Free Access to News & Streaming Sites 

• Get free access to the New York Times
• Get free access to the Wall Street Journal
• Get free access to the streaming service Kanopy

Story and Plot Basics

• What Is a Story?
• How to Structure a Film Script
• The Three-Act Structure in Detail
• Plot Versus Story – Sequence of Events vs. How the Character Changes

Concept Sentence

• The Concept Sentence (with examples)

Screenwriting ABCs

• The Three Act Structure
• Writing a Screenplay (Syd Field style)
• Screenplay: The Importance of the First Five Pages
• Setting the Scene [pdf]
  The importance of your feature screenplay’s first 10 pages
• Active Reading Guide for Screenplay [pdf]
• The Six Commandments of Matt and Trey [pdf]
  What South Park’s creators have learned in fifteen seasons of outrage and quiet episode-ending morals.
• What Can Indie Filmmakers Learn From Pixar’s Development Process?
• Textbook

Screenwriting Tips & Tools

• 22 Tips on the Pixar Storytelling Formula
• The Step Outline
• How to Write a Scene
• Story Outline – A tool to sketch your elements out with to make sure you’re covering all bases needed
• Character Worksheet [pdf]
• Elements of the Film Story Worksheet [pdf]

Storytelling tips from one of the most prolific, beloved animators

Storytelling tips from Jordan Peele

 

More Tools, Terms and Examples of Script Development

• Screenplay Development Tools – When approaching the first draft of a screenplay, screenwriters use a number of tools to work out essential parts and mechanics of the story structure. Read about these tools which include premise, concept, setting, logline, beats, outlines, treatments
• Freaks & Geeks Bible excerpt

Treatment Examples

Sample Treatments for Feature Scripts:

• Godzilla – Treatment Written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
• My Own Private Idaho – Treatment by Gus Van Sant
• Unwanted Attractions – Treatment for TV show
• The Terminator Treatment by James Cameron
• Alien II (Aliens) – Treatment by James Cameron
• The Shining – Treatment by Stanley Kubrick
• Marilyn Horowitz – Lilly 

Treatments and Synopses

• What to Include in Your Treatment
• What Is a Treatment and How to Write One
• The Treatment – Writer Marilyn Horowitz explains how to develop your treatment-writing skills
• Screenwriting Development Tools: Premise, Concept, Setting, Loglines, Outlines, Treatments
• “Does Your Screenplay Need a Treatment or Synopsis” Article on differences of and reasons for treatments, summaries, loglines and step outlines

Synopses (Definitions and Examples)

• Writing a Synopsis for Your Screenplay – How to approach the synopsis and two examples
• What’s a Synopsis and How to Write One
• Synopsis Example: Boyhood

 Logline How-To’s and Tips

A logline is the script’s core conflict expressed in one or two sentences. It should provide both a synopsis of the story’s plot, and an emotional “hook” to stimulate interest.  The logline must include the following:

• a good, short description of your protagonist (not the character’s name)
• the protagonist’s want/goal
• the inciting incident that shakes up the protagonist’s world
• the protagonist’s struggle with antagonist
• the action the protagonist takes to overcome antagonist and get objective
• the story world in which all this happens
  

Read more on loglines here, including examples.

See also the following articles and videos:

• How to Write a Logline: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide
• 7 Crucial Logline Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Screenplay Beats and Outlines

• All About Screenwriting Beats – A screenplay “beat is a moment that propels the story forward and compels the viewer to take stock of what could happen next.”
• How to Structure a Film Script – Fiction Outline Tips
• Beat Sheet for Charlie’s Angels
• Outline for Big Fish
• Outline for pilot episode of TV show “DC”
• Step Outline and Outline for the Fox and the Crow

Step Outline Definition, Writing Tips, Example

• Step Outline – Definition, Writing Tips and Example

Screenplay Formatting

• Screenplay Formatting Guide (Article and example are under the box requesting your email; ignore that box as you don’t need to put in your email.)

Movie Scripts

SHORTS

• “Bye-Child” (short script by Bernard Maclaverty)
• “The Door” (short script by Juanita Wilson)
• “A Work in Progress” (short script by Wes Ball)
• “Kosher” (short script by Aimee Barth)
• “God” (short script by John August)
• “The Remnants” (pilot script by John August)

FEATURE SCREENPLAYS AND TV SCRIPTS

• Black Panther (screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole)
• The Bourne Ultimatum (screenplay by Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi)
• Breaking Bad pilot (Vince Gilligan)
• Bridesmaids (screenplay by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig)
• Die Hard (screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. DeSouza)
• Do the Right Thing (screenplay by Spike Lee)
• E.T. (screenplay by Melissa Matthisson)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (screenplay by Charlie Kaufmann)
• Get Out (screenplay by Jordan Peele)
• The Godfather (screenplay by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola)
• Judas and the Black Messiah (screenplay by Will Bersen and Shaka King)
• Legally Blonde (screenplay by Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith)
• Mudbound (screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees)
• Shrek (screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Roger Schulman and Joe Stillman, based on the book by William Steig)
• Sideways (screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor)
• Terminator (screenplay by James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd)
• Thelma and Louise (screenplay by Callie Khouri)
• The Truman Show (screenplay by Andrew M. Niccol)
• When Harry Met Sally (screenplay by Nora Ephron, Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman)

FABLE

• The Tortoise and the Hare story

More scripts here:

• Screenplays – Oscar Contenders 2022-2023 »
• Drew’s Script-O-Rama »
• Scriptreaderpro.com »
• The Script Lab »

See The Script Lab’s List of Screenplay Competitions »

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Documentary Scriptwriting

Definitions of the Documentary Form and Elements Needed for Coverage

• On Documentaries – Individuality, POV, and Organized Story
• The Basics of B-Roll
• Step Outline – Definition, Writing Tips and Examples
• Example of a Documentary Step Outline
• Example of Documentary Step Outline and A/V Script
• How to Write a Documentary Treatment

A/V Script

• A/V Script Examples from TV News
• TV News Package 1: Will Cursive Writing Survive? (A/V example)
• TV News Package 2: Long Island Bridge (A/V example)
• Example of Documentary Step Outline and A/V Script
• AV Script Template

 

Examples of Documentary Project Deliverables

• Recalling Orange County [PDF]
  Proposal Package

• Candor in Comedy Shattering the Glass Ceiling
  Title, Synopsis, Treatment, A/V Script

• Blue Hunter Diving
  Title, Treatment, A/V Script

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Distraction-Cutting Tools for Writers

• Freedom for Writers (online)
• FocusWriter (Windows/Mac/Linux | Free)
• OmmWriter (Mac | Free/Donationware)
• Write Monkey (Windows | Free)
• Q10 (Windows | Free)
• WriteRoom (Mac/iOS | Mac: $24.99/iOS: $4.99)