7 Step Process To Writing A Screenplay - Brooks Elms

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Brooks Elms is a screenwriter and independent filmmaker. His specialty is grounded personal characters and writing story tension so thick it knots up your stomach.
He's written 25+ screenplays, a dozen of them on assignment, and sold several scripts, including one this year with Brad Peyton as Executive Producer. Brooks was recently hired to rewrite a screenplay started by an Oscar-winning writer. Brooks began his career writing, directing, and producing two indie features (personal dramas) that he screened all over the world.
And Brooks also loves coaching fellow writers who have a burning ambition to deeply serve their audiences.
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[@adrianmichaelkelly277]

On a site stuffed with great interviews, this is one of the best. Thanks.

[@filmcourage]

More to come with Brooks, thanks for watching!

[@BrooksElms]

So glad you liked it, Adrian!

[@MC-xb5fj]

Agreed. This man offered valuable, direct details -- instead of what most of these interviews have been: Self-congratulatory novels.

[@BrooksElms]

@@MC-xb5fj Happy this was helpful for you, Matt!

[@YoutubeShorties69]

One day i will be the director of a fameous TV show. If i ever get into a interview i will tell everyone that Film Courage helped me❤

[@filmcourage]

We appreciate your support. Keep learning, keep growing and keep creating!

[@danbee998]

TY for sharing your process with us. Very detailed. I took notes!

[@filmcourage]

Nice! Great to see you take away some value from this one Dan.

[@BrooksElms]

Right on, Dan! Really glad I could help.

[@shashanksheth2409]

Yeah, I am too from India. Day started with helpful tips and information! 🙌🏼

[@filmcourage]

Have fun creating! 🇮🇳

[@BrooksElms]

If you wanna check out my new book which builds on these 7 steps into a complete system with 9 steps (plus Bonuses!) - get that here: www.brookselmscoaching.com/book/

[@abhisharma5272]

Thanks Film Courage and Brooks - always find myself taking notes while watching these masterclasses. Super informative, and most importantly, actionable!

[@chrisddawson]

Helpful to hear how people interpret and modify the Blake system to suit their own needs. This is encouraging to hear. Thank you for posting these experiences and and interviews.

[@rajkumarg.v6095]

Thank You Brook to Clear my Creative blocks with 7 simple steps while writing. Thank you Film Courage for countless Knowledge Sharing for aspiring filmmakers.

[@HollywoodGatekeepers]

Loving this channel. So good. Brooks' approach is spot on and it's so cool that he is coaching writers to help them move forward!

[@BrooksElms]

Thanks so much. Really appreciate that coming from you since you’re running the best screenplay analysis program on the planet!

[@jimmybalantyne5545]

Third interview I've watched featuring Brooke Elms. I really like the guy.

[@trapdarby3701]

Karen's questions are great. She asks questions I thought of and haven't thought of. Wonderful interview! Thanks!!

[@brucenorris7151]

I like the idea of writing a treatment and using that for feedback. It also allows you to "shelve" a story and come back to it later without having to reconstruct it from random notes or struggle to recall important bits.

[@tiamthembu19]

5:52 a.m in South Africa... Good morning film makers!

[@filmcourage]

Good morning Tia! 🇿🇦 Time to get creative.

[@anavonrebeur6121]

22:55 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We aré all navigating space on spaceship Earth

[@myNarrator]

On the surface, this feels like overkill, but after having written two features, a short, and a TV pilot, I've found my process organically gravitating toward this. I've wasted too much time filling plot holes and fleshing out characters after a few drafts of an entire screenplay, when a proper breakdown and treatment would've done more good and essentially saved me hours, if not days of work.

[@filmcourage]

What is your reaction to this 7 step process?

[@tharunjetly4802]

I agree what he said and I too did those mistakes but now it really helped me to take more care to built my charecters strong

[@vimalraj-cd9bt]

Hi film courage. I just want to ask a question. Where can I post it.

[@cllrkeithmartin]

Very interesting. I've a real problem with plotting and process.

[@filmcourage]

Hi Keith, tomorrow at 5pm PST we are posting a video where 11 screenwriters share their writing process. It includes part of this clip with Brooks. Maybe hearing from multiple writers talk about their process in one video will help you refine your process or at least give you some ideas to experiment with. Cheers!

[@cllrkeithmartin]

@@filmcourage brilliant. Thank you so much. I've reached out to him and he's already been in touch. Thanks again. Looking forward to the clip!

[@tharunjetly4802]

Early morning vibes watching the vedio and enjoying the early morning deadly combination

[@filmcourage]

Morning!

[@tharunjetly4802]

@@filmcourage I am from India now it's 5:30 AM here

[@filmcourage]

@@tharunjetly4802 Cheers! 🇮🇳 Hopefully this one inspires some creative action today.

[@Z5Z5Z5]

He is so right. he really is

[@RottenDoctorGonzo]

I find appealing the idea of listing scenes and then writing a treatment.

[@TruthWillOutAllways]

One of the best videos y’all have put up 👍🏻

[@filmcourage]

Glad this one found you Kyle!

[@BrooksElms]

Hey, Kyle! I really appreciate that.

[@TruthWillOutAllways]

@@BrooksElms Hey Brooks! Didn’t expect to grab your attention but glad I did. In high school I wanted to make the next Batman or Lord of the Rings and somewhere along the way I chose a safe option career. 34 now and looking to go ahead and give it a go with something I really love doing. I’m setting out to write my first script, goal is ultimately to direct. I watch a lot of film courage and read a lot from others lessons so to say. Currently reading “Aristotle’s Poetics for Screenwriters” and enjoying it. I want to be unique of course, find my own voice, while learning from writers like yourself and taking inspiration from Spielberg, Nolan, Burton, Jackson, etc... I enjoyed your concise and clear explanation to your process, helped me think about my own quite well. Cheers 🙌🏻

[@BrooksElms]

@@TruthWillOutAllways Cool! 34, huh? Watch out -- you only have about 50 years left in your career. :-)

[@TruthWillOutAllways]

@@BrooksElms "So much to do and so little time!"

[@ZenaSchultzMailhot]

He's so damn smart and good !

[@nikoger8617]

can anyone recomend good free script writing softwer for mac ? dont have 199$ to spend on final draft 12 ......

[@reesethestone412]

Very helpful😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for watching Reese!

[@insummery1591]

I'm not sure if this is answered elsewhere, but can anyone tell me the "7 different ways the audience is craving answers about your story?" Thanks for the content, very enjoyable and helpful too!

[@BrooksElms]

They are craving for you to be able to tell your story in 1 sentence, 5 sentences, 15 sentences, and 40 sentences. And when you write the story in screenplay format, they are craving that you first "get it down" then "get it good" and lastly "get it great". Those are different aspects of the story . Some writers address these cravings intuitively, but the biggest opportunity I see in the craft development in nearly all intermediate screenwriters is to dive more deeply into each of these audience cravings.

[@insummery1591]

@@BrooksElms Thank you. I appreciate your reply. I think you really only describe two aspects here. 1 is to have tight structure and the other is to have refined delivery. I thought you were going to talk about things like 'satisfying conclusions' and the ability to suspend belief etc, but that was my mistake. Please don't think I am ungrateful. I was that fool attempting to write a script from start to finish, like a builder who shows up with an idea, a good eye, a few bricks (but no blueprints) and thinks he can build a house. I would never have completed anything by continuing in that way, but with your method, now, I have no excuse. Thank you for your insight.

[@BrooksElms]

@@insummery1591 You will suspend disbelief and deliver satisfying conclusions IF the structure is tight and the pagecraft is well-delivered. And it starts with a great premise (character + goal + conflict) which most new writers don't have. If you take nothing else away from this, I invite you to check your one-sentence premise with professional writers or analysts or producers before you begin writing. And wait until they're rating it at least 8 out of 10. This may take a few weeks but save you a few years in regard to hitting your next career milestone.

[@paulpasadena]

Everybody says Mckee is great and they use the movie "Adaptation" as an example. But, what's funny is, that particular movie breaks a lot of the rules outlined in that book. There's even a running gag in the movie where Nicolas Cage says "McKee would not approve." I found the book "Story" a long and boring read and I've sold many screenplays.

[@AllThingsFilm1]

Blake Snyder's "Save The Cat" completely revitalized my DESIRE to write. Prior to reading STC, I was about to give up on the idea of writing. STC made writing fun and exciting again. I haven't referenced STC in a while. After watching this, I am going to read through it again. STC is actually the first book on writing that I've ever read from cover to cover. FIlm Courage is a priceless resource for inspiration.

[@waynesanders1406]

Just watching this video I realized something that had been nagging me slightly here and there that I didn't understand. I had a character in my short action series that fought against the main character and lost, that I was toying with the idea of having him back in a return fight (originally was just going to be someone else). I didn't think about it much until just now, and realized it would be far better to have him return and get the other side of his face permanently marked to complete my OCD and add some more comedy into the scene. In fight 1 in a kitchen a toaster pops off some hot burned toast, and the protagonist grabs it and holds it to his face after slamming a kitchen cabinet door on his face several times (the main character's signature move, happens a few times throughout the series). In the second fight the same guy can return, with the toast burned face, and get a "FINISHED" or "DENIED" large stamp punch onto the other side of the face in an office setting before he gets his head slammed in a fax/copier machine spitting out copies of his face smushed against the glass with "DENIED" imprinted on there, plus there are some other similarities in the way the fight ensues. Brilliant, glad this video was presented. Wayne Industries will be sure to put a thanks to Film Courage in the credits at the end of the series.

[@TheJadedFilmMaker]

I love this channel. please keep it up 🙌 (whenever I make some critical *but important* comment tho It hasn't gone unnoticed to me that u just leave it lol... and 'love' only the adoring comment. I'm never criticising this channel... only trying to have proper conversations on the topics covered. ..but whatever guys lol )

[@filmcourage]

Cheers! We're putting as much love out there as best we can.

[@heyyourlenscapson2588]

So I bought Save The Cat just now…

[@thereccher8746]

Wait what? Why would you state the theme overtly? That's hackneyed writing.

[@BrooksElms]

Great comment! If a script shouts the theme, that betrays the authenticity- and it sucks. The intention i mention here is to allow a statement of theme to arise organically, as something one character would naturally say to another character anyway- AND the metaphorical connection will gently bring attention to the thematic premise, and tune them into it - without them realizing consciously. 😁

[@pixelcultmedia4252]

@@BrooksElms Do you feel that the themes get fleshed out more during rewrites when you can look at the totality of the script in hindsight?

[@BrooksElms]

@@pixelcultmedia4252 I LOVE this question. Theme is tricky because it's ephemeral. If you grip it too tightly it will crumble in your hands, and give you a headache. So just play with this choice, nice and easy. If you have ideas about theme early on in your process - cool - jot them down. If you're not sure about theme at first- cool - just keep moving forward and find it later. But at SOME point in the process, it's very likely to make your screenplay MUCH tighter if you have a clear bead on theme. Just avoid forcing it. Also -- watch my video called "Shawshank Attraction" for a deep dive on theme in the film SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.

[@DAMON409]

Guys like this make money from selling a pipe dream. Nobody will read your screenplay because you don't have access to the people who are in the position to buy it. Specs are not even marketable anymore. The best you can hope for is to get a writing assignment on the strength of your screenplay, but it is still next to impossible to have anyone read it. You basically have to just start shooting your stuff yourself.

[@justanameonyourscreen5954]

11:21...it's like flirting with women...keep giving them a little taste...so they (the audience) want to hang around and see what it's all about...