Do you know these things about your story?

Twelve Essential Questions

Do you know these things about your story?

1	Main Character Resolve	Does your Main Character Change his way of dealing with the problem at the heart of the story (such as Ebeneezer Scrooge's switch to generosity in A Christmas Carol) or remain Steadfast in his convictions(such as the innocent Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive)?
2	Main Character Growth	Does your Main Character grow by adopting a new useful trait (Start) or by outgrowing an old inappropriate one (Stop)?
3	Main Character Approach	Is your Main Character a Be-er who mentally adapts to his environment(such as Rick Blaine in Casablanca) or a Do-er who physically changes his environment (such as John McClane in Die Hard)?
4	Main Character Problem Solving Style	Does your Main Character use a Logical problem solving style (such as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs) or an Intuitive problem solving style (such as Tom Wingo in The Prince of Tides)?
5	Story Driver	Is the overall story driven by Actions first (such as the time travellers arriving in The Terminator) or Decisions first (such as Daniel Hillard's decision to impersonate a woman in Mrs. Doubtfire)?
6	Story Limit	Is your overall story brought to its climax by running out of Time (such as the 18 days to save the earth in Armageddon) or by running out of Options (such as Thelma and Louise driving over the cliff in Thelma and Louise)?
7	Story Outcome	Do your character's efforts to achieve the overall story goal result in Success (such as killing the shark in Jaws) or Failure (such as not being able to open the dinosaur theme park in Jurassic Park)?
8	Main Character Judgment	Does the Main Character resolve his personal problems and feel Good (such as Luke finally trusting his skills in Star Wars) or not resolve them and feel Bad (such as Clarice Starling still being haunted by her childhood memories in The Silence of the Lambs)?
9	Overall Story Throughline	If you pull back and look at the story from a bird's eye view, which general area best describes the nature of the problems ALL the characters are dealing with? Does the story's conflicts stem from a Situation, an Activity, a Fixed Attitude, or Manipulations?
10	Overall Story Concern	Which area of concern are ALL the characters in your story interested in or worried about regarding the overall story goal?
11	Overall Story Issue	What is the thematic issue that affects all of your characters in your story ?
12	Overall Story Problem	What is the source of the central problem that affects all your characters in the story?

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Script Checklist

• Opening hook
• Primary conflict up front
• Set the Genre and Tone
• Post a general question
• Introduce the protagonist in a unique way
• Why does the story start today
• ANTAGONIST: Who? Why? What?
• What power does the antagonist hold over the hero?
• 10 minute point
• Event and declaration
• 17 minute point
• Reaction/30 minute point
• Main goal or plan
• What's at stake?
• How is the hero trapped?
• Time Lock
• Are there teams? Hero's and Antagonist's
• Mid Point
• How does hero seize control of destiny?
• How does the hero voice this new awareness and need
• An Action that conveys the seizing of control
• How does the hero face the antagonist on their own turf
• How are the stakes raised raised for the 2nd half of the movie
• What Unforeseen Obstacle is now in the way
• When does the hero realize his/her worst fear
• Tighten the screws
• Epiphany; it should put your hero at a crossroads
• Creates a New Goal
• Climax
• What truth emerges?
• What does the Entire Screenplay stand for?
• What do you want the audience to come away with?
• What's it about - In One Word
• Is the structure complex enough to sustain the movie?

Questions to ask yourself about your script

1. GENRE Does your script fulfill the expectations of its particular genre?
2. CHARACTERS Are your characters memorable? Are they larger than life?
3. STRUCTURE Does it create suspense? What's the big question the audience will be wondering about throughout the movie?
4. THEME What is your movie really about?
5. RESOLUTION Is the Movie satisfying to the very last scene?
6. MOMENTS Are there at least four or five memorable moments? Think of this as a "Trailer Moment".
7. STORY It is the point when your Character is forced to solve his/her inner conflict in order to solve the outer conflict.
8. FRESH Is your script fresh? A new perspective on the human condition.
9. SECONDARY
   CHARACTERS They must reflect the conflicts of the main Characters.

Format

Here is a basic list of how your script should be formatted.

• Typeface Always use Courier 12-point font!
• Margins Because of the 3-hole punched paper, the Left margin should be 1.5 inches and the Right is .5 inches.
  Top and Bottom should be 1 inch each.
  Dialogue -2.5 inches from the left- will be about 3 to 3.5 inches wide and shouldn't extend more than 6 inches from the left.
  Character's Name at 3.7 inches and above the dialogue.
• Page Numbers should be located in the upper right hand corner and then double space and continue writing.
• First Page A screenplay begins with FADE IN:
• Last Page At the end of your script you should type The End and center it, or double space, to the far right of the page, and type FADE OUT.