Concept Consultation

Not sure if this project is the one you really want to pursue? Let’s talk about it. In a free 15-minute phone call or Skype session, let me help you evaluate the merits of your project and discuss what your next step should be.

Ready to put pen to paper and move forward with your project? Contact me and we’ll go through…

THE NEXT STEPS

All professional writers have a working method that allows them to turn out well-crafted material time after time. So, whether you are writing a Short Film, 60-Minute Drama, 30-Minute Sitcom, Commercial, Music Video, or Webisode, let’s work together through the various stages of a professional working method, beginning with...

Step 1: THE LOG LINE

A log line is a one-sentence description of your story or concept. The log line will help you determine whether your story is structurally sound and tells us what it’s about, both from the inside and the outside. The log line not only clarifies what your character is trying to achieve but how they are evolving as human beings.

STep 2: THE OUTLINE

As the term implies, a Step-Outline is the story told in steps. Using one or two-sentence statements, you will simply and clearly describes what happens in each scene or stage of your project, how it builds and turns the audience’s expectations in a new direction. In a well-written outline, if you removed one sentence, the story would collapse like a house of cards.

STep 3: TREATMENTS AND BEAT SHEETS 

In the Treatment stage, you're going to take each one of the points from your outline and expand it into a paragraph that describes what the characters are doing moment-by-moment. Note that there’s no dialogue or description of camera movement in the treatment. You can mention what people discuss, but now is not the time to have them say it.

STep 4: THE FIRST DRAFT

As you launch into your first draft, the goal is to have a firm foundation on which to build so you never have to go back to rework the story structurally. In the first draft stage, you will begin to describe only those things, which the audience can see and hear. And, although this is where you add dialogue, you are not allowed to describe what the characters are thinking and feeling. The first draft is where you begin to write between the lines or what is referred to as, the subtext.

STep 5: THE REWRITE

All professionals do rewrites. Nothing is perfect and changes and revisions are always necessary. Scenes in the first draft that you thought would work a certain way now require clarification or alteration. But, if you have progressed carefully through the earlier stages, problems can often be fixed with a simple adjustment to the description and the dialogue.

STep 6: THE POLISH

Your first round of helpful readers have given you the response that you were hoping for. Confident that your story is working, you now launch into the fun part - polishing your script. This is where you get to make minor changes to the dialogue, adjust the rhythm and add the vivid details that will make your work shine.

Fees

Reminder that fees are all inclusive. One price gets you all of the steps described above.