How Do I Write A Screenplay?

[@jayreed7213]

Hey Austin! I found the surprise. I dont have a library card but i will be sure to get one! Right now i have to get back to class at 2. Thanks for the adventure, love your videos.

[@austinmcconnell]

Hey! Sweet. Tweet me a picture or something. :)

[@isaiahkollmansberger2681]

What was the surprise?

[@tgc1635]

Oooooh! What's the surprise.

[@rampantginger]

You beat me to it :(

[@paytonpetkus]

Jay Reed Yo i want to know what it is

[@maxmoseley6330]

For a screenwriting exercise my favorite one that I’ve heard of is taking a movie you enjoyed and then rewriting it with the antagonist as the protagonist. Kind of similar to what you said (taking your favorite movie and writing a screenplay for it w/ changes you want to make) and this one really gets the creative gears turning

[@austinmcconnell]

I love this.

[@Boondongle14]

Someone should do this for Black Panther

[@Ivanfpcs]

Once I ran into a Lord of the rings in the perspective of the orcs, it was awesome!

[@petlahk4119]

@boomboo - TBH, about halfway through the movie I had this moment of "You know, I think that character should maybe win. He's totally right." Mostly because I wasn't sure that the protagonist was gonna implement the reforms once the antagonist was defeated.

[@jacksp8de]

Max Moseley that’s an awesome idea, thanks for that 👍🏾

[@CarmenCards]

You should call this show Austin McCronicles

[@austinmcconnell]

This comment made me laugh way more than it should have.

[@darth1nsidious726]

austinmcconnell please call it that

[@jesusstaccato8448]

Professor McChronicles

[@다나.진부한]

Chase Warman this is too amazing why isn't this pinned

[@LaurenMorley]

My favourite character building exercise (courtesy of my screenwriting class) is this: 1) Pick a historical figure, portrait subject, acquaintance, character you've made up, etc. 2) Ask yourself who this person is. What do they want? Maybe write a monologue in this vein. 3) Now ask yourself how they are the antagonist in someone else's story. Maybe write a monologue from this perspective. How does this change? How does this affect how you will approach writing this character in the future?

[@dustinalicea3304]

Not even really interested in anything like this but I love to learn about stuff and I just love whatever you post, keep it up man. Always checking back to your channel to see if you posted

[@andeggbreaks]

Same, I'm not interested in screenwriting but his videos are always too interesting to miss.

[@bunsyoufool]

zack snack lk a kkkl k

[@TehBluPanda]

You said it, right there at 0:09! “What it takes to make stuff” that the name of the show!!!

[@cjmasterson8566]

ImTHATGuy 500 ya!!! something like “what it takes to make”

[@annalindsay7926]

My English teacher used to always quite an author she really like you said, “ I hate writing, but I love to rewrite” and I feel like your advice to write your first draft as fast as you can and to not wait for perfection reiterates that. From my experience it’s always easier to just write something down without over complicating it at first alleviates a lot of the stress you feel about starting something as writing a screenplay. As always I truly enjoyed your videos Austin. Thanks!

[@klink180]

I took a Screenwriting class around 2 years ago for my major, so this is a nice refresher. Seeing the old Screenwriter's Bible was also a real memory trip. Great video as always!

[@josiahgeoffrey]

6:38 “What if a relatively young person suffered a stroke and had to battle his or her way back?” Man, going back and watching this years later, that’s crazy. You are literally living this. You *have* battled your way back. I’d love to see a video about how Sprouting-Orchids-Austin’s expectations of this concept compare to post-stroke-Austin’s experiences. Love your videos!

[@breajones4012]

During the outlining process, writing scenes you come up with on index cards and then putting them in what order you want is a great way of avoiding writer’s block! You don’t have to write beginning->middle->end but instead just write whatever scenes you’ve come up with so far.

[@mr.jingles4022]

For your 1 million special you need to make a video about you reading that book that you spent so much time hiding

[@austinmcconnell]

At 500K, I'll read it live on stream.

[@mr.jingles4022]

austinmcconnell wasn't expecting a reply at all, you could hold like a contest where you post a few parts of the story or even the whole thing and get people to edit it to make it a better book, whilst still staying loyal to the original material, thanks for replying too

[@miguelrodriguez-df8ww]

i don't really write and i still watched this. not because i was bored but because honestly you're just an entertaining person to watch.

[@thatonepossum5766]

I don’t write screenplays, but I just thought I’d throw in something that helps me write rough drafts: I make the text invisible. On Google Docs it’s as easy as just making the font the same color as the background, can’t say anything for other programs because I don’t use them. The invisible text stops me from being a perfectionist, and lets me just get the story out first. I didn’t come up with the idea, but I still figure it might be useful to somebody. :)

[@carolinamachado4334]

I love watching your videos because you always end up teaching me something or you give me a new perspective on a subject, I’m always happy to see a new video from you.

[@strawberrymode]

I'm working on my own comic book and got stuck with some plot wholes and being too cought up in details which led me to having almost no way to write the whole thing down properly. I looked through a lot of books and essays on writing. It helped a lot but your kick to write down the whole story without stopping ''just as if you were asked to make it on spot'' actually made me finally write down the first draft. And i actually solved a lot of plot problems i had while writing it! Thank you very much, you served as a great accidental inspiration and a good ol' kick-in-the-butt I really like your videos and how true you seem even in the scripted parts. Refreshing, really :D

[@ActualSolitaire]

How's the comic book going?

[@L1ghtweaver]

Hey, Austin. Thank you for making these videos. I'm not a screenwriter, but I am working on a few short stories to eventually gear up for a full novel. People like you who are legitimately passionate about their craft give me inspiration to try and fail and try and fail and try and fail and hopefully one day succeed.

[@donvitocorleone3951]

I never had any plans of writing films and i probably won't have, but i still watched the whole video because i love watching you Austin, whatever you're talking about, you're amazing austin

[@jcmurie]

This video came out almost exactly a year ago and I found it just as I am writing my first screenplay. This is perfect, thanks Austin

[@Jazehn]

Austin this all great advice, but what stood out the most was the idea to write a screenplay for an already finished movie. That’s genius and I will definitely try it! Thank you!

[@meursault7030]

Austin, you are brilliant. I cannot stress that enough. A lot of why I hadn't bothered going into film making in a serious way was because I didn't think there would be a way to make my film without compromising it due to issues like money and the way the industry seems to inevitably take a swipe at one's integrity and original vision for fear of losing profit from wider audiences. You've let me know over the course of your videos, from the perspective of someone with a somewhat similar background who is currently in the process of being living proof, that it is viable. I thank you for that dearly. Now, to actually watch this one...

[@calebleake7948]

I wouldn’t consider myself an artist or a creator, but find your videos so interesting. Even though I can’t personally relate to most of these videos, I love listening to you talk about your experience in creating and find all your observations extremely fascinating! Keep up the great work!

[@alexisaguilar3613]

Great video! I'm a film student so I already know most of this but I haven't written a screenplay in a while and this gave me a great refresher.

[@alexandriakotsifas]

I always refer back to this video when in the writing process. Very well spoken and explained! Love your videos Austin :D

[@golgarisoul]

Congratulations on the silver play button!

[@istolethispfpsorry485]

We need more teachers/people like you.

[@enutted4950]

maybe call it “What It Takes”?

[@kandyelmo]

That's a great title. woah

[@kaspervercruysse5710]

I like it! +1

[@ThatGirlWithTheCoffee]

+

[@NYinside]

I LITERALLY JUST THOUGHT OF THAT!

[@TheAvizanski]

+

[@amaweerakkody313]

I only discovered your channel recently and I feel like I could literally listen to you talk about anything. You make things that I have no interest in very enticing to listen to. I love your videos (:

[@steller7515]

"Austin's Untitled Show"is such a compelling title. Hey, at least it's better than "Sprouting Orchids"!

[@julianc6374]

Steller Oof

[@nicknumber1512]

I made a video title. It stunk.

[@ianbyrne465]

Haha, yeah, Sprouting Orchids is a dumb title. Almost sounds like some bad movie you'd make in your twenties

[@explosionmage]

@@ianbyrne465 oh wait it is

[@chingunganzorig]

This video will forever help me. Thank you Austin. Love your content.

[@ryanoseguera1207]

THANK YOU SO MUCH AUSTIN!!! I’ve been wanting to make short films....but I just didn’t know HOW to write scripts. This gave me a clear path!! Thanks again!!

[@KingOfGoblins1234]

Definitely saving this video for later. Surely this guidance will hopefully get me to finally pen that Idea i've been cooking up for about 2 years.

[@townsea5311]

Congratulations, Austin, your content is amazing and I hope you get even more viewers!

[@blonded0532]

Really enjoying the more frequent uploads

[@alyaaliski8678]

A show where Austin do his best to explain things that people ask, show I dare you to write all of this in that ribbon thingy next time

[@usagi9303]

I don't even write. I just watched this because I find your videos interesting!

[@two_coats_and_two_root_beers]

I love that this works just as good for novel writing as it does for screenplays! Also I have a friend who really wants to get into screen writing and doesn't know where to start so this video is a really big help :)

[@austinschollaert6424]

Wow! I thought I had no interest in the topic of this video but you have such a great way of making your videos not only interesting but entertaining! I really hope you win that shorty award!

[@nathanamata3993]

This is actually helpful even when you're not writing for a screenplay! I'm making a narrative-driven game, and I this actually extremely helpful for that. Thanks, Austin!

[@milesedwards3287]

I love your videos man, and this one couldn't have came at a better time for me. I'm just starting to write my first film, and this has really helped me. Thanks, man.

[@Timsterfield]

I use Trelby, it's a great free, open writing processor. I wrote a treatment first, then moved from there. I wrote two drafts and tightened it up. And remember always, always register your work!

[@MemeAccountno]

Good old Austin returns with another great video.

[@barnesCh430]

Austin's right--"The Screenwriter's Bible" is an excellent resource. I have a copy and I refer back to it all the time.

[@ginger_jesus4828]

Thank you this really helped. I have been reading Screen writing for dummies and need some more things to read.

[@kodexi2761]

Brilliant video, excellent advice. Keep it up Austin, love your work.

[@scrumptiousbisquitz1140]

I have no idea why I am watching this video, I am not planning to be a movie director or writer or anything but you know, Austin uploaded and I had to watch it

[@asherpereira615]

Austin, you are an amazing cinematographer.

[@downstageright3298]

I actually don't write screenplays often, but this video really helped me write play scripts! I write play scripts very similarly to screenplay scripts and this was really helpful

[@VertigoDefinitivo]

"BlahblahBlah" is my favorite show on the internet.

[@anthonym_]

Great info. Thanks Austin.

[@TheSoulCollector13]

This is so funny. I just put my foot down recently and was trying to find a YT vid on this. AND THERE YOU ARE.

[@petlahk4119]

I just wanna add that I'm pretty sure everyone has a different process for initial writing and drafting and then finishing the full story before revising. But, in whatever process you go through every author or writer who wants to get anything published is gonna wind up editing their "full" or "final" story *many, many* times. Whenever I sit down to write stuff I tend to write it with pen and pencil first. It takes longer, but it's easier for me to get my thoughts out. Then after some revisions on the paper I'll type it up and do edits as I'm typing it before maybe doing a similar thing of taking a step back from it and then doing tonnes of edits. My point is, feel free to find your own style. Austin's is a good guide. But, I think that two or three things necessary to writing anything are: 1) Taking a step back from it after a certain point and coming back to it with a fresh eye. 2) Edit, Edit, Edit, and when you think you're done editing edit some more. 3) If you love what you're working on and have gotten far on it, but are feeling a little burned out*, power through and finish it out. And, as an ending note. Adam Savage (The Co-Host and a Producer of Mythbusters) has talked a bunch of working on stuff. You can find a lot of his speeches on youtube, and, trust me, it's applicable to so much more than just model-making and practical effects.

[@DigitalDrew92]

Great video man, I will have to show this to my scriptwriting teacher. I think she will really enjoy it. Keep up the stellar work man.

[@147896325QQ]

The tip about leaving a ________ in places where you can't come up with the right word is a great tip for anyone writing anything and I highly recommend everyone integrating that into their writing process. You can always strengthen your wording later. Just keep writing and go back later when you think of the word that wouldn't come to you in the moment.

[@Subbestionix]

Very comprehensive - although I don't want to write a screen play I sometimes write short stories and the advise "Don't get stuck on specific scenes - leave it and improve it at a later time." is propably the most important one - to me anyway :) Thanks

[@benjaminletourneau5024]

As fate would have it, tomorrow I am participating in a 54 hour film contest, and im writing it with a friend. This was a big help!

[@joshduncan8922]

Thank you so much! I haven't been able to write a screenplay that I truly enjoy and this video really helps!

[@AllanRochez]

Soooo many good nuggets in this one, thanks for your wisdom and knowledge, God bless

[@chmtech]

Well, now I want to find out what was left in the book...

[@atheris1641]

I’m late, but it was a $20 bill with a note that told whoever find it to use the money for a library card or coffee

[@purplee24]

I thought up a story I was writing with where I wanted the middle to go to. It’s a kinda short story (aiming for 30 ish collage rules spiral notebook pages) but my longest before this one was like 4 pages in a smaller notebook, but now I am on page 18 moving forward

[@helixviper5782]

Austin! , try Celtx for screenwriting it’s free and it syncs over internet, there’s a mobile app and a web page, it’s got all the bells and whistles and even allows you to collaborate with others (for a price). I can’t really list all the features here because there are so many but it does do all the indents automatically and even the character names.

[@frankavila4968]

good job on the silver play button love your videos and keep up the good video

[@juanxg]

this process is almost the same as I use on music composition! Awesome!

[@CptCPT-dl9lh]

good job austin! I've been here for about a year. Very proud of you mate.

[@Szaam]

I'm glad you made this, because it has always annoyed me when a writer is asked "how do I write [such and such]?" by an aspiring writer, and they say something like "just write!" Learning the format and the trade is pretty vital.

[@Joenah5]

Thanks, I needed some of this advice (albeit for a novel, not a screenplay, at least for now anyway).

[@MartinRiiseNielsen]

I think the best advice I ever got on writing is that every character should always have a want and a need. They have something they want to obtain and something they need to learn. If you’re aware of this for each character while you write, it should be much easier to imagine what a character would do in a given situation.

[@ptgofficial]

Hey Austin McConnell, I just finished watching today's video about writing a screenplay. You talked about your inspiration for Sprouting Orchids was from an elderly man who suffered a stroke and asked yourself "What if a younger man who hasn't lived his entire life had a stroke". I suffered a stroke at 13. It broke me. It changed me. Imma 15-year-old KZbinr and Award Winning Filmmaker. If you still want to explore a film like so, I would love to chat or even collaborate. It's my dream to see a feature about a kid suffering a stroke 🙏😃

[@tadhgknight3484]

Checked you out and subscribed, good luck for the future

[@ptgofficial]

Thanks, ​man, means a ton 😄

[@uhkneerudh]

You are the 6th cool channel under 1000 subscribers! Subbed & I hope you reach that milestone soon!

[@ptgofficial]

Word Of The Week thanks so much!!

[@rfvtgb57]

I’d love to see this also a short film on what its REALLY like living with REAL ADHD the anxiety the constant voices screaming in your head. No one knows how much we truly struggle and how hard we have to fight to be normal.

[@alexandredesouza3692]

My current script is not going as smoothly as you advised. My first pages are multiple revisions in while my latter pages are still in brainstorming. At least, I already plotted down my story beats but they keep changing since every time I write a new scene, I keep going back to give it proper setup and then I redo a bunch of other stuff until I'm finally happy enough with the twenty pages I had to edit to go back to writing for the script.

[@stefanlupasco9713]

The most useful video on the entire Internet

[@cecinkm]

An idea I have found helpful for coming up with ideas for stories, not screenplays is one I came up with for NaNoWriMo, I drew 6 boxes and had to come up with 6 completely different ideas with 3 minutes for each one to come up with as many details as possible. Then I picked three and spent a bit longer to roughly plan out each story then picked my favorite and the one that I thought would do the best with further development, from that I was able to partially combine my favorite parts into the story that would work best for the 50,000 words I needed. Hope this helps for anyone needing to create some ideas and develop them into different writing projects. Btw my story ended up not having enough material to get to 50,000 words and I ended up repeating storylines and relying upon flashbacks to hit that goal but that was probably my fault for not outlining enough beforehand then during the month, not having enough time to come up with more story aspects.

[@tim72]

I'm too young (and too broke) to make an actual movie, but this video made me want to write one immediately

[@Roao_yutubin]

Hey Austin! (I think this is like the third time I've watched this video) and I always forget to point out that there's a great open-source application called Trelby, it's simplistic and quite "to the point". Anyway, great video and you're a great video Host.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel737]

Wahey notification-dont-work-but-i-checked-my-subscriptions squad!!

[@directorkid3131]

Thanks for suggesting a screenwriting software. I've just been using Google docs, and it's pretty hard. Going to get WriterDuet next time I can use my mom's laptop (I'm 14).

[@directorkid3131]

@Reality Crack Studios Films Thanks!

[@apoorrva]

even tho im nowhere near being interested in screenplay, this was really informative!!! thank you!!

[@spongebobsquarepants2175]

Wow, I wasn't even interested in writing a screenplay but this video sure did hook me in

[@beesechurger669]

I subscribed today! WORTH IT!

[@CriticalMaxim]

Awesome video explaining about scripting. It's interesting how filming works for someone who isn't in or being in one! As for the title of the series, how about "Explainin' Flimin' Austin"

[@mrbraindead12]

Remember this as well: forget plot, plot isn't going to be as big a focus as character development. You're going to write character bios, which will equal 5-10 pages a piece. Don't worry about spelling, this is why you have script editors who help format and cut out any of the unnecessary pieces. Once you have the complexities of the character bios worked out (personality, connections to other characters, professions, whatever else you could imagine would motivate a character) then you can work on plot. CHARACTER is going to drive plot, not the other way around. You cannot have a plot unless there is a reason for the characters to pursue something. You ask yourself "Why would they do this? What are the reasons they are motivated to do this? When and where are they going, and how are their personalities, and their past going to effect the outcome of their pursuit?" It doesn't have to be a grand pursuit, and it doesn't have to be anything of any note. It just has to drive interesting characters to do interesting things, which in turn provides and interesting plot because there's a motive behind why they're doing this. So: character development, and motive are going to be key to being successful in screenwriting; otherwise you're going to lose any focus trying to plot out a script, and you won't have any characters who are going to provide an complexity to your writing. Premise is good, characters are better.

[@danvicetv4037]

I talk to myself in character and I say lines from my favorite Movies & shows and it helps me get the creative gears turning

[@abnerdupuis7110]

I like to rewrite good scenes from existing movies or shows from memory. It lets you know what it’s like to write a scene where you know motivations and stuff.

[@giddyonthegrind2004]

Also Celtx is a really good screenplay software tool that saves your progress on the website so you can access it anywhere you have interent, it also had shortcuts too, which is really helpful

[@vazak11]

Great advice and info!

[@doibantikov2486]

I just realised you'd be a spectacular teacher, Austin.

[@nixietubes]

If anybody gets the "gift" he left in the book could you please post a picture I really want to know what it is.

[@ClashBerry]

Someone posted it to Twitter: twitter.com/jaysterreed16/status/966777013875953664 (Link was posted in the pinned comment's thread)

[@nixietubes]

Thanks for telling me and good for them.

[@HeyNiso]

This is one of the most interesting channels on KZbin

[@eamartig]

Library cards in Minnesota are all free :) covered by the state

[@greggeverman5578]

Why do people love Austin? Because he talks in Human. It's surprising how rare that really is.

[@coloraddiction]

"Don't stop for perfection, just write" was the really hard learned lesson I had to nail into my consciousness in order to get through college. T_T Not doing this kept me in school for more years than I'm proud of...

[@kristellatomaj1991]

thank you me. i loved the exercise

[@lowboye]

Austin's Nonstop Awesome? Creative's Handbook? Conceiving Craft? Method Submersion? (I'm bad at coming up with names)

[@mariavalente6304]

This is amazing. We went from this to "cat-man the movie" i love it.

[@seralouise.]

i do all my writing, formatting, character outlines and detail work in the notepad on my phone before eventually just sitting down and trying to crunch all of it into a script in one go. then hone that and add and remove scenes as need be.

[@almightytreegod]

Now I want to go check that book out, and I know (or at least think I know) enough about screenplay formatting already... well, except, uh, aren't Scene Breakdowns what you do after the script is written and you're consolidating your locations, props, characters, etc. for each scene, for shooting, no? ALSO... would you read a script of mine once I get to a decent draft? and/or how would you find people to trust to give you proper feedback, not steal your idea, etc? I tend to write out an entire scene and get into the details and come back to it later, and if I still like it, then I start making an outline and note cards (seems like backtracking, but it works for me). I try to give characters very specific motivations, and while the personalities are there, I like to give enough room to let the character's personality be somewhat open to interpretation by the actor, and then work with an actor to fill out a backstory, so my advice to others would be to not be married to your dialogue. Actors will sometimes change your dialogue, and if they're good, that's a good thing, because they will give a better performance. Also, your first page should always be something interesting, if you can do it. You need to capture the viewer and keep them interested. Present them with a mystery or conflict, or just make your protagonist go through something that will build empathy with the audience. Uh, that's it, I think I'm done.

[@TylerCrider]

I'm from Springfield MO. Had no idea when I started watching this and now have to clean coffee off my wall...

[@Fleetato]

I find a lot of this information useful for me when writing books and songs too

[@myazo7274]

Good name could be McConnell’s McChronicles, however that sorta sounds like a McDonald’s toilken-like book but whatever

[@_hantyumi]

There's also the free screenwriting software Trelby for Windows/Linux and Slugline on macOS/iOS which isn't free but it's not as expensive as Final Draft.

[@WhaleManMan]

You should name it "Austin's Titled Show".

[@lepmuhangpa]

Clever.

[@ChiguireBelgrano]

Fantastic video as always, Austin. I've found the music for your videos increasingly charming. If I could know the name of the soundtrack played starting at 4:39, I would be really happy. Sorry if this sounds so self-interested.