treatment that I wrote first.

Mine will follow the plan because I've worked pretty hard at getting the story just so in the preliminary stages. I can't see it going very far off track from that.

But the first treatment is different to the one I'm working off now, so that went in a few different directions to start with. I'd recommend doing that rather than working it out within the screenplay. Script writing is so tedious, it'd be awful to write scene upon scene that will get cut because they're no longer relevant.

Do you use a program? I really recommend CeltX, it makes the formatting a whole lot easier.

I agree with Like a Fox.

Screenplays, have a 'three act' format. Although it is reasonably flexible you should be aware of it before you start. You might disagree with the format and you might be right to do so but you won't get anywhere in pitching your screenplay unless you can present it in three acts and show plot points.

For this reason, it is wise to have a synopsis and/or a treatment, that conforms to this format, prepared before you start on scenes and dialogue.

Why is there a need for both a synopsis and a treatment? Surely they're just two different names for the same thing. Keep It Simple should be the rule.

No. Synopsis is a one page break down of the story. A treatment could be 20-40 pages, depending on the length of the film. It's a play by play of every scene.
Makes story progression easier to toy with than in the synopsis, and it's a proper skeleton for the script. Both are important in the industry.

I took a few screenwriting classes at university years ago, got bored with the limitations of it, but I use the treatment process nearly all the time. It's a great way for me to outline chapters (where to break them, what's happening, etc), as most of how I see the story in my head is actually seeing the story unfold - the visual aspects with plot and character movements. Celtx is too weird for me with all its formats - I prefer just a blank sheet on a word processor.

For most of the longer stories, I have a general idea of what I want to accomplish - how many main characters and impact characters, the motif, the style, etc. I know what the 'quest' or plot will be and where it might go, but I never know the end of a story (and very rarely do I know even where to begin!). I like not knowing...it's quite nice living the adventure yourself as you write it.

Thanks for all the advice. I am using Final Draft 8. I love that it makes 'index cards' of the scenes and lets you shuffle them around. As an amateur writer (and that is being generous) I probably don't follow the customary rules of writing. But if David Lynch can make a career...