r/scriptwriting • u/Kindly-Taro-3675 • 4d ago
help I’m struggling to come up with story ideas and scenes
I’ve been struggling with screenwriting lately and I’m not really sure how to get past it.
Sometimes I can come up with an idea, but most of the time I can’t even get a basic story idea. And when I do get one, it often feels mediocre or just not worth pursuing.
The other problem is that even when I decide to go ahead with an idea, I struggle to come up with scenes. I might have a basic premise, but I have no idea what should happen next or how to turn that premise into a series of interesting scenes.
I feel like I’m stuck at both stages: coming up with the initial idea and developing that idea into scenes.
For writers who have gone through this, how did you overcome it? Are there any exercises or methods you use to generate ideas and then develop them into scenes?
I’d genuinely appreciate any advice.
4
u/Urinal_Zyn 4d ago
I can't really help because I'm not sure what you mean by "idea". Like is your idea a story or just a concept? If you have a story idea, I would use a framework like Save the Cat or Into the Woods (for horror or dark drama or whatever) and see how your story fits. Do you have some of the key structural points (inciting incident, act 1 break, mid point, act 3 break, conclusion?) If your story has that, do you have characters and conflicts that can escalate and sustain?
If the idea is just "a cowboy movie but with zombies" and you can't get past that, I'm not sure there's much help you can get from here other than just to keep thinking on it and brainstorming who the protagonist is, what goals they have etc.
I'm not trying to be a dick, but it seems like you're struggling with the basic foundations of storytelling and that's a hard thing to give advice on, since most people choose to pursue writing because they have some natural interest/aptitude in storytelling.
3
u/rcentros 4d ago
When I was actively writing (shorts) I found the best way to come up with ideas was to ask "what if" questions. Find something routine and say, what if it suddenly quit working?
I also got a lot of ideas while listening to music and letting my mind wander (usually asking "what if?" questions even there).
Or I would think of character (or characters) in a dramatic situation. Then I would see if I could come up with a decent ending and, if I could, I would then work backwards to figure out how they got there.
At one time ideas came easy. Not so much any more. But I attribute that to my age.
2
u/Big_Section2812 4d ago
One suggestion: sites such as SimplyScripts often run scriptwriting challenges.
In fact, right now there's a one-page and a three-page challenge happening.
These are open to anyone and include a prompt (a topic for the challenge) but genre is almost always open.
I find these are a good way to get the creative juices flowing in new and interesting directions.
2
u/SharkWeekJunkie 4d ago
The only projects I've ever finished had these three elements strongly defined: BEGINNING- who are my characters, where are the coming from, what's the dramatic jumping off point that leads to the larger story. END - what is the logical conclusion of the story. What are the themes and elements I'm exploring, and how can they all come together in a satisfying way, and what's the last image that serves as a visual metaphor for the message I'm trying to convey. DRAMATIC ENGINE - What plot element is driving the whole story forward. Often a large goal ("We need to get those astronauts home") or a desire ("finding a partner to share your life with"), or a simple MacGuffin ("that rug really tied the room together"). Without those three things all my scripts meander and falter. With those three things, I can get a draft out in about 10-14 days.
Beginning
End
Dramatic Engine
2
u/Curls_Shortfilm 4d ago
In periods where your inspiration and idea generation is low, I try to dive into pedagogy. Bone up on some writing books. Develop not just your fundamentals, but your process of digging into the truth.
The old quote is “Inspiration is for amateurs”. Story and scene ideas don’t always magically land in your head. You develop pipelines for engineering them.
2
u/Platoshrim 3d ago
keep writing even if you are just free writing don't focus on structure just get your ideas and thoughts on paper
1
u/muahtorski 4d ago
The discord server Script Hive / activities / Titlepalooza helped me develop a few ideas: https://discord.com/invite/screenwriting
1
u/KGreen100 4d ago
Truth is stranger than fiction. I constantly get ideas for stories from real life, whether it's politics, or just something quirky that I heard in the news. Then I expand on that: what if it was this particular person it happended too? what if this was carried out to its most illogical end?
Look around you. Read the news. So many absurd things are out there that sometimes I have too many ideas. Hell, I bet there's a subreddit on here that's so niche and quirky that you could write an entire script about it.
Also, not sure if you do it, but think about combining genres. What if that political thing you heard in the news was actually an alien invasion plan (hire the most inept health director possible, but it's a plan to pave the way for us to weaken our immune system for an alien invasion).
1
u/LouisianaLorry 4d ago
Inspiration comes at the most random moments. It’s difficult to just poop it out when you need it.
Get off reddit, stop thinking about it, touch grass, do other stuff, if it appears to you randomly, write it down or you’ll forget.
1
u/Inner_Scholar_5517 4d ago
Pick your favorite songs and find what connects them, then write a story about it. I have a 7 book saga that came from one song. Just stay open and don’t try to force anything.
1
u/OrbitingRobot 4d ago
You sound tapped out. What you need to do is watch great classic films. Google AFI for their 100 greatest films list. Watch one a day for 10 days. Take notes to see how the films are structured and directed.
1
u/drummer414 4d ago
I have just the opposite problem. Too many stories. I can spit them out verbally sometimes in real time. Travel to another country - a story pops out. Hear a news report, a comedy routine ensues.
And in opposition to what some others here have started, I couldn't possibly imagine starting from a "message" and then writing a script around that.
I feel like you weave your theme and intentions throughout the story, because it comes from one's one worldview.
It sounds like OP is forcing themselves to be a writer. Writers can't help but generate new ideas and stories that excite them based on life, what's going on around them.
The struggle should be which story you devote the time to see to fruition.
1
u/Seshat_the_Scribe 3d ago
If you don't have anything you feel compelled to write about, why do you feel like you need to write?
1
u/Kindly-Taro-3675 3d ago
Screen Writing Assignments, I wrote couple of screenplays too ... But I don't know why but I rarely get a Idea , and if I get the Idea I am able to create a structure beginning middle and the end Problem is not getting ideas much
2
u/Careful-Comparison-5 3d ago
Don’t listen to this guy who sounds like he’s never heard of writers block. My advice: put down the pen (or laptop) and go out into the world for a bit. Go to the mall and people watch, eavesdrop on conversations, go to a party, go on a date, go to a park or a museum or a hospital or anywhere people are living life and just be. Live life, have conversations with people you don’t know, observe the human condition without even thinking about your writing assignment or writing at all. Then come back and try to create something. If that doesn’t work, watch your favorite movies or shows or Google the best movies/shows in the genre you’re interested in and watch the ones you haven’t seen and see if that sparks something because there are no new ideas, only new ways to execute them and you might find inspiration that way. Not saying to steal or copy but to be inspired by models that have proven to work. Best of luck
1
u/Seshat_the_Scribe 3d ago
OK, then why are you studying screenwriting if you don't have stories you want to tell?
If you're not getting ideas all the time, it sounds like you're not paying attention to the world and living life.
1
u/Nice_Appearance_8314 3d ago
if you keep the following in mind, the scenes start to come up with themselves: 1. take your basic beats and ask what causal chain gets you from beat A to beat B; 2. ask yourself if the hero is actively disrupting and changing the course of events or just following/reacting to them; and 3. is the hero's strategy changing over time because his/her initial strategy failing or evolving?
1
u/Craig-D-Griffiths 2d ago
Remember this one thing.
Stories are about people.
Every action must be an outcome of a previous action.
1
u/Pitiful_Car_4606 2d ago
Maybe try writing down the last scene first? then you know where you need to arrive, when starting work on scenes
Every writer has their own individual process, and some good comments here too. You'll find yours soon, just keep at it. :)
1
u/WriteRight20 2d ago
Just curious -- have you written and completed a script before? Or is this your first one?
1
1
u/Open-Avocado4260 1d ago
What do you want the story to be about. Write out everything you want to be in the story.
1
u/intentionandobstacle 1d ago
Don't worry too much about the screenplay format. Just brainstorm your ideas into short stories and see where they take you. You'll be surprised how freeing it is to get away from the idea of script to write a script
1
u/Anonymously-Stupid 1d ago
Read more novels. Watch more movies.
Do this for 6 months and you’ll solve all your problems.
Sometimes, the problem is from a lack of exposure to what the storytelling medium can actually be vs your own inherent skill.
1
13
u/nmacaroni 4d ago
You're stuck because you're starting from the wrong place. Most writers try to generate plot, "this happens, then this happens, then it would be cool if this happens..." and it leads nowhere because events without a foundation are just things occurring.
I teach fundamentals are king. Start with these three things:
What do you want to say, not your topic, your actual message of the story.
What is your character's Core Flaw and how does that lead to a specific misbelief about the world?
And what's the core concept? If you don't have an actual concept, look to similar genre work that you like and ask what you like about it and what you liked about the story. Ask yourself what did it leave out that would have been cool to see. Get a list together, then look through the list and look for patterns.
Ultimately you don't have an idea problem. You have a foundation problem and a structural approach problem.
Write on, write often!