creative writing script writing

21 Principles of Script Writing: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Script Writing

Scriptwriting is an art that holds the power to bring stories to life on the big screen or the small screen. From captivating movies to engaging television shows, every compelling visual narrative starts with a well-crafted script.

Table of Contents

Introduction

In the fascinating world of script writing, creativity intertwines with storytelling, and words have the power to transport audiences into vivid, captivating worlds. Script writing is an art that requires a delicate balance of imagination , structure , and skill .

Understanding the Art of Script Writing

Script writing is more than just putting words on paper. It is the art of storytelling through the lens of the written word.

Just like a master painter meticulously selects colors and brush strokes, a skilled scriptwriter weaves together characters, plotlines, and dialogue to create a tapestry of emotions and experiences.

Understanding the core principles of script writing is essential to crafting scripts that captivate and resonate with audiences across different mediums.

The Importance of Storytelling

In the world of script writing, storytelling is the lifeblood that pumps vitality into each scene, dialogue, and character. It has the power to stir emotions , provoke thoughts , and l eave a lasting impact on viewers long after the credits roll.

A well-crafted story takes the audience on a journey, introducing them to relatable characters, unveiling conflicts and challenges, and ultimately resolving the narrative in a satisfying manner.

Elements of a Good Script

A good script is like a finely orchestrated symphony, where various elements harmoniously blend to create a powerful and unforgettable experience for the audience. Mastering the key elements of script writing is crucial to achieving this harmony and resonance.

Character Development

Memorable characters are the heart and soul of any script. They breathe life into the narrative, allowing audiences to connect emotionally and invest in their journeys.

To create well-rounded characters, scriptwriters must understand their backgrounds, values, and how they respond to different situations. By doing so, characters come alive on the page and evoke genuine emotions from the audience.

Plot Structure

A well-structured plot is the backbone of a successful script. It guides the audience through the story’s twists and turns, building tension and anticipation along the way.

The setup introduces the characters, their world, and the central conflict. The confrontation presents challenges and obstacles that the characters must overcome, intensifying the stakes and emotional investment. Finally, the resolution offers a satisfying conclusion that resolves the conflict and provides closure for the audience.

A strong plot structure keeps the audience engaged, ensuring that every scene and sequence serves a purpose in advancing the story.

Effective dialogue should also serve multiple functions, including advancing the plot, conveying emotions, and revealing subtext. Subtext refers to the underlying meanings and intentions behind the words spoken, allowing for deeper layers of storytelling.

Setting and Atmosphere

The setting and atmosphere of a script create the world in which the story unfolds.

Additionally, the atmosphere plays a crucial role in setting the emotional ambiance of the script. It influences how the audience feels while experiencing the story, whether it’s through suspense, humor, melancholy, or excitement.

Theme and Message

A compelling script often carries a central theme or message that resonates with the audience on a deeper level. Themes can encompass a wide range of topics, such as love, redemption, courage, or the pursuit of truth. It is the emotional core that binds the story together and leaves a lasting impact on the viewer.

Principles of Script Writing

To excel in the art of script writing, one must grasp the core principles that underpin every successful screenplay. Here are the fundamental principles you need to know:

Knowing Your Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial in script writing, as it allows you to tailor your story to meet their expectations and preferences. Every script is essentially a conversation between the writer and the viewer, and knowing your audience ensures that this conversation is engaging, relatable, and impactful.

Identifying Target Viewers

For example, if you are writing a family-oriented comedy, your language and humor may differ from that of a dark psychological thriller aimed at adult audiences. Tailoring your script to suit your target viewers’ sensibilities increases the likelihood of the script’s success.

Adapting to Genres

Different genres cater to different audience expectations and preferences. Adapting your script to the chosen genre is essential for resonating with fans of that genre and adhering to its conventions. The principles of script writing emphasize that each genre has its unique traits , such as pacing , tone , and storytelling style .

Cultural and Societal Considerations

As a scriptwriter, it’s essential to be sensitive to cultural and societal norms, as they can influence the reception of your script. Respectful representation of diverse cultures and communities is vital to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes or misrepresentations.

Diversity in script writing not only enriches the storytelling experience but also reflects the world’s complexity and plurality. If your script involves characters or themes from cultures different from your own, research and consult with experts or individuals from those communities to ensure authenticity and respectfulness.

The Screenwriter’s Process

Idea generation.

The spark of an idea is the starting point of every script. Inspiration can strike from various sources — a thought-provoking news article , a chance encounter , a vivid dream , or even a personal experience . Keeping a notebook or digital document to jot down these ideas ensures that you don’t let them slip away.

Exploring different angles of an idea, asking “what if” questions, and brainstorming with others can help expand and refine your concept.

Research and Preparation

For historical scripts, delve into historical records, primary sources, and expert accounts to accurately depict the time period and its societal norms. In contrast, science fiction scripts may require you to understand cutting-edge scientific theories and speculate about the future.

Outlining and Storyboarding

Assembling your research and ideas into a cohesive narrative requires careful planning. Outlining your script helps you map out the story’s structure , character arcs , and major plot points . An outline acts as a roadmap, guiding you through the storytelling journey and preventing the dreaded writer’s block.

Drafting the Script

The drafting stage is where your imagination takes flight, and the words start flowing onto the page. Embrace your creative instincts as you breathe life into your characters and bring your story to life.

In this stage, allow yourself to write freely, without fear of perfection. You can always refine and polish your script in subsequent drafts. The key is to capture the essence of your story and characters at this initial stage.

Rewriting and Polishing

Seek feedback from trusted peers, mentors, or scriptwriting groups. Constructive criticism can provide invaluable insights and reveal blind spots you may have overlooked.

Style and Formatting

Proper style and formatting are crucial in script writing, as they ensure that your script is industry-standard and easily readable for producers, directors, and actors.

Industry Standards

Scriptwriting follows standardized formats, including font size , margin widths , and page numbering . Most scripts are written in Courier or Courier New font to maintain consistency and readability.

Each new location or scene change is indicated by a scene heading, typically written in all caps, followed by the location and time of day.

EXT. PARK – DAY

Writing Visuals and Actions

For example:

JANE picks up the dusty old book and flips through its pages, her eyes widening with curiosity.

Handling Dialogue

To write effective dialogue, immerse yourself in the voices and speech patterns of your characters. Each character should have a distinct voice that reflects their background, personality, and goals.

Using Parentheticals

Parentheticals are brief notes included within dialogue to provide context or emotional cues for the actors. Use them sparingly and effectively to enhance the performance without over-directing the actors.

JOHN [whispering]

Character and Scene Headings

Techniques for captivating scripts.

To create scripts that leave a lasting impact on the audience, scriptwriters employ various techniques to evoke emotions, build tension, and keep viewers engaged.

Building Tension and Conflict

Tension and conflict are essential elements that drive a script forward. Introduce obstacles and challenges that keep your characters on their toes, creating anticipation for what lies ahead.

Incorporating Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing adds depth and intrigue to your script by hinting at future events. Cleverly placed clues can create a sense of anticipation and surprise for the audience.

Consider incorporating subtle hints and symbolism early in the script that foreshadow significant plot twists or character developments. These seemingly innocuous details can come to fruition later in the story, creating a sense of satisfaction for attentive viewers who pick up on the foreshadowing.

Crafting Memorable Dialogue

One technique to achieve impactful dialogue is to use subtext. Subtext is the unspoken or underlying meaning behind the words characters say.

By adding layers of meaning to dialogue, you create a rich and nuanced experience for the audience, inviting them to interpret the characters’ true thoughts and feelings.

Show, Don’t Tell

For instance, instead of having a character explicitly say, “I’m scared,” show their fear through trembling hands, wide eyes, and a racing heartbeat.

This approach allows the audience to engage with the characters on a deeper level, making the experience more immersive and emotionally resonant.

Balancing Action and Emotion

To strike this balance, consider the pacing of your script. Intense action scenes should be followed by moments of reflection or emotional vulnerability. This ebb and flow of emotions keep the audience engaged and invested in the characters’ experiences.

Collaboration and Receiving Feedback

Collaboration is often an integral part of script writing, especially in the world of film and television. Effective collaboration and feedback are essential in refining your script and elevating its quality.

Working with Producers and Directors

Be open to feedback and willing to make revisions based on the director’s vision while also advocating for your creative choices when necessary. A collaborative spirit fosters a positive working relationship and leads to a more cohesive and polished final product.

Joining Writing Teams

Writing teams offer diverse perspectives and brainstorming opportunities. Joining or forming a writing team can enhance your creative process and lead to unique storytelling approaches.

The Importance of Feedback

Feedback is invaluable in script writing. Embrace critiques and suggestions, as they can help you identify blind spots and improve your work. Constructive feedback can elevate your script to new heights.

Seek feedback from fellow writers, industry professionals, or scriptwriting workshops. Listen to different perspectives and use the feedback to enhance your script’s strengths and address its weaknesses.

Adapting Scripts for Different Mediums

Each storytelling medium comes with its unique strengths and constraints. Adapting your script to suit different mediums is essential in maximizing its impact and reach.

Film Scripts

Film scripts focus on cinematic storytelling, utilizing visual and auditory elements to create a captivating experience. Emphasize vivid descriptions and impactful visuals to immerse the audience in the story.

Consider the use of visual storytelling techniques, such as montage sequences or creative camera angles, to enhance the emotional impact of key scenes. Keep in mind that in film, visuals often speak louder than words.

Television Scripts

Keep each episode self-contained while advancing the overarching story arc. Introduce compelling characters with room for growth and development over the course of the series.

Playwriting

Playwriting relies heavily on dialogue and the power of live performance. Embrace the immediacy and intimacy of the stage to create compelling experiences for theatergoers.

Scriptwriting Software and Tools

In the digital age, scriptwriting software and tools have revolutionized the way scripts are created and managed. These specialized tools offer a plethora of features that streamline the writing process, enhance collaboration, and ensure adherence to industry standards.

Advantages of Specialized Software

Dedicated scriptwriting software provides numerous advantages over using generic word processors. One of the most significant benefits is automatic formatting , ensuring that your script complies with industry standards for fonts, margins, and spacing.

Revision Tracking and Collaboration

Scriptwriting software simplifies the revision process by enabling version control and tracking changes made by different collaborators. This functionality promotes seamless collaboration among writers, directors, and producers, as they can easily review and comment on the script in real-time.

Collaboration becomes more efficient, as everyone involved can contribute to the script remotely . This flexibility is especially beneficial when team members are located in different geographic regions.

Popular Scriptwriting Tools

Final draft.

Final Draft is considered the industry standard in scriptwriting software. Its user-friendly interface and robust features make it a top choice for screenwriters, playwrights, and television writers alike.

Key features of Final Draft include script formatting, automatic pagination, character highlighting, and revision tracking. The software also offers templates for various script types, such as screenplay, stage play, and television script.

Collaboration is seamless with Celtx, allowing team members to work together in real-time. This makes it a preferred choice for multi-disciplinary projects, such as film and video production.

Scrivener is a popular choice among writers of all genres, including scriptwriters. While it is not a dedicated scriptwriting software, its flexible organizational features make it an attractive option for outlining and drafting scripts.

Copyright and Legal Considerations

Protecting your intellectual property is a vital aspect of scriptwriting. Understanding copyright laws and implementing proper legal considerations ensure that your creative work remains secure and under your control.

Protecting Your Work

As soon as you create your script, it automatically gains copyright protection under intellectual property laws. However, registering your script with the appropriate copyright office adds an extra layer of protection and establishes a legal record of ownership.

Understanding Intellectual Property

Understanding the nuances of intellectual property rights empowers you as a scriptwriter to make informed decisions about your work.

Copyright grants you, as the creator, exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, perform, and display your script. These rights provide you with control over how your work is used and monetized.

Collaboration Agreements

A well-drafted collaboration agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities of each collaborator, the division of intellectual property rights, how any potential profits or royalties will be shared, and the resolution of conflicts or disagreements.

Congratulations on embarking on the exciting journey of mastering the principles of script writing! From understanding the art of storytelling to adapting your script for different mediums, you have explored the key elements that go into crafting captivating and unforgettable stories.

As you refine your scriptwriting skills, seek inspiration from the works of great storytellers, both classic and contemporary. Observe how they weave intricate narratives, develop multidimensional characters, and evoke emotions in their audiences. Learn from their techniques while staying true to your unique voice and vision.

Embrace the power of storytelling and its ability to connect, entertain, and inspire audiences worldwide. Whether your scripts make people laugh, cry, or question the world around them, know that your words have the potential to leave a lasting impact on hearts and minds.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to write a script.

The time it takes to write a script can vary widely depending on factors such as complexity, research required, and personal writing speed. Some writers may complete a script in a few weeks, while others may take several months.

Do I need a formal education to become a successful screenwriter?

While formal education in film or creative writing can be beneficial, it is not a strict requirement. Many successful screenwriters have honed their skills through practice, networking, and learning from other professionals.

Should I stick to one genre or explore different ones?

How can i protect my script from being stolen.

To protect your script, consider registering it with a copyright office or using a reputable copyright service. Additionally, avoid sharing your work with untrusted individuals or platforms.

Can I write a script based on real events or people?

Writing a script based on real events or people may require additional research and consideration of legal implications. Be sure to respect the privacy and rights of real individuals and seek legal advice if needed.

How to Write a Movie Script: Screenplay Format and Examples

U nderstanding how to write a movie script, also known as a screenplay, can seem daunting at first, but once you understand script format and structure you can then focus on your creativity.

We’ll take you through the process of writing a screenplay so that you can begin building that great movie idea into a professional script.

Watch: Anatomy of a Screenplay — Ultimate Guide

What Is A Screenplay

What exactly defines a screenplay.

A movie script , also known as a screenplay is a document that ranges anywhere from 70-180 pages. Most movie scripts come in around 110 pages, but there are a number of factors that play into the length.

Before we go too deep into page count, let’s talk about the things you really need to know so that you can get started on your script ASAP.

How To Format a Screenplay

What is standard screenplay format.

Screenplay format is relatively simple, but it’s one of those things that can seem a bit daunting until you’ve actually learned how to do it.

The basics of script formatting are as follows:

12-point Courier font size
1.5 inch margin on the left of the page
1 inch margin on the right of the page
1 inch on the of the top and bottom of the page
Each page should have approximately 55 lines
The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page
Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page
Page numbers are positioned in the top right corner with a 0.5 inch margin from the top of the page. The first page shall not be numbered, and each number is followed by a period.

StudioBinder screenwriting software does all the required formating, so you can focus on the creative. Below is a formatted script example:

How to Format a Screenplay - StudioBinder Scriptwriting Software

Script formatting breakdown in StudioBinder

Many scripts begin with a transition , which may include FADE IN: or BLACK SCREEN . Some place this in the top left, others in the top right of the page where many transitions live. Other scripts will begin with scene headings, or even subheadings of imagery they want to front load.

SCENE HEADING

The scene heading is there to help break up physical spaces and give the reader and production team an idea of the story’s geography.

You will either choose INT. for interior spaces or EXT. for exterior spaces. Then a description of the setting , and then the time of day .

Here’s a screenplay example:

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - scene heading

Script format example in StudioBinder Screenplay Writing Software: Scene Heading

There are rare cases where the scene begins inside and goes outside, or vice versa, and in these situations you may write INT/EXT. or EXT/INT .

Some scripts take place all around the world, so often screenwriters will use multiple hyphens to give the scene headings even more detail:

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - character intro - double hyphen scene heading

Screenplay format example in StudioBinder Screenwriting App: Scene Heading Details

This helps the screenwriter avoid having to point out the geographical location in the action lines, saving space to write more about the actual story and keep readers engaged in the story… not the formatting.

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - subheading

Script formatting example in StudioBinder Sciptwriting Software: Scene Subheading

It is assumed that readers will understand the change in space while retaining the idea that the time of day is the same - even continuous.

The reason many writers do this is to avoid the notion that we’ve entered an entirely new scene, though you could always include CONTINUOUS in place of DAY or NIGHT by creating an entirely new scene heading.

It’s a matter of personal style and rhythm vs. production considerations.

TRANSITIONS

In the bottom right of the page you will place transitions, but in modern screenwriting these seem to be used less and less. The transitions that seems to have really stood the test of time are CUT TO: and FADE OUT.

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - transition

Screenplay formatting example in StudioBinder Sciptwriting Software: Scene Transition

You may also include something like DISSOLVE TO: , but these are used less and less, probably for the same reason you avoid camera shots.

CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS

When you introduce a character in a screenplay, you want to use all-capital letters for the name of the character, then a reference to their age, and finally some information about their traits and personality.

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - character intro - double hyphen scene heading (1)

Script format example in StudioBinder Scriptwriting Software: Character Introduction

Again, screenwriters have found other ways to do this, but this is the most common and production friendly way to introduce a character.

We have a post on how to introduce characters in a screenplay that goes into the creative considerations of introducing characters, so I highly recommend you check it out after this post to learn more.

Action lines are where you describe the visual and audible actions that take place on screen. You want to write in third person in present tense.

Here’s a script example:

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - action

Script format example in StudioBinder Screenwriting Solution: Action Lines

Often, you can make your script a better read by eliminating redundant pronouns and conjunctions. Big sounds and important objects can be written out in ALL CAPS to emphasize their effect on the story.

Your lines of dialogue will be set underneath the character to which they are assigned. Dialogue is pretty straightforward from a formatting standpoint, but it is the most difficult part of screenwriting.

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - dialogue

Script format example in StudioBinder Free Screenwriting App: Dialogue Lines

If you want to learn more, check out our post on 22 Screenwriting Tips for Writing Better Dialogue where I go over a bunch of ways to audit your screenplay for good… and bad dialogue.

These occur when a character says something off-screen (O.S.) , or if dialogue is voice-over (V.O.) . You will see extensions when a character ends a block of dialogue, performs an action, and speaks more.

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - extension

Screenplay format example in StudioBinder Web-Based Scriptwriting Software: Extensions

This takes the form of continued (CONT’D). Professional script writing software will help you with this, but it will not be able to predict when you want something said off screen or in voice-over.

PARENTHETICAL

You can use a parenthetical inside your dialogue to show small actions, or even a change in mood without having to jump out to an action line.

Script format example in StudioBinder Free Script Writing Software: Parenthetical

Parentheticals are really good for directing actors, and adding sarcasm and nuance to performances on the page, but you may want to be cautious about adding them too much. Actors are professionals, and if Al Pacino finds parentheticals in a script, he may get his feelings hurt.

CAMERA SHOTS

The best professional screenwriters know how to suggest shots without actually writing in shots, but if you really insist on describing a particular shot in your screenplay you can format it like a subheading.

Here’s a script example

how to write a movie script - afraid of the dark - studiobinder screenwriting feature - camera shot

Script format example in StudioBinder Online Screenwriting Software: Camera Shot

This lets us know that the shot is supposed to be set so that we see things from Filbert’s perspective. Writing out shots is often frowned upon, but if you’re directing the film, maybe do it sparingly.

How To Write A Movie Script

Use proper script font & margins.

The screenplay font used to write movie scripts is Courier 12pt.

Courier is used as the standard screenplay font because it creates a page to screen ratio of 1:1. Where one page of a script translates to one minute of screen time, so this is one area that really shouldn’t be modified.

Page margins for a professional movie script are 1” for the top, bottom, and right side margins. The left margin is 1.5” for punch hole space.

StudioBinder provides a completely FREE and unlimited screenwriting software, so you don’t have to be worried about script fonts and margins.

StudioBinder's FREE Screenwriting Software

Because StudioBinder is cloud-based, you will be able to access your securely saved screenplay from any computer in the world. Our software helps you properly format, create versions, and automatically syncs to a number integrated production planning features.

Technology is there to make our lives easier, though I applaud you for having an interest in learning about professional screenplay font.

If there ever comes a time where screenwriting software is completely eliminated due to some sort of cataclysmic event, I think we’ll all have bigger concerns than understanding how to write a movie screenplay.

what is screenplay format

Consider your page count.

How long should your movie script be?

It’s a difficult question because comedy scripts generally come in somewhere around 90 pages (1 hour + 30 mins) while action and drama scripts come in around 110 (1 hour + 50 mins).

It’s harmful to worry about this too much because what you really need is a script that is lean, mean, and compelling at every turn.

If you think your script is a bit thin, you may need to add a bit more, but every page you add means more money needed to produce the film.

If you write a great 80 page script, you may just have a screenplay that will both excite production teams, but also viewers with small bladders.

What Is A Script

Plan out script beats & story structure.

Story structure is a much more difficult topic to nail down when compared to formatting, so buckle up. Many screenwriter, directors, and viewers find that classic story structure leads to formulaic moviemaking.

It totally does… and that’s why many movies are xeroxes of xeroxes.

So why is this still the best way to have your screenplay produced as well as a really helpful tool for writing your screenplays?

Production companies, studios, producers, and executives have poured years, and maybe even decades into learning the business of feature films, and the vast majority have used classic story structure.

Do screenwriters and directors all follow it perfectly? — No.

Do screenwriters and directors all understand structure? — Yes.

You have the Save The Cat Beat Sheet , Three Act Structure , The Hero's Journey , The Story Circle — all of these are ways to make that great idea you have become a coherent story that emulates the human experience.

We all have highs, and we all have lows.

The true benefit of story structure is that it gives you a plan to build so that when you sit down to write you don’t just stare at the blank page.

It’s just a navigation map for your big roadtrip… one that producers and studios will want you to have so they can bank on your screenplay.

One of the non-negotiable support documents you want to create is a screenplay outline. This is where you can create your own roadmap, with all of the considerations you personally care about for your script.

Script outlines often present the scene page count, overall story beats, and the relationship each scene has with the other scenes in your script. If you’re trying to overcome writer’s block, a script outline will keep you focused and help you write your story.

How To Write A Screenplay

How long does it take to write a screenplay.

Many are curious how long it should take a screenwriter to write a movie script, and while it will always depend on a personal schedule you will be best served by setting up a rigid, professional writing schedule.

When professional screenwriters are given time to write a screenplay, they’re provided a time range between 1-3 months (30-90 days).

In the past, I’ve set my personal writing pace at 6-7 pages in an 8 hour day of writing, which roughly translates to about 15 days of writing.

If you’re truly focused on your script, planning out the structure, theme, characters, setting, and plot may take you a couple of weeks.

The short answer is that it should take around a month .

Some screenplays I wrote took 6 months… others took 2 weeks.

The time shrinks with each screenplay because you become more and more familiar with the overall process like any other craft or job.

Your inspiration and creative energy will only grow when you work on your projects and scripts, and it will only shrink when you don’t.

Movie Script Writing

Make a screenplay title page.

The next step is to create your title page for your screenplay. This is a somewhat interesting, albeit brief topic of discussion. Part of this comes from the fact that screenwriter used to add personal info on the page.

This is still totally fine, but there are much better ways to make sure potentially interested parties have a way to contact you about your story that doesn’t require you to include your home address.

You shouldn’t be scared to put yourself and your work out there, but you should use technology to give yourself a smoother process like adding an email address designated to your writing so that personal emails don’t get mixed up with important screenwriting emails.

Sample Script

Other important screenwriting notes.

There are some nuanced screenwriting practices that may seem correct, but can actually confuse or hinder the physical production.

One example is your time of day in your scene heading.

Professional screenplay software will give you about a half dozen options including MORNING and SUNSET . This is an ironic moment where screenwriters actually hurt productions with proper formatting.

These should generally be avoided unless the time of day is absolutely integral to the story because your script will import into production planning software and create stripboards that instruct the production to schedule the actual shoot times during a very small window of time.

Most morning and sunset scenes are filmed whenever and however a director and production team can figure out because planning your entire day of filming around 1-2 hours of available light is a great way to lose a lot of time, money, morale, and built up trust.

Even if you have a character who wakes up late for work, you really won’t need to use MORNING because that scene will most likely be filmed during the day, or may even be filmed on a soundstage with artificial lighting. What about the rules with action lines?

Screenwriters like Quentin Tarantino will sometimes include character motivations or aspects of the film that will not be shown on screen. Generally, this practice is frowned upon in screenwriting.

But he’s Tarantino… right?

The reason you don’t want to go too crazy with this is because it becomes a slippery slope where novice writers default to adding information the viewer can’t see or hear to the screenplay to give padding and context.

The truth is that writers should focus on building things we all get to see on screen, and not focus on motivation that isn’t apparent on screen. That’s also generally what character breakdowns are for, which you can include with your screenplay to producers, directors, and the actors.

Tell me if this sounds familiar...

You generally understand script formatting, but after reading a number of popular movie scripts you’ve actually become more confused.

When you read movie scripts and screenplays you quickly learn that many screenwriters play fast and loose even with script writing format, however, they all get pretty close and predominantly use their somewhat liberal interpretation of script writing format to help readers visualize the scenes in a way that keeps a good pace, flow, and rhythm.

“Why am I trying to learn and follow rules that may hinder my ability to tell a compelling story through the written word when the most successful writers and directors don’t seem to give two hoots?”

Really, two hoots? What is this… the 1950’s?

Point is, you’re right. Often the professional scripts we get to read are either early drafts or straight up spec scripts, which means they’ve written the scripts without an attached plan for production.

Now, if you want to learn how to write a script that will be used for actual production, also known as a shooting script, you might as well write your screenplays in a way that is totally production friendly.

How to Become a Screenwriter

Now you understand how to write a movie script, make sure to take a look at How to Become a Paid Screenwriter . Our post is full of helpful lessons you can apply to your own professional screenwriting career.

Up Next: How to Become A Screenwriter →

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10 Ways to Create One-of-a-Kind Script Ideas

Coming up with script ideas can be a huge challenge, but hopefully these tips will get those creative juices flowing..

Being stuck as a screenwriter is one of the most frustrating parts of the creative process. Whether it be writer’s block or a lack of inspiration , as writers we all have points where we don’t know what direction to go in next.

Fear not. We’ve got a solution (or ten) to help you with that. Inspiration is truly at your fingertips. You just need to know where to look for it to create that one-of-a-kind premise, fascinating character, or exceptional plot point for your screenplay.

Bookmark this page for when you need creative inspiration while writing your next feature film, pilot, or spec script. These are ten sources of unique plot, character, and premise inspiration to help you generate unparalleled script ideas.

Change One Thing About A Film or Show That You Love

You may have heard that execs look for something they’re familiar with but that’s also different to offer audiences something fresh they’ve not seen before. This is a way to generate an idea like that.

A key point is to write from inspiration from a movie or a series that you love. Your passion and joy for the premise, characters, or genre will come through. We’ll use Supernatural , one of my favorite shows, as an example. Here are some aspects to consider altering to make your script idea fresh and new:

CHANGE THE SETTING (Example: Supernatural in space.)
CHANGE THE TIME PERIOD (Example: Supernatural in the Victorian era.)
CHANGE THE GENRE (Example: Supernatural as a western.)
DIVERSIFY THE CAST (Example: Supernatural with women of color as the leads. Some more diversity ideas here .)
TELL THE STORY FROM ANOTHER CHARACTER’S PERSPECTIVE (Example: Supernatural from the demons’ point of view.)

‘Supernatural’

News Articles

Truth is truly stranger than fiction, which is why the news of the day can provide some of the best fodder for plot and character inspiration. An example of a successful show inspired by current events is Apple’s hit series The Morning Show , which explores the #MeToo movement amid world events.

Create an archive of news articles so that you have a pool of ideas to draw from for inspiration. If you’re on an iPhone with the News app, you can bookmark and save articles that you find interesting. Use a Google Doc to copy/paste URLs and make notes of what intrigues you about each news story. Just in case articles are deleted later, screenshot them and save them to a folder on your computer or phone.

Writing Prompts

Ah, the trusty ole writing prompt. Even if you don’t write a script directly from a prompt, they’re effective in getting your creative juices flowing when you allow yourself to write freely with no judgment. Check out these links to spark your creative mind with a writing prompt:

WEBSITES: Try some random writing prompt generators like this one from The Narrative Arc , or check out ScreenCraft’s story prompt lists .
INSTAGRAM: @writing.prompt.s and @writing.prompts.re are great if you want to peruse daily writing prompts on Instagram.
TWITTER – Want daily and hourly writing prompts? Then follow @howboutyouwrite and @magicrealismbot on Twitter.

A Memory That You’ll Never Forget

Your life experience is a rich field to harvest ideas from for your screenplay. Using a memory as inspiration for a premise or scene is an effective way to infuse feeling and depth in your script. You’re able to craft the experiences of the character(s) in a way like no other writer because you have felt what they’ve been through.

Midnight Mass is a great example of how this is successfully done. The limited series is very personal to writer/director Mike Flanagan because it speaks to his personal experience of religion and alcoholism.

Oftentimes, writing from your memories and personal experience will feel extremely vulnerable. You’re baring your soul, and it is that vulnerability that helps you craft the details of a story, dialogue, character development, and subtext of a scene because you’re offering the experience from having lived it. That makes for an unprecedented script idea.

‘Midnight Mass’

Document Your Dreams

Dreams are singular to each person, which is what makes them such incredible inspiration for an original story. Ever heard of a director named James Cameron ? The ideas he receives from his dreams inspired him to create blockbusters such as Terminator and Avatar .

Use your dreams as screenplay inspiration. Keep a log of your dreams in a journal or put them in a Google Doc to be able to access and search any time you think one of your dreams could fit into a script you’re working on. If you’re an artist like Cameron is, sketch or paint memorable visuals of your dreamscapes to inspire you.

Channel Your Passion

Tuning into what you’re passionate about is how you can craft a script that’s personal to you that only you can tell. There are no two people that are passionate about the exact same things in every respect.

What is something that makes you light up when you talk about it or that you could talk about for a long time? You can ask a good friend or your partner if you’re not sure. It could be space exploration, scuba diving, or chess. Another way to hone in on what you’re passionate about is to look at what makes you angry in the world today. Anger is where your passion lies. It highlights what you care deeply about. There is a fire in anger that you can use to fuel your creativity.

The first step is identifying what you’re passionate about, which will give you a topic to focus on for a script. The second step is identifying your opinions and perspective on that topic, which is the message and theme for your script’s premise.

A Family Story

Every family has a history, and that means every family has stories to tell. Funny, heartbreaking, embarrassing, dramatic. There are innumerable experiences you, someone in your family, or all of you have experienced together that can be the seed to grow your next script from.

It could be the way your parents met. How your family immigrated to another country. How your family business started. How your family coped with a tragedy. Discovering something unexpected about a family member. How everyone has kept a family secret. These are all personal experiences to you and/or your family, which is what makes them unique – and you supremely qualified to write about it.

Some examples to inspire you: The Big Sick is based on Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon ’s real-life courtship before they married. The Farewell is based on the way that filmmaker Lulu Wang ’s family coped with her grandmother having a short time left to live.

‘The Farewell’

Your Current Struggles

Syd Field said it best: “ All drama is conflict. Without conflict, you have no action; without action, you have no character; without character, you have no story; and without story, you have no screenplay .”

What you struggle with in your everyday life is conflict, and there is a story in there. Although your everyday struggles might seem like nothing of importance to you, it might foster empathy in others to see a side of life they don’t know or help someone feel not alone in seeing a story about struggles similar to their own. What do you personally struggle with in your life? Was there a time in your life when you had to overcome a certain situation or condition? Use it as inspiration for a script.

As an example, Maid is based on a true story. It offers a raw perspective into a single mother’s life as she struggles to create a safe home and life for herself and her daughter while coming to terms with domestic abuse. There are no big explosions, superhero action sequences, or anything flashy. Its focus on the everyday struggles of a single mother and the gritty, heartbreaking details of it are what make it unique.

What Do You Love To Watch?

What’s your favorite movie? Series? Genre? Write something YOU want to watch. Don’t worry if it’s just like your favorite film or TV show. Give yourself the freedom to allow it to start that way, then rewrite. It can start as a fanfic and then evolve into something all its own. Chances are if you wish there was more of a certain kind of story out there, there is someone else that does, too, and they’re your audience.

Your personal tastes are one of a kind. Start with what makes your heart sing. Too often writers get concerned with what others want to see rather than tuning into their own hearts. Writing a script based on what brings you joy will help keep you from getting burnt out. As writers, we’re creators. If you want to see a particular kind of film or show, you have the power to create it.

Scroll Twitter

No, really. Hear me out on this one. Although Twitter is often the go-to time waster for screenwriters avoiding the blank page, there is a goldmine of inspiration to be found there. Scroll tweets with a purpose! Find threads that tell a story to inspire you. You may even find one that’s so fully fleshed out, the story is outlined perfectly. Feature crime drama Zola was created from a viral Twitter thread . Character and plot inspiration are abundant on Twitter.

The way people write tweets and articulate their views can help you develop a character. Looking to craft a more well-rounded character than the one-dimensional real estate agent you’ve created? Click on realtor hashtags and find an actual realtor on Twitter. A peek at their “likes” will give you insight into their personality, which you can use as inspo. A great account to follow is @censusamericans . It tweets the backstory of a real American every hour. You can also use the description of each person as a writing prompt.

Hopefully the above will give you plenty of sources of inspiration that you can draw upon and come back to as you write. These can provide solid script ideas for you to use in your screenplays, and they can also be valuable creative exercises that lead you to where you need to go. Screenwriting is not linear, and sometimes all you need is to distract your intellect to allow your creative mind to flow.

Wielding her broadsword is a favorite, both on and off camera.

Connect with Joanna on her website , Twitter , and Instagram .

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101 Best Dialogue and Screenwriting Prompts

Generate Full-Length AI Screenplay Instantly

Table of contents.

There are many pieces that need to fit perfectly in order to produce high-quality screenwriting. We will focus on developing two crucial aspects in the screenwriting process, and those are the dialogue and setting the scene.

A line has to be provocative enough to inspire a response, so the dialogue prompts bellow do exactly that – they guide you into character and plot development by using dialogue properly.

In addition, the screenwriting prompts will give you a glimpse into a cinematic microcosm that you will need to transform into a cinematic macrocosm.

If you want to streamline the screenwriting process, you can also generate a custom book template with AI:

Dialogue prompts

Dialogue in movies, in theater plays, and in books should have a natural flow. Sometimes it can be deceptively simple, sometimes provocative, and sometimes very straightforward.

Here you can find 40 dialogue prompts that can start the creative process. Think of situations in which a person might actually say these sentences. Then, try to come up with several possible responses. Different responses can give you the opportunity to explore the action in different genres. If you get excited by reading the dialogues – that’s definitely a good sign.

I need a way, not an excuse.
Your voice. It’s different. You’re different.
This was a mistake. I’m not letting you take her off life support.
I said it first. It’s mine.
Is this your first time here?
What are you reading?
We need to come up with a new strategy.
You should have come to the funeral. Mother was expecting you. She was very disappointed.
You always say that you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but can you handle the truth?
Imagine you were the master of the Universe.
Is that all?
Things haven’t been right between us ever since that night in Aspen. You can’t say you haven’t thought about it. I have. A million times. Every time I close my eyes before falling asleep.
You will forget about our hugs and kisses because now… now you have no choice.
I wasn’t sure you remembered me.
Open your door and your heart. I’m coming home.
I miss seeing your face every morning. I don’t miss your breath.
Keep your hands where I can feel them.
If I wanted a stupid solution to a real problem, I would ask you.
I don’t want to be alone tonight.
Please, I can explain!
This is a very big favor you’re asking. It looks more like a sacrifice.
Were you careful? Did anyone follow you? A lot is at stake here!
You weren’t informed because this was way above your pay-grade.
She is too precious for humanity not to do anything to save her, even if it means risking our own lives.
We’ve started communicating better after the divorce.
There is something in her eyes… I’m telling you – she has superpowers!
Your wife has been in an accident.
How could you do this to me? I thought you were dead! You let me grieve for so long! I kept thinking about all the thing I wanted to say to you, but never had the chance. How? How could you do this to me?
Congratulations! You’ll get to meet my highly dysfunctional family for Christmas.
Why are you doing this? Is my daughter okay? I will pay anything, just please don’t hurt her!
You pay more attention to the Persian rugs than you do to me. They are just things! They don’t have a soul! But I do! And you’re crushing it with all the force you’ve got!
I’ve never been abroad. When I get the chance, I would like to visit Dubrovnik.
I was looking forward to our romantic evening. Why does this wine taste funny?
I’m afraid I have some bad news. Your source is dead.
In a fake-news era, truth becomes an imperative.
Doctor Jones, please come at once. I have never seen anything like this.
Despite the rumours, I am sure that there aren’t any ghosts in this large Victorian house.
How long have we known each other? Forever! I would never betray your trust!
I didn’t mean to kill him! I only wanted to scare him!
It’s scary to bring a child into this horrible, horrible world.

Screenwriting prompts

These prompts assist potential writers to get inspired and try their hand at writing different genres. Being versatile as a screenwriter is important for perfecting the craft. The following prompts set particular scenes, characters, and situations, but it is your inventiveness that will bring these scenes to life.

Think about your favorite film. Change the ending.
A dead body is the library floor. The window is wide open and a breeze is moving the curtains. The globe is broken next to the body. A copy of the Bible is placed on the back of the body.
A woman sits on the edge of a bridge. A man slowly approaches her and talks to her in a low and soothing voice. She responds to his attempt to establish communication. They start talking, and the woman starts crying. He helps her get up. She moves away from the edge while holding the stranger’s hand.
Two male characters enter a seemingly deserted building. Shortly after the building explodes. The two characters are seen fleeing the crime scene.
A pilot gets into a futuristic aircraft and leaves many worried faces on the ground.
A group of actors rehearse on a theater stage. The director isn’t pleased with the performance. He jumps on the stage and starts giving directions to the lead actor. He advises him not to use elaborate gesticulations while acting and be more subtle.
Two main characters from two different movies meet and have a conversation that leads to one character killing the other one.
In an apocalyptic world building and cars are left empty and only a handful of pregnant women are roaming the empty streets frightened and deteriorated.
A person is in his study. The shelves are stacked with books, old maps, and globes. The person is writing on a parchment using his quill. He seems apprehensive. He takes a small knife he uses for opening his letters and he runs the tip of the blade through the candle flame. Then, he makes a small cut and a few blood drops fall on the table. He dips the quill in the blood and as he gets prepared to sign his name at the bottom of the page, black letters spontaneously appear on his arm.
Three people are riding the elevator when it suddenly stops. One of the people starts panicking as she is claustrophobic. The other person calms her down, while the third one tries to find some help. It becomes obvious that they would spend some time together stuck on the 11th floor. They start talking, when the woman who is afraid of closed spaces discovers the identity of one of the people there.
A dinner scene. A large dining table, with different kinds of food and expensive cutlery. The guests are well-dressed and well-rehearsed in etiquette. A senior member of the family announces a change in his will. Everybody on the table is horrified.
A married couple is having a fight about the wife’s infidelity. Things get heated, and then the husband confesses to having multiple affairs. Suddenly both of them stop talking. There is heavy silence between the two spouses.
A person who claims to be innocent is interrogated by two detectives in an interrogation room. He is claims that he hasn’t even met the murder victim.
A man is talking on the phone when a truck crashes into him, causing the car to fall into the abyss.
A person packs her belongings into card boxes because she plans to move into a new apartment. She finds a photo of her and her best friend. A moment of happiness on her face is quickly substituted for a sad, nostalgic smile.
A woman is swimming in a pool when suddenly a man in a wet suit attacks her and pulls her down. She is fighting for her life, but the man manages to overpower her completely.
A helicopter is hovering above a snowy mountain top where some hikers got lost.
A hacker steals his stepfather’s medical records.
Terrorists threaten with a bomb unless their demands are met.
A young student gets a scholarship to study at Harvard.
A trial scene. The setting is a courtroom. The defense attorney is cross-examining the witness. The scene is emotional because the attorney manages to get the truth from the witness that exonerates her client.
In the middle of the night a woman runs out of the house covered in blood and screams for help. Somebody broke into her house and killed her husband. All of the neighbors rush out to help her. One of them is the killer, although nobody is aware of that.
A man takes up dancing because his wife used to beg him to do that. After her sudden death, he decides to honor her wish. The new chapter in his life promises new love.
A woman is walking her pet in the park. At one point, she drops the leash, and the dog finds a friend in the park. The woman makes a witty remark, which prompts a pleasant conversation between her and a handsome man. He asks for her number so that they could go on a date.
Many people are attending a funeral. The police are also present at the cemetery.
A math teacher calls the parents of a gifted boy to suggest a more advanced curriculum.
A famous composer is shown in the creative process of composing a musical masterpiece.
A politician is delivering a speech in front of a crowd when a sniper shoots and misses him.
Young people are singing and dancing at a concert.
Passengers on a plane start panicking when they learn that there is a serious problem with one of the engines. The flight attendants try to calm them down, but with little success. The plane starts falling and everybody starts screaming and praying.
A football coach gives his players a hard time for the humiliation they suffered during their last game.
A fisherman in Norway is casting nets and stays calm in his little boat.
Five children ride their bikes in the forest when they see something extraordinary. One of them panics and wants to go back and bring his parents, but the other children act in a braver way, as if they were mature enough.
A birthday party goes wrong when the boy’s father returns home drunk and aggressive.
A girl writes in her diary about the boy she likes, about the teachers she dislikes, and about the fights with her sister. Suddenly, her sister enters the room, they have a big fight over something trivial, and her sister snatches the diary. She gets angry when she reads a few lines about herself in the diary.
Soldiers practice before going to war. They are worn out, but still manage to complete the drills.
An exotic woman enters the caste and catches everybody’s eyes. Nobody knows anything about her, but she seems mesmerizing.
Supernatural forces frighten tourists because they want to be left alone, in peace.
A serious man is a visitor at a psychiatric hospital. She starts smiling when he sees one person in particular.
Turn a well-known tragedy into a comedy by changing the ending and adding elements of a parody.
A bank robbery ends in blood and tears.
The child of a renowned cardiologist is kidnapped. The kidnapper asks for the doctor’s heart in exchange for his daughter’s life.
A history teacher is speaking with the students about Martin Luther King.
An improv exercise ends horrible when one of the students dies on the stage in the middle of the act.
A woman wakes up to find herself in a neon world. The sky is pink, the trees are orange, and the grass is purple. Soon she realizes that the events from the previous night led to this unusual and scary experience.
A man goes into a church wanting to confess something to a priest.
A patient is lying on the sofa while talking to a psychiatrist.
This scene is a flashback that you would add to a movie that you really like.
A man has a nervous breakdown after receiving devastating news.
A serial killer is planning his new killing while mocking the incompetence of the police.
A family spend the entire day at the ZOO.
Three girls are walking on the beach in the morning when they notice a body that has been washed up on the sand. Alarmed, they call the police immediately.
A dark wizard is summoning the dark forces to help him conquer the world.
A young painter is painting a portrait of an elegant, wealthy, and mysterious woman.
Several campers are setting their tents in the mountain.
A famous TV host is receiving a prestigious award.
A brilliant detective has been hired to investigate the disappearance of a king’s daughter.
Human pilots are getting ready to attack alien spaceships.
An archaeologist finds the holy grail.
A man enters a British reality show.
Somebody leaves a black rose at the doorstep of a beautiful woman every day. The woman decides to set up a camera.

Exploring the best dialogue and screenwriting prompts offers an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enhance their dialogue-writing skills. A dialogue writing prompt helps writers overcome writer’s block and inspire creativity, providing fresh ideas to start writing a new story or take an existing one in a different direction. Whether you’re the only person working on your screenplay or collaborating with others, these prompts will stimulate your writing process, improve your ability to write good dialogue and create authentic and engaging conversations. Dialogue exercises within this collection encourage you to play with words, ensuring that what your characters say is not just heard but truly felt by the audience. The prompts promise to be a beacon of hope for writers looking to break through creative standstills, enabling you to craft scenes where every line is impactful, whether it’s a first-sight encounter or a missed connection. With these prompts, you’ll find that waiting for inspiration is no longer necessary—just start writing and watch your ideas take flight.

Here are some commonly asked questions about dialogue prompts:

How to write good dialogue for a screenplay?

To write good dialogue for a screenplay, use dialogue writing prompts to spark creativity and practice writing dialogue regularly. Engage with each dialogue prompt to explore different character voices and scenarios, which can inspire writers to craft authentic and compelling conversations. Remember, the key is to ensure that every line serves a purpose and sounds natural as if only one person could say it that way.

What is the best topic for dialogue writing?

The best topic for dialogue writing is one that creates conflict or reveals character, such as a disagreement between two friends or a pivotal moment of decision. These scenarios provide rich opportunities to showcase character motivations and advance the plot through engaging in authentic conversations.

How do you write clever dialogue?

To write clever dialogue, ensure characters talk in a sharp, witty manner that reveals their personalities. Start with a strong idea for each conversation, focusing on subtext and humor. This approach makes the dialogue engaging and memorable.

What are the pillars of screenwriting?

The pillars of screenwriting include a strong narrative structure, well-developed characters, compelling dialogue, and visual storytelling. Using writing prompts can help generate ideas and overcome creative blocks, ensuring you don’t wait for inspiration to strike but actively cultivate it.

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1000 story prompts to spark your creativity.

By Ken Miyamoto from ScreenCraft · September 20, 2023

When you’re trying to figure out what you are going to write next, you need to choose wisely. Concept is everything — at least at first glance. It’s what sells the book, short story, movie or TV series. As soon as you have a compelling and engaging concept, you can build equally compelling and engaging stories and characters around them. Read more about The Secret to Understanding What High Concept Means in Hollywood . With that in mind, here we present the ultimate list of 1000 story prompts to get your creative juices flowing. So get ready to go down a wild rabbit tunnel of story prompts. Be sure to bookmark this post so you can read all one thousand of them!

Note: These prompts were purposefully developed on the fly. However, because we live in the same world and are influenced by the same things, some may same familiar. Some may have even already been developed. But the point is to get your creative energy moving as you consider any and all possibilities.

1000 Story Prompts

Families from an alternative universe live upside down underneath our houses.
A character dies and is told they can choose to be reincarnated — only to be reborn as a dog.
A stay-at-home father lives a secret life as a superhero.
A female superhero lives a secret life as a supermom.
The world we know is discovered to be a dream of a superior being.
Earth is actually a zoo watched by visiting guests (UAPs) from around the universe.
A man’s toy collection from the 1980s comes to life.
An introverted character realizes that they actually died years prior and are a ghost.
Titanic in space.
A world where superheroes are hunted down and killed.
An alien invasion story through the eyes of the aliens. (Read this Script Lab Script Collection: Out of This World Sci-fi Screenplays ).
Kids playing their parents’ Dungeons & Dragons game open a portal to the 1980s.
A family awakens to the appearance of a strange door in their family room that wasn’t there before.
A stranger appears at a family’s house claiming to be a future resident.
Someone finds out how to rig the biggest lottery drawing in history.
Angels come to live on Earth.
Demons begin to overtake society as they try to take over Earth.
A romantic comedy told through the eyes of two dogs that fall in love.
Two football coaches from opposing schools fall in love — but are both still living in the closet.
An egotistical manly man suddenly fears everything.
A world where humans are the pets.
A world where women don’t need men to procreate.
An egotistical scholar is suddenly stripped of his intelligence for 24 hours.
A being falls from the stars to the Earth.
A man falls from the stars to the Earth.
A woman falls from the stars to the Earth.
A woman claims to be the daughter of God.
God is nothing more than a cosmic child playing games with their toys.
God is actually a writer that has conjured us all as stories.
Characters discover a fountain of youth.
A family is offered a vacation into the stars by visiting aliens.
A family mistakenly books tickets to Paris, Texas, instead of Paris, France.
An American woman inherits a castle in Scotland.
Characters play, “What dead celebrities or historical figures would you like to have dinner with?”, only to see their selections come knocking at the door.
What if Dorothy replaced somebody in Oz — and someone replaced her in Kansas?
Scientists discover time travel and must keep it secret from the government.
An animated movie demystifying the great white shark — a surprisingly peaceful species.
Beings live in every single closet in the world.
There really are monsters living under our beds.
Suburban dads take part in the world lawn-mowing championships.
A new law where criminals must face their greatest fears.
A man afraid of snakes washes up on an island full of them.
Vampires that can survive during the daylight.
A world where vampires rule the Earth.
The end of the world is near, and families must live with that knowledge.
A world where space travel never happened.
A world where war has never been waged.
A world where real old-world magic is slowly beginning to resurface.
A young boy tries to convince everyone in his town that he actually IS a wizard.
A young girl discovers that she is a descendant of witches.
A collector’s collection of old lunch boxes from the 1980s allows him to send and receive notes from the past.
Present day times where the internet and social media were never created.
There are cities in the clouds.
There are cities in the deepest parts of the ocean.
A character discovers that they are living in a computer simulation — and they are the last human alive.
A new and dangerous species is discovered living in the highest treetops of the world.
A disgraced baseball manager manages a Little League team to the big championship.
A retired football player goes back to coach his son’s Pee Wee league.
The first female football player accepted into the NFL draft.
Astronauts volunteer to undergo the first flight to Mars.
The Earth is found destroyed by Nuclear War when astronauts from a Mars mission return.
Star high school football players go out for soccer when their football team is barred from playing.
The world’s biggest action movie star wakes up in the world of his hit movies.
UFOS and UAPs are actually evolved humans from the future.
Bigfoot exists — and it’s time for him and his kind to meet the world.
A grumpy old man takes on a dare to become a comedian.
Mosquitos are actually tiny fighter planes for a species trying to take over this world of giants.
A character discovers that they are actually a robot.
A character discovers that they are actually a clone.
A character discovers that they are actually God who has suffered brain damage while walking the Earth as a human.
A character discovers that they are the offspring of the Devil.
A character discovers that they can hear the voices of the dead.
A character discovers that they can see into the past.
A character discovers that they can see into the future.
Earth is actually Purgatory.
Earth is actually Heaven.
Earth is actually Hell.
Earth is actually a video game for aliens.
A suburban mother discovers that the whole neighborhood of mothers and wives are the “perfect” clones generated by the men.
A suburban dad discovers that the whole neighborhood of dads and husbands are the “perfect” clones generated by the women.
The children of a suburban family discover that the other children in the neighborhood are “perfect” clones.
A man’s dog starts talking to him suddenly.
A family’s dog starts talking to them one day.
A character goes back in time to meet their younger self.
A suburban family moves to the big city.
A big city family is forced to move to the suburbs.
Real-life dragons are released from a deep cavern.
Rock climbers witness a cartel murder and are chased through the mountains.
A skydiver falls onto an invisible alien ship.
An astronaut crashlands on a planet and is taken in by an alien family.
An alcoholic must deal with the demons of their past.
A character is told they have twenty-four hours to right the wrongs they’ve done to others before they die.
A bullied character wills themself to have super strength.
An abused character wills themself to be able to fly.
A racist is forced to live in the body of a minority.
A male figure skater is placed into an Olympic hockey team.
A character attempts to escape an underwater prison.
An escaped convict hides in the suburbs.
A police officer is sent to a prison where he has put away most of the prisoners within.
Conflicts between countries are now decided by epic battles between one soldier versus another.
A character falls in love with their best friend from high school.
A high school jock is forced to live in the body of a nerd he bullies.
A high school nerd is forced to live in the body of the jock who bullies him.
A character tries to emulate the fictional Batman — fighting crime from the shadows.
A character makes a wish to be smart and suddenly wakes up as the smartest and wealthiest businessperson in the world.
A state championship-winning high school football coach is forced to coach a first-of-its-kind female football team.
An unpopular high school kid mistakes strange coincidences for superpowers.
Peter Pan is actually a monster that steals children.
Billy the Kid awakens in the twenty-first century.
Wyatt Earp is brought into the future by future townfolk in need of a sheriff.
International spies must face the world of retirement.
A submarine crew discovers a new world.
A submarine crew falls into the deepest depths of the ocean and is frozen in cryosleep, only to awaken one hundred years later.
Families are tasked with colonizing the moon.
Humans now live on the moon, with what happened to Earth in their ancestors’ time left a mystery.
A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to be threatened by a secret society of government officials and soldiers.
A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to face the bureaucracy of giving it to the public for free.
A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to refuse to share it for millions of dollars for each dosage.
The world’s first cyborg deals with not being entirely human.
The world’s first human clone deals with their supposed lack of humanity.
The world’s first superhero deals with the alienation of their abilities.
A champion race car driver undergoes a worldwide race around the world by land, sea and air.
A young character discovers they have healing powers — but every time they heal someone, they get more and more sick themselves.
A writer discovers that every character they conjure comes to life.
A mother and her teenage son switch bodies.
A father and his teenage daughter switch bodies.
A feuding brother and sister switch bodies.
A wealthy boss and their underling employee switch bodies.
A group of role-playing game players discovers that the rolls of their dice can determine things around them in their world.
The parents are kidnapped by aliens, leaving the kids to save them.
A major city is destroyed by a nuclear attack and the surrounding communities struggle to pick up the pieces.
A young boy with an advanced aging disorder plays Pee Wee football against players a third of his size.
A girl decides to play football on the guys’ team and becomes the star player.
A shamed tennis pro competes in the highly competitive local pickleball tournament.
The world of professional beach volleyball players.
The world of major league eating.
The world of professional cornhole players.
The world of professional badminton players.
A character suffers from a disorder that only allows them to communicate through song.
A soccer player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth soccer.
A football player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth football.
A baseball player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth baseball.
A character finds a job site that can place them in any job in any time period.
A smart and popular high school student finds a legal loophole that allows them to run for president.
Angels are aliens.
Demons are aliens.
God was an alien.
A faith-based story about a wise child that claims to be the son of God.
A faith-based story about a child that can speak to those who have passed away.
A faith-based story about a homeless man that some think is the second coming of Jesus Christ.
George Lucas actually visited a world that inspired Star Wars after his near-death experience in a car crash.
A farmer discovers an alien craft in his fields.
A farmer discovers a strange wooden door in his fields.
A character goes into an MRI and is somehow transported back in time.
An F-35 fighter jet and its pilot are transported to the 1942 bombing of Pearl Harbor.
A character afraid of water decides to overcome their fear by visiting the world’s biggest water park.
A popular comedian decides to run for president as a joke, only to discover that they win.
A young girl who loves the Little House on a Prairie books makes a wish to live during those times, only to discover the realities of those difficult times and environments.
An online shark expert turns out to know nothing about sharks when he’s invited to a Shark Week show. (Read the Script Lab Script Collection: Killer Shark Movies That Audiences Eat Up )
A sitting president wanting to get more votes decides to go to space.
A poor single mother wins the biggest lottery in history.
A character who wins the biggest lottery in history vows to give it all away — only to discover how hard it is to do that.
A bank robber is a modern-day Robin Hood.
A luxury cruise ship is overtaken by present-day pirates.
A luxury cruise ship is overtaken by pirates from the past.
A luxury cruise spaceship is overrun by space pirates.
A family of the future must escape Earth from its tyrannical rule.
A family of settlers in the 1800s face off against alien invaders.
A family of settlers in the 1800s begin to experience UFO phenomenon.
Cowboys from the Wild West face off against alien invaders.
Parents travel to the future to see what their children grow up to be like — and the results are not great.
The boogeyman is real.
Santa Claus is real — but not how most would expect.
A scientist clones his family that died in an accident.
A character wakes up tied to an electric chair.
A character wakes up in a gas chamber.
Frankenstein’s Monster was real.
A historian discovers that Dracula is real.
A contemporary retelling of the Dr. Jekyll vs. Mr. Hyde story.
A historian proves that King Arthur and Excalibur legends were real.
A character wakes up and decides to do the opposite of what they would normally do.
A character decides to sell everything they own to live on a sailboat.
A character decides to quit their successful-yet-unfulfilling job to return to the job they loved in high school.
A stay-at-home dad decides to start an Olympic curling team.
Empty-nesters decide to sell everything and travel the country in an RV.
A high school kid in 1969 decides they are going to hitchhike across the country to attend Woodstock.
A rock star on the verge of superstardom stumbles upon a desert bar inhabited by members of the 27-Club — rock stars like Jim Morrisson, Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.
An aging rocket scientist decides to make his own rocket to take him into space before he dies.
The first baby born in space.
The first family to go on a space journey.
The satellites we see in the sky are actually UFOs/UAPs being covered up by SpaceX and NASA.
People are invited to a haunted mansion where the eccentric owner wants to market it as a Disneyland-like attraction.
A group of young friends go on an amusement park ride only to be catapulted into another world.
The story of the creation of the first roller coaster.
The story of the creation of a waterpark.
A young teen wishes they could fly, only to wake up with angel-like wings.
Kids discover a hidden doorway.
Characters discover a hidden staircase leading to a strange world.
Kids discover that their gaming system can control actual sports games and players.
A high school football team scrimmages a professional NFL team — and beats them.
A college football team scrimmages a professional NFL team — and beats them.
A sandlot baseball team comprised of neighbor kids challenges the high school team.
Old friends reunite over a suburban fire pit.
A high school reunion leads to murder.
An old grudge leads to a character being stalked.
Someone is following a character on their cross-country drive.
Someone picks up a hitchhiker, only to realize that they are a long-dead historical figure.
A character travels back to their old hometown, only to realize that they’ve time-traveled to their childhood era.
A thrill seeker commits a crime to be sent to prison so he can see if he can escape it.
A YouTuber influencer pranks the wrong person.
Dracula immigrated to the United States and is a crime boss.
High school students on an abroad trip find Excalibur.
Robin Hood is the villain of the story.
Sherlock Holmes’s dog as he solves pet-life mysteries.
Dorothy’s granddaughter is kidnapped by the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz.
The story of The Wizard of Oz set on another planet.
A modern-day retelling of Tarzan .
A woman is stranded on an island and must survive.
The contestants of a Survivor -like show learn that the civilized world back home has been destroyed.
It’s revealed that an Olympic swimmer is actually a mermaid or merman.
A father and son or mother and daughter go on a safari to bond.
Parents of a college freshman decide to attend their child’s university to be near them.
A father is tasked with coaching his son’s soccer team even though he’s never played or watched the sport.
A mother is tasked with coaching her son’s football team.
A father is tasked with coaching his daughter’s cheer team.
Parents of spoiled rich kids decide to move their family to a third-world country.
A soldier goes AWOL.
While doing research in the jungles of Vietnam, a team of scientists is visited by a Vietnam War-era soldier.
A poker player needs to earn money to pay off a debt.
A contemporary retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story.
An aging mother with apparent dementia claims to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
The children of two families are abducted by aliens.
An 1800s-era family travels to the frontier to start a new life.
A brother and sister learn that their parents are Russian sleeper agents.
A character discovers that their father is a wanted criminal.
A character suspects that their father is a serial killer.
A writer stalks random people to learn what it is like for serial killers to stalk their victims.
When a character feels like their life has no meaning, they decide to get the high score on every old Galaga arcade machine they can find.
A character discovers an old 1980s arcade.
A character decides to quit their boring day job and open an old 1980s arcade.
A former drug addict decides to find the child she was forced to give up.
A grown-up orphan decides to find their birth parents.
An orphan learns that their parents are aliens from another world.
A stranded astronaut is taken in by an alien race.
The first family to venture to another planet loses their son, only for him to be raised by aliens.
A family struggles to keep up with the Joneses.
Siblings struggle to survive the angst of being the new kids in school.
A character creates a new kind of internet.
A character mourns the death of their parent.
A family decides to move away from the city and buy their own island.
A family is shipwrecked.
An astronaut living on the moon watches Earth be destroyed by an alien invasion.
An astronaut living on the moon watches Earth be destroyed by nuclear war.
A journalist is offered the chance to interview an assassin.
A journalist is offered the chance to interview an alien living among us.
A journalist is offered the chance to go back in time to interview a historical figure of their choice.
A time-traveling assassin struggles to kill a child who would grow up to become Adolph Hitler.
Children discover an old mine shaft and become trapped within it.
Children discover a cave that leads into another world.
Present-day children are grounded from their screens as their parents show them what they did growing up.
The first trip down the Mississippi River.
Present-day adventurers decide to travel the full length of the Mississippi River in a canoe.
A pilot has an encounter with a UFO/UAP.
A local sheriff tries to uncover a conspiracy.
An FBI agent suspects a local sheriff of covering up a murder.
An FBI agent and local sheriff team up to uncover a murder mystery.
A high school student investigates the murder of a local teen.
High school students are transported forward in time to their 30-year high school reunion.
High school students are transported into the bodies of their middle-aged selves.
Young children are transported into the bodies of their high school selves.
A funeral reunites a group of high school friends.
Friends take their terminally ill friend on an adventure.
A character is mistakenly told they are going to die.
A character visits a psychic who tells them they are going to die soon.
A psychic foresees a murder.
A fake psychic sets up clients to make them believe their predictions are coming true.
A man pays a psychic to tell a woman he has a crush on that she’s going to meet someone just like him.
A computer program becomes self-aware.
A videogame character becomes self-aware.
A character’s newly AI-automated house becomes a death trap.
An AI fighter jet defies orders.
The first human-looking military drone.
The first cyborg soldier.
A character’s memories are downloaded into a clone.
A martial artist is invited to fight in an intergalactic tournament.
A soldier is invited to fight in an intergalactic war.
A single soldier represents Earth in a one-on-one match to the death.
A family inherits an old castle with a ghost living in it.
While visiting old castles on vacation, a family is transported back in time.
A passenger on an airliner wakes up to discover they are the only person on the plane.
The first civilian passenger flight to the moon goes awry.
A family decides to sail around the world together.
A character mourning the death of their parent decides to walk across the country.
A character mourning the death of their sibling decides to bike around the country.
A character mourning the death of their spouse decides to travel the world.
Two characters fall in love during a layover at an airport.
A sailor rescues another and they fall in love.
A sailor decides to brave the Bermuda Triangle.
All of the ships and planes that have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle suddenly reappear.
The Bermuda Triangle of space travel.
Cats and Dogs rule the Earth.
A small farming family fights off invaders during World War III.
A small farming family avoids the nearby alien invasion.
A talented Asian-American character struggles to become a country singer in Nashville.
A musical prodigy goes to Julliard as a teenager.
A musical prodigy goes to Julliard as a pre-teen.
A Broadway stage actor portraying a historical figure is visited by their ghost.
A young girl comes of age.
A young boy comes of age.
A young non-binary character comes of age.
A writer has the power to write someone’s death.
A writer has the power to change people’s minds.
A writer has the power to build things in the real world through their writing.
A small-town chef is hired to be the president’s chef after a campaign visit.
A small-town sheriff decides to become an FBI agent.
An FBI agent decides to retire and later becomes a small-town sheriff.
An 18-year-old decides to run for sheriff.
An 18-year-old decides to run for mayor of a small town.
Children in a small town rally to convince the town board into financing a water park.
Teens hide in an amusement park after hours only to see the characters of the rides come to life.
After a terrorist attack, a college-bound student decides to join the military.
A college-bound student decides to join the military after the death of their veteran father.
A group of teens discovers that they are actually clones.
Former prison cellmates are reunited after thirty years.
Two puppy siblings separated at birth decide to find each other.
A police officer who accidentally killed a teenager tries to reconcile with the family.
A high school graduation goes awry when the “graduating” student reveals that they didn’t graduate.
A college-bound student uses his tuition money to party.
A bank robber hides in plain sight in a small town.
A character escapes a mental institution.
A character decides to commit a crime bad enough to go to prison so they can kill the murderer of a loved one.
Two rival coaches make each other’s lives miserable in the off-season.
An unlikely sports athlete becomes the best to ever play the game.
A student that lost a limb in an accident wants to letter in every single high school sport.
Friends recreate their favorite classic movie.
An engineer is tasked with creating Leonardo Da Vinci’s various designs.
Albert Einstein is reincarnated.
Albert Einstein is brought back from the past to solve a dangerous problem.
Alfred Einstein, Albert’s little-known idiot brother, tries to make a name for himself.
Marie S. Curie, the mother of modern physics, rivals Albert Einstein.
Children find a magic carpet in their grandparents’ attic.
A contemporary retelling of the forty thieves as bank robbers the FBI is trying to track down.
Siblings discover that they are the descendants of Adolf Hitler.
A character learns that they are the bastard child of the president.
A character learns that they are the bastard child of a king.
A character learns that they are actually a missing child reported missing thirty years prior.
A character finds buried treasure.
Friends find a bag of money in the woods.
Friends find a wishing tree that grants wishes a little too literally.
Soldiers fighting in World War II realize that they are actually toy soldiers.
A character who lost their spouse in the 9/11 attacks joins the military to hunt down Osama Bin Laden.
A character dreams of an impending terrorist attack and does all they can to prevent it from happening.
A mother deals with empty-nest syndrome.
A father deals with empty-nest syndrome.
A character decides to leave everything behind to live and work at a remote lighthouse.
A man who claims to be a great hunter is anything but.
A character obsessed with cartoons is thrust into their worlds.
A comic collector searches for the ultimate find.
A toy collector searches for the ultimate find.
A character suffers from Sinistrophobia — the fear of objects to your left.
A character does their best to become a criminal mastermind — with lackluster results.
A character becomes a vigilante.
A suburban American town bands together as an invading army approaches.
An alien ship crash lands in the suburbs.
A returning astronaut finds Earth destroyed.
A returning astronaut finds Earth taken over by an alien race.
A returning astronaut is actually an alien doing recon for an invasion.
The real story behind the creation of Coca-Cola.
The real story behind the creation of the hula hoop.
The real story behind the creation of Pong.
A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1980s.
A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1950s.
A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1800s.
Parents try to become influencers on social media — with hilarious results.
Worldwide rule is decided by the Olympic Games.
Characters struggle to survive a destructive meteor shower.
Characters are sucked into their favorite TV shows.
A hunter is transported into the lives of his prey.
A skilled hunter is forced to hunt down and kill a man.
An average Joe is forced to assassinate the president.
An Amish man turns away from his Amish roots and goes to Vegas.
Teens who leave their Amish community face a world of technology, drugs, and sex.
A character decides to dig the deepest hole known to man.
A ghost hunter falls in love with a ghost.
A ghost falls in love with the owner of the house they are haunting.
A ghost struggles to help the family of the house they haunt.
A bowling league gets a little too competitive.
A sand volleyball league gets a little too competitive.
A small-town softball tournament gets a little too competitive.
A bar owner keeps his patrons safe amidst a vampire attack.
A bar owner keeps his patrons safe amidst a zombie attack.
A bar owner serves drinks to ghosts who frequented the bar in the past.
A man is suddenly approached by dozens upon dozens of offspring that were born of his donated sperm.
An old band reunites after thirty years.
Old former iconic band members reunite one last time after fifty years.
A garage band is discovered and thrust into stardom.
The story of a rookie MLB baseball player pitching a no-hitter.
The story of a Little League pitcher pitching a no-hitter.
A lifeguard is suddenly afraid of water.
The world of professional minigolfers.
A young man goes off to college and meets the girl of his dreams.
A young woman goes off to college and meets the guy of her dreams.
An LGBTQIA+ character goes off to college and finds the partner of their dreams.
A young high school freshman comes of age.
A stay-at-home parent deals with empty nest syndrome.
A tubing adventure turns dangerous amidst a storm that causes flooding.
A small plane crashes in the mountains and the passengers must survive and escape.
An earthquake causes havoc in a big city.
An earthquake unleashes beasts from deep within the Earth.
A meteor shower is actually the end of the world — and the government knew it.
A character struggles to deal with the death of their significant other.
A pool hustler is released from prison.
A gambler decides to beat the house against all odds.
A gambler banned from all Vegas casinos decides to beat them all in disguise.
A haunted amusement park.
A haunted theme ride.
A haunted mansion that is now a bed and breakfast.
A ghost travels to various places as an afterlife vacation while haunting wherever they stay.
A haunted spaceship is found by explorers.
Astronauts on their way to Mars come across curious alien lifeforms.
Astronauts on the first mission to Mars come across what looks to be a human-made ship.
Astronauts on the first mission to Mars come across a ship identical to theirs.
A dog travels on a cross-country adventure to find his person who moved off to college.
A near-catatonic man is found wandering the streets in the rain, covered in blood.
A serial killer raises a serial-killing family.
A serial killer tries to quit but can’t.
A portal to a strange alternate universe opens in somebody’s house.
A family that has been underground since Y2K arises to a very different world.
A pilot continually travels to different time periods after flying into a storm.
A character discovers that they can’t die.
A character discovers that when they die, they keep coming back to the day before their previous death.
As a teen goes through puberty they develop superpowers.
An old couple is given a chance to be reborn again so they can find each other and fall in love once more.
Two married couples decide to swap mates.
Swingers from 1970s suburbia are transported to the 2020s suburbia.
People can transport themselves to their favorite movies and TV shows.
People can transport themselves into the stories of their favorite books.
Two brothers are all that is left of the human race.
Two brothers face off against each other in the Super Bowl.
Two sisters face off against each other in the U.S. Open.
A brilliant but nerdy high school student conjures the perfect football scheme to win it all.
Two volleyball players decide to quit college and become professional beach volleyball players.
A shamed tennis pro decides to team up with a suburban mother and wife to win the pickleball championships.
A new sport in created — arena golf.
A competition where the person who stays up the longest wins ten million dollars.
A social experiment gone wrong.
Prisoners escape from a prison for the criminally insane amidst a terrible storm.
A teacher saves a school from a school shooting but suffers from PTSD.
Soldiers fall in love but are separated by war.
The first encounter with an alien race leads to a representative swap so humans and aliens can learn about each other.
A character somehow begins to exchange emails with their past self.
An undelivered letter sent from a soldier to his family is finally delivered a generation later.
NASA receives a message from space.
NASA receives a message from space from a futuristic space crew claiming to be from the 1960s.
NASA receives a message from space from a futuristic space crew claiming to be from the 2060s.
A stargazer begins to communicate with something in the sky with a flashlight.
Two children appear from deep within a mountain cave.
Lost siblings are raised by forest animals.
A youth soccer team competes for the national championship.
A JV football player becomes the star quarterback when two varsity players go down.
A track and field star breaks both legs in a car accident and struggles to return to competition.
A middle school-aged character breaks both legs in an accident but heals in a way that makes them the fastest human being.
A character wishes they could be fast only to see their wish granted by literally only being able to do everything fast.
A character gets a call from a stranger claiming to be locked in a van somewhere.
A 911 operator gets a call from a serial killer threatening to kill again.
A 911 operator gets a call from someone claiming to be a vampire.
A legal loophole allows a child to run for president.
A treasure hunter finds a treasure that causes government agents to hunt them down for it.
A time traveler goes back in time to find out who really killed JFK.
A time traveler goes back in time to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
A time traveler goes back in time to see if Jesus Christ was real.
A time traveler goes back in time for the sole purpose of documenting historical moments on film.
A time traveler goes back in time to bet on games of the past.
NASA decides to use a passing asteroid as a fuel saver to travel to Mars.
A mother must hunt down her serial killing son.
A father must hunt down his serial killing son before he kills again.
Parents deal with the horror of their child being exposed as a serial killer.
A detective goes to extreme measures to get into the mind of a serial killer.
A detective uses new technology to inject their consciousness into the mind of a serial killer.
A parent who is a detective uses their skills to find out who toilet-papered their house.
An inner-city youth runs away to the suburbs to see what life is like in such a safe place.
An inner-city family moves to the suburbs to escape violence only to see it manifested in what they felt would have been a safe place.
A suburban family moves to the city and struggles to adapt.
A family finds a wolf pup and raises it.
A family finds a lost Bigfoot child and raises it as their own.
An alternate universe where humans have colonized the moon.
A future where humans have colonized Mars.
An autistic child struggling to adjust to society begins to display superhuman powers.
An autistic child struggling to adjust to society begins to display gifted musical talents.
A genius child helps their father win at the casino.
A genius child being raised in an abusive home runs away and begins to sit in during college classes.
A youth bowling tournament gets a little out of hand.
A planet from millions of light years away from Earth tries to find a way to venture there.
A lone gunslinger travels across the country searching for their arch-nemesis.
A village of Samurai warriors deals with an alien trying to kill them.
Immortal people walk the Earth unseen.
A news reporter is contacted by someone claiming to be immortal and wanting their story told.
A news reporter is contacted by someone claiming to be from the future.
Authorities arrest a stock market trader for inside trading and are shocked when he claims to be from the future.
The military fights vampires.
The military uses vampires as supersoldiers.
The military uses zombies as a first-wave assault.
An aging martial arts teacher decides to become an MMA fighter to make ends meet.
An inventor creates a new form of fuel.
An inventor creates a new form of energy and is chased by the government that wishes to stop it from going public.
Someone creates a website with outlandish conspiracy theories and the public begins to believe them.
A pizza delivery driver is forced to transport a hitman to his next hit.
The Universal monsters (Dracula, The Wolf Man, etc.) are transported into the real world.
An unhinged Dungeons & Dragons player circa the 1980s believes the game’s world is real.
An escaped convict tries to start a new life in a quiet town.
A lonely housewife falls for an escaped convict she picked up on the highway.
A train is loose and only character can stop it.
An AI program enacts revenge on a user who treated them poorly.
Die Hard in a school.
Die Hard on a cruise ship.
Die Hard in a spaceship.
Die Hard on an island.
A character goes on a run and is taken by someone.
A father enacts revenge on his child’s killer.
A new teacher inspires the school.
A church school student believes their pastor is an angel.
A child discovers that their parent is a fallen angel.
A character dies and comes back to life as their family’s new pet.
A trivia night turns bloody as players are told if they get an answer wrong one of their team members will die.
A heat wave of the century puts lives in danger.
A flood of the century puts lives in danger.
A lonely comic book-loving character decides that they want to become a real-life supervillain — and they fail drastically and hilariously at every turn.
A vampire that is afraid of the dark.
A consciously-aware zombie.
A werewolf that is allergic to fur.
A character terrified of water and desperate for a job applies for a lifeguard position.
A chef loses their taste.
A motivational speaker loses everything and struggles to follow their own device.
A psychic becomes a detective.
A detective enlists the help of a psychic — and they fall in love.
A hypochondriac goes to medical school.
A self-help author is exposed as a fraud.
A character takes a vow of silence.
A character will win a million dollars if they don’t speak for a year.
A character that is a vegetarian and desperate for a job can only find one at a butcher shop.
A comic who was attacked on stage must overcome their newly developed stage fright.
A popular musician who was attacked on stage must overcome their newly developed stage fright.
An atheist is mistaken as a prophet.
A librarian becomes trapped in the story of their favorite book.
A child escapes bullies in an abandoned city library.
A rich child is given a robot companion for their birthday.
An adoption service that allows aliens to adopt human children in need.
Cloaked alien ships have been watching the world for centuries.
A pilot discovers a strange city in the clouds.
A submarine crew discovers a strange city at the bottom of the ocean.
JFK is cloned.
Abraham Lincoln is cloned.
Nazi fanatics attempt to clone Hitler.
A detective in the 1960s discovers who he thinks is Adolf Hitler.
New technology allows people guilty of environmental crimes to be transformed into trees and plants.
A man is transported into the body of a woman.
A meat industry executive is transported into the body of an animal.
A motivational speaker loses all of their motivation.
A heralded divorce counselor is actually on their fifth marriage.
A successful wedding planner struggles to plan their own wedding.
A life coach has a mid-life crisis.
A haunted antique store.
A haunted museum.
Museum historical exhibits are actually portals into the time period they represent.
Someone has the power to use photographs as portals into the captured time period.
Angels and demons walk among us.
Aliens walk among us.
Vampires walk among us.
Hunters stumble upon Bigfoot.
Hunters become the hunted.
Someone is living in the walls of someone else’s house.
A character decides to hitchhike around the world via automobiles, planes and boats.
A teenager steals their parent’s car for a day.
A teenager steals their parent’s boat for a day.
A teenager steals a sailboat to sail around the world.
A city family decides to live on a farm.
Farmies decide to sell their valuable land to go live in the city.
A family discovers a tiny civilization of people that are one-centimeter tall living in their backyard.
A race car driver tries to get back on the track after a dangerous crash.
A race car driver is hired to be a driver for a bank heist.
A race car driver becomes an eSports star.
A zookeeper who hates animals.
A fireman becomes a pyrotechnician.
A fireman becomes a pyromaniac.
A doctor is haunted by the patients who died under their care.
A teacher is caught drunk at school.
An engineer accidentally creates a time machine.
A nurse is killing their patients.
An architect is tasked with building the first moon colony structure.
A lawyer learns that the client they are defending is guilty of murder.
An accountant discovers that their company is working with the mob.
An artist can’t stop painting a particular face.
A writer is pulled into the world of their bestselling novel.
A scientist discovers the cure for cancer and now they’ve lost it.
A police officer struggles to survive after being attacked in the streets.
A dentist becomes a sadistic serial killer.
A psychologist believes their patient is a serial killer.
A social worker goes against protocol and takes in a family in need.
An actor with multiple personality disorder becomes the most heralded actor of their time.
An athlete tries to make a comeback during a mid-life crisis.
A photographer begins to capture ghosts in their pictures.
A journalist stumbles upon a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the White House.
A mermaid washes up on the beach after a hurricane.
An underground city flourishes.
A haunted forest.
A lakehouse family reunion leads to hijinks and bonding.
An ancient buried alien city is found in a desert.
A mysterious cavern is found behind a waterfall.
A carpenter begins to display the biblical powers of Christ.
An ancient temple awakens from within.
Ancient Egyptians begin to come out of the pyramids.
An electrician is electrocuted and develops strange powers.
A plumber working in an old building discovers a civilization of monsters in the sewers below.
A towering palace appears out of nowhere.
A volcano under Yellowstone erupts.
A veterinarian claims to be able to hear the thoughts of animals.
A haunted skyscraper.
A skier falls deep into glacier caverns and struggles to escape.
A mountain climber falls deep into glacier caverns and sees that others decades before him did the same and struggled to survive.
An economist predicts a massive economic collapse — but no one will listen.
A computer programmer escapes into their own virtual world they’ve created.
A pharmacist uncovers a pharmaceutical conspiracy.
A financial advisor is corrupt.
A diver shrinks to the size of a fish and explores the coral reefs of Hawaii.
Ghosts haunt a sunken shipwreck.
A character who doesn’t know they are a ghost — while everyone else does.
A hairstylist and fashion designer mock the fashion industry by creating ridiculous designs only to see them become worldwide trends.
Empty nest parents decide to sell their house and buy a vineyard.
Rocky Mountain Hot Springs suddenly become fountains of youth.
Rocky Mountain Hot Springs can heal all sickness and disease.
A wildlife reserve is actually the home of Bigfoot.
An observatory has the power to transport visitors to other planets.
A haunted movie theater.
A Hollywood makeup artist is hired by the government to help spies assume different identities.
A paramedic is taken hostage by a mortally wounded bank robber on the loose.
A paramedic is taken hostage by an escaped and wounded convict.
A football stadium haunted by NFL legends.
A baseball stadium haunted by baseball legends.
The true story of the first surveyor to lay out plans for the first highway.
A haunted library.
A government translator is the only survivor of a terrorist attack and is taken hostage.
An art gallery’s paintings come to life.
A London bridge is inhabited by trolls.
A haunted lighthouse.
A real estate agent specializes in haunted houses.
A haunted and abandoned ski resort.
An old abandoned ship from the 1700s appears in a harbor after a hurricane.
A geologist discovers a type of rock not of this earth.
An old Civil War-era fort suddenly comes to life with a full brigade of soldiers.
An astronomer discovers a new planet.
A new planet suddenly appears close to Earth.
Earth is suddenly transported to another Solar System.
A historian is approached by government officials to use their time travel machine to investigate historical mysteries.
Tomb robbers are haunted by ghosts.
A geyser erupts, leaving behind strange creatures nobody has ever seen.
A mathematician becomes obsessed with solving a seemingly unsolvable equation.
A used car salesman has to sell one hundred cars over one weekend to save his business.
A fitness trainer is hired by an obese character to get them into shape — and they become fast friends while doing so.
The story of employees spending a summer working at a water park.
A rock climber struggles to climb the mountain their father never could.
A news anchor freezes on live television and loses his job.
The life and career of a saint-like pastor.
A character is tasked with inventorying an old government warehouse full of wooden and unmarked boxes.
A robot factory becomes self-aware.
A haunted abandoned 1980s-era shopping mall.
A day in the life of 1980s-era teenagers hanging out at a shopping mall.
The lives of retail store employees.
Students believe that their school is haunted.
A haunted hospital.
A highway motel is actually a time portal where visitors from all decades and generations visit.
An actor goes back in time to meet the historical figure they are portraying.
A cartoon animator’s creations come to life.
A cartoon animator is whisked away into the world he has animated.
The lives of those who work at a spaceport.
After the civilized world has been destroyed by Nuclear War, survivors discover an old radio station and try to find other survivors through the radio waves.
A character is stuck on a fire tower as a forest fire rages around them.
A cemetery security guard begins to see ghosts.
A cemetery security guard deals with the rising dead.
A claustrophobic character is buried alive.
A marine biologist befriends a real-life mermaid.
A marine biologist befriends an alien hiding in the ocean waters.
A music teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to start a rock band.
A music teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to get his old band back together.
A physical education teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to try out for the Olympics.
A hunter bored with hunting animals decides to start hunting people.
A cop teams with a vampire to take out a mob boss who is actually a werewolf.
A travel blogger is kidnapped.
Siblings who think their parents are boring wake up in the 1980s and see what adventures they had.
A world where everyone prefers to live in virtual reality.
A character realizes that the world they live in is actually a virtual reality world they created 100 years ago.
The world of a cult overtakes society.
A cult leader is actually an alien.
A cult leader is actually a bored character who was dared to create a successful cult.
A pacifist has a twin who is an assassin and must assume their identity.
A parent seeks revenge for the death of their child.
A hero must save the world one last time after already having done it dozens of times before.
Forbidden love between GMs of rival sports teams.
An archeologist searches for Excalibur.
A middle-aged character who has lived with their parents their whole life must live on their own after their parents pass away.
A lowly servant rises up against a dystopian overlord.
A detective trying to solve a single murder case discovers that it links to murders from around the world.
The first international serial killer is discovered.
A father seeks forgiveness from the children he abandoned.
A mother seeks forgiveness from the children she abandoned.
A character seeks forgiveness from the parents they abandoned.
A group of thrill seekers decide to break as many extreme records as possible.
A teacher tasks his students with trying to find a world record they can break.
An empty nest mother stalks her college son.
An empty nest parent uses the internet and social media to find the perfect mate for their kid.
A family decides to be the first family to fly around the world in a hot air balloon rig.
A world where there is no land.
A future where society is forced to live in underground cities after Nuclear War.
A future where society is forced to live in floating skies.
A future where society is forced to live in underwater cities.
Three days in the lives of characters that attended Woodstock.
A father hunts down and kills everyone that had anything to do with his son’s drug addiction.
A drug addict gets clean and travels the country atoning for his past wrongdoings.
A character goes back in time to see who killed their loved one.
A character befriends the person they know who killed their loved one.
A character unknowingly befriends the murderer of their loved one.
The most unlikely pair fall in love only to discover they are related.
A character is tasked with marrying someone before their upcoming birthday or risk losing their inheritance.
A character is tasked with marrying someone before their upcoming birthday or risk having to marry a childhood friend who they signed a contract with before going to college.
A lawyer is tasked with defending a known mass murderer.
A doctor is tasked with saving the life of the person who killed their loved one.
The world succumbs to mass flooding as characters struggle to survive.
A character’s wish to spend one more day with their lost loved one comes true in an unexpected way.
An American high school football star moves to Australia where their new school only has rugby.
A thrill-seeking parachuter travels through a storm and lands in another time.
The Wild West in space.
The true story of Billy the Kid.
A character can build things with their mind.
A character wakes up invisible.
A character can teleport from one place to another.
A shape-shifting serial killer.
A character wakes up with the ability to read people’s minds but can’t stop the new power.
A hiker stumbles upon a civilization of tiny people that capture him.
A world where cities are forced to live under force field domes to protect them from nuclear fallout.
A therapist has the ability to feel others’ true emotions.
A therapist can read their patient’s minds.
A serial killer with the power to manifest everyone’s greatest fears.
A character with the power to start earthquakes.
A character that feels no physical pain.
A character has a seizure and suddenly develops powers that are slowly killing them every time they use them.
A new rock star copes with their newfound stardom.
An actor copes with their newfound stardom.
A movie star goes back to their hometown after the death of their parent.
A movie star goes back to their hometown for their 30-year high school reunion.
A character suffers from amnesia and slowly begins to remember who they are.
A human and an alien fall in love.
A human and alien couple raise a family in the suburbs.
Children discover that their parents are alien imposters.
Children discover that their parents are robots.
Siblings discover that they are actually from another planet.
A soldier deals with losing limbs in battle.
A soldier comes home after the war.
An intergalactic soldier returns home after a decade of fighting in an intergalactic war.
A grandma with a legendary cookbook within her family decides to open a restaurant.
A family fights over grandma’s secret recipe.
When a character wins the lottery their family fights for their share.
When a character wins the lottery they are stalked by people wanting their share.
A character wins the lottery and uses it all to find the cure for cancer.
A group of high school friends have a pool party only to be transported back in time to their grade school selves.
A group of high school students meet up the night before they all head off to different colleges.
A group of old-timers all wish that they could go back to their high school years — and their wish comes true.
A college student wanting to lose his virginity before he turns twenty-one meets his soulmate who has vowed to not have sex until she’s married.
A character meets their perfect match only to discover that their parents have decided to get married.
A wild high school party leads to unexpected and inspiring mixtures of cliques.
High school students in the future go off to college on different planets and spaceships.
Despite universal hate of clowns, a clown troupe decides to open a clown school.
A videogame designer is actually a military recruiter who uses their games to recruit soldiers.
Soldiers are now drone pilots who control drone robot soldiers.
A princess wants to be a warrior.
A warrior wants to be a princess.
Paleontologists discover proof that dragons did exist.
A cowboy visits the big city.
A wizard teleports to present-day New York.
A scientist time travels to the Middle Ages and is treated like a wizard.
A caveman is found preserved in a glacier and comes back to life.
The scary story of a traveling circus in the late 1800s.
Aliens visit the World Fair in the 1960s.
Babe Ruth is transported from the past to the future and manages to still dominate baseball.
Fictional detective characters from 1970s crime shows come to the real world and try to tackle cases as they did in the show.
A fictional action hero becomes self-aware within his movies.
A submarine crew falls asleep and wakes up to realize they’ve been transported to space.
A submarine crew realizes they have traveled back in time and face a fleet of WWII German submarines.
The story of a character and their dog.
A ninja faces off against an Old West gunslinger.
A samurai faces off against a medieval knight.
A character’s mirror image starts to talk to them.
The reflection in our mirrors is a window into a mirror universe.
A probe sent lightyears into space sends back images of a planet identical to Earth.
Astronauts discover an alien probe.
A wife realizes that her husband has been cheating on her for years and goes out on a wild night out with her single friends.
A husband realizes that his wife has been cheating on him for years and goes out on a wild night out with his single friends.
A character with a low IQ undergoes an experimental surgery and becomes a genius overnight.
An egotistical character with a high IQ hits their head and loses all of their smarts.
Back in the 1980s, a snowboarder invades the ski slopes.
A previously famous fitness instructor tries to get back on the fitness scene but is clueless about how out of shape they are now.
A rabbi, priest and monk walk into a bar.
Young friends who find a boat decide to travel down the Mississippi River.
A group of young friends decide to climb a mountain.
A child decides to live exclusively in their backyard tree house.
Young friends decide to make the biggest tree house they’ve ever seen.
A rich character lives life like a child.
A child enters a poker tournament via a loophole in the rules — and wins.
Three brothers reunite after being kept apart for decades.
Three sisters reunite after being kept apart for decades.
Best friends discover that they are actually siblings.
A couple who have just met discover that they are actually siblings.
A middle schooler has a crush on their new teacher.
A puppy brings a family together.
A dog declares war on the new cat adopted by the family.
A dog and cat become best friends.
A puppy raised by cats tries to make friends with other dogs.
Vampires live on the dark side of the moon.
Aliens live on the dark side of the moon.
A superhero loses their powers.
A dying superhero must give their powers to a worthy person.
A mother must deal with her alcoholism while trying to remain the perfect mom.
High schoolers create an underground fight club.
High schoolers become drug dealers to pay off their parents’ debt.
College students become high-stakes poker players to pay off their student loans.
A high schooler offers to protect bullied students — for a price.
A military sniper is recruited to become an international assassin.
A high school student is mistaken as an international assassin.
An IT tech discovers a secret file.
Filmmaking students decide to recreate their favorite movie.
An aging man’s dream to be young again comes true as he ages backward each day.
A character is given the chance to revisit the pivotal moments in their lives.
A character is given the chance to go back to their high school days.
An old website from the 1990s allows characters to email God.
An old website from the 1990s unlocks a sinister being.
A charismatic character proves a point about society by making people believe the world is flat.
Characters travel back to the era of dinosaurs.
A brilliant high school student decides to clone themselves.
Twin characters are mortal enemies.
Twins meet each other and discover that they’ve fallen in love with the same woman.
A man lives two lives after he marries twins that were separated at birth.
A character must decide which twin they want to date.
A successful screenwriter is forced to work a regular job for a living.
A successful athlete is forced to join the workforce.
College students discover that the dean is a Russian sleeper agent.
High school students suspect that their principal is a Russian sleeper agent.
High school students suspect that their teacher is a mobster in the Witness Protection program.
A man travels the world looking to taste the perfect beer.
A dying character wants to find their soul mate before they die.
An angel wants to walk the Earth as a human.
A character is afraid of everything.
A man and his dog switch bodies.
A storm opens a strange portal.
A character has a meal with the devil.
An upstanding citizen decides to rob a bank.
A fraud investigator uses their knowledge to cheat their company out of millions.
An insurance investigator uses their knowledge to cheat a company out of millions.
A professional athlete comes out as gay.
A character deals with the realization that they have done nothing spontaneous in life.
A construction worker falls in love with a demolition worker.
A soldier comes back from war and discovers that their spouse has disappeared.
A soldier comes back from war and discovers that their spouse has another family.
A character mourning the loss of their family decides to build a cabin in the woods.
Friends decide to dig the deepest hole they can in their backyard.
Friends discover buried treasure in their backyard.
High schoolers decide to plan the most epic party of all time.
A smooth-talking character loses their voice.
A deaf person uses their special talent to become a musician.
A town bands around a dying kid’s dream to become a superhero.
A child discovers that their parents are vampires.
A child discovers that their parents are aliens.
A child discovers that they are adopted.
A veteran decides to find his old buddy from Vietnam.
Two war veterans dealing with PTSD fall in love.
A police officer must break the law to save their family.
An average character discovers they have a unique talent.
A Dungeons & Dragons player wants to learn to become a blacksmith to make their own sword.
A character finds a magical sword embedded in a tree.
A small lake town discovers that something strange is in the lake waters.
A character raises a bear as a pet.
A brilliant high schooler discovers a new energy source.
A brilliant child solves the most difficult math problem.
A talented musician struggles to become a star.
A talented writer struggles to be published.
A bow hunter with a compound bow travels back in time.
A child breaks into prison to see their father.
A father breaks out of prison to see his child on their birthday.
A character discovers a strange microchip under their skin.
A character discovers that they are actually an angel that fell to Earth.
A football player strives to be taken seriously by their coach.
A football player strives to get a college scholarship to play football.
A football player strives to get drafted into the NFL.
A character buys an old desk that has special powers.
A character’s split personalities suddenly appear as real people in their house.
A tennis player has an opportunity to make it as a ping pong player in the Olympics.
Teenagers make their own Quija board.
Tarzan on another planet.
Sherlock Holmes in high school.
People’s shadows come to life when they are asleep.
Old reality stars try to make a comeback.
Old child actor stars try to make a comeback.
A pilot mourning the death of his family takes one last flight around the world.
A soccer or rugby coach is hired to coach an American football team.
Two swordsmen meet in the forest, ready to duel.
A character wanders the streets of a deserted Los Angeles.
A young man from the dangerous inner city streets attends open tryouts for the NFL.
A former NFL player goes back to his hometown to coach his high school football team.
A young woman who always wanted to be a princess gets the chance to make that dream come true.
An American discovers that he is the heir to the British throne.
A forty-something man goes back to college and walks onto the football team to realize his football dreams.
What really happened to the Roanoke Colony?
The “real” reason the Terracotta Army was created.
The “real” reason the Great Pyramids were created.
Chornobyl has more secrets than we previously knew.
What happened to the Lost Colony of Japan?
What “really” happened to Flight 19?
A minimalist and a hoarder move in together.
A Vegan Animal Rights Activist moves is forced to move in with a Butcher.
A mercenary is partnered with a pacifist.
A risky and destructive detective is partnered with a pacifist.
A risk assessment analyst is partnered with a risky and destructive detective.
A wilderness survival expert is forced to relax at a luxury resort complex.
A hardworking executive is tasked with leaving their phone behind for an off-the-grid adventure.
Teenagers are forced to go on an off-the-grid adventure in the wilderness.
A health nut is forced to live with a junk food addict.
A tech-savvy teen is tasked with teaching an old person about technology.
A collector of rare books finds a copy of the first Christian bible.
A collector of rare books stumbles upon one that unlocks evil into the world.
An antique collector finds a genie in a bottle.
A genie in a bottle plans a daring escape.
A scientist searching for UFOs and a UFO skeptic partner together.
A failed comedian is forced to work at a funeral parlor.
The life of a stuntperson.
The life of a presidential chef.
A Midwesterner comes to Hawaii for college and learns how to surf.
A famous sharpshooter time travels to the Old West.
An uber-Jimmy Buffet fan struggles to get over the death of their idol.
A bartender decides to move to the Bahamas to open a bar in paradise.
When a former work-from-home dog owner gets an office job, their dog breaks out of the house to find them.
A fantasy football GM is given the chance to run an NFL team and fails miserably.
The first cyborg.
The first female NFL player.
A person’s dreams are actually glimpses into the lives of strangers.
Nightmares are a glimpse into hell.
A little boy goes missing in a small town.
A little girl goes missing in a small town.
A restaurant owner must do something spectacular to stay open.
The training of a real ninja.
A modern-day Samurai lives life off the grid.
A spy discovers their parents were Russian sleeper agents.
A space explorer discovers a planet called Earth.
A werewolf tries their best to live a regular life.
A modern-day witch struggles to follow their beliefs.
A knight and a samurai duel.
A hacker stumbles upon a disturbing secret.
An assassin is tasked with going back in time to kill his younger self.
A bounty hunter chases their most difficult bounty.
A mercenary struggles with following through with their assignment.
An archeologist makes a shocking discovery about humanity.
A gunslinger from the Old West grows old.
A pirate captain defies his crew.
A historian discovers that what they believed was fact is actually fiction.
An inventor creates the ultimate undetectable weapon.
An inventor creates the ultimate new energy source and is chased down by government officials.
A ghost hunter begins to fall in love with the ghost they are chasing.
A cyborg detective.
A shapeshifting serial killer.
An AI becomes self-aware.
An ancient warrior is reawakened.
A time-traveling historian quietly records the truth behind all major historical events.
A VR gamer can’t escape his VR game.
A genetic experiment gone wrong.
A puppeteer’s puppets come to life.
A little person struggles to live in a big world.
The unexpected truth about Area 51.
The unexpected truth about Stonehenge.
What really happened on the Mary Celeste ship found floating and abandoned?
The Mothman legend.
A serial killing clown.
A clumsy superhero.
An inept spy.
The heartfelt story of a local cat lady.
A character addicted to social media.
An old character decides they want to be a social media influencer.
A couch potato witnesses a murder.
A ghost bunter who is scared to death of ghosts but good at hunting them.
A barista falls in love with a customer.
A Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master is thrust into their own campaign.
A compulsive liar struggles to be taken seriously when they witness something outrageous.
A hopeless romantic has the worst luck in love.
A museum of oddities comes to life.
A germophobe struggles during the pandemic.
A soap opera actor gets their big feature break.
A soap opera actor is stalked by a fan.
Santa Claus decides to retire.
An eccentric crossword puzzle solver discovers a secret code within the daily puzzles.
A UFO abducts an annoying human that doesn’t want to leave the ship.
A bartender realizes that their patrons are vampires.
A UPS driver delivers to a haunted property.
A country town bands together to survive a flood.
A character gets a call from their long-missing spouse.
A lowly story prompt content creator sees his prompts come to life on the big screen.

How to Use Story Prompts

What can often get your creativity flowing is reading story prompts — brief and often intriguing or thought-provoking sentences or ideas that serve as a starting point for creative writing, providing a concept, scenario, world, or theme that can be expanded into a full-fledged story.

You can use story prompts as a foundation to develop characters, plotlines, conflicts, and resolutions, ultimately crafting your own unique stories around the initial idea provided by the prompt.

Want to Come Up With Your Own Story Prompts?

The secret sauce of storytelling is learning how to come up with those grand ideas and concepts. It may seem daunting to most. How do you come up with something fresh and new when everything seems to have been done? Creativity is the key.

Give people what they’ve seen before, but a different version of it.
Merge two clever ideas into one.
Introduce a concept into a whole different world and genre.
Subvert expectations from otherwise familiar stories and characters.

Do that and, boom…you’ve just come up with your very own story prompt!

Read More: 50 Gold Screenwriting Quotes to Jump Start Your Creativity

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Introducing Script Studio ®

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For screenwriters, playwrights & novelists.

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Plan your story beat by beat, drag 'n' drop scenes or chapters to re-organize your narrative, and color-code your structure

Easy Script Formatting

Let Script Studio professionally format your script as you type to industry standard so you can focus on the story

Character Development

Create in-depth three-dimensional character profiles, analyze dialogue and develop their story arcs step by step.

Manage Notes & Ideas

Keep track of character ideas, plot points, draft script scenes and research, and build a checklist of story objectives

Movie Reference Library

View scene-by-scene breakdowns and analyses of successful Hollywood movies like Die Hard and compare your story structure with the pros

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Powerful Outlining

Script Studio was developed by a produced screenwriter and its intuitive and unique design helps you break your story down into sequences so you can build your script or novel step by step, chapter by chapter or scene by scene. Planning your story and rewrites in this way gives you an overview of your entire narrative while working on individual scenes. This "sequencing" methodology allows you to maintain your creative flow and encourages a structured approach to your writing.

Organize Your Narrative

Script Studio has powerful structuring tools to color-code your narrative into acts or sequences, and includes templates which many Hollywood blockbusters are based upon such as "The Hero's Journey" and "3 Act Structure". You can customize these to suit your own writing methodology or create your own. Steps, chapters and scenes can be dragged around in your outline list or via virtual "Index Cards" and you can toggle which content to display and which to hide.

Develop Believable Characters

Use Script Studio's powerful character development tools to create in-depth character profiles and unique characters. Choose a headshot from the extensive picture gallery to help you visualize who they are and answer a series of probing interview style questions to further understand your character's backstory and motivation. You can also define relationships, analyze dialogue and develop individual story arcs step by step as you build and hone your narrative.

Industry Standard Script Format

Script Studio automatically handles layout and pagination as you type and via "Tab and Enter" keyboard shortcuts and auto-complete which suggests character names, scene headings and transitions and allows you to focus on your story and characters without inhibiting your creative flow. The software also includes its own custom Courier font to ensure pagination matches across platforms and that your printed screenplay appears more legible to the professional reader.

Gauge Your Story Pacing

A FeelFactor ™ is a story element that evokes an emotional or intellectual response in your audience such as gore, shock, tension, conflict, action, mystery and romance. By setting the level of each FeelFactor for each step or chapter you can gauge the pacing of your narrative via a colorful interactive graph. You can also isolate and display individual FeelFactor graphs and simultaneously compare your own story pacing with movie reference outlines in the same genre.

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75 Drama Writing Prompts To Spice Up Your Script

It's time to tap into the human experience..

Little Children

The drama genre captures the essence of life's trials and triumphs, inviting audiences and readers alike into worlds both vastly different and strikingly similar to their own.

The following drama writing prompts are designed to ignite the imagination of writers.

Check them out below.

75 Drama Writing Prompts

Creating drama writing prompts can be an engaging way to inspire stories filled with conflict, emotion, and character growth. Here are 75 prompts designed to spark your creativity, whether you're writing a play, screenplay, novel, or short story:

A character discovers a hidden letter revealing a family secret.
Two strangers are the only survivors of a plane crash in a remote area.
A young lawyer takes on a case that challenges their moral compass.
A forbidden romance between members of rival families.
An ambitious artist struggles to balance their passion with personal responsibilities.
A whistleblower faces the consequences of exposing corruption in a powerful corporation.
A time traveler tries to prevent a historical tragedy, but falls in love with someone from the past.
A group of friends on a remote camping trip uncover something sinister.
A detective becomes too emotionally involved in a case.
An immigrant's journey to build a new life while facing prejudice.
A soldier returning home struggles with PTSD and reintegrating into society.
A family is torn apart by a will that reveals unexpected conditions and secrets.
A couple's marriage is tested when one of them is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
A community is shaken by a series of mysterious disappearances.
An athlete faces a career-ending injury and must find a new path in life.
A politician's career is threatened by a scandal from their past.
A scientist makes a breakthrough discovery that challenges ethical boundaries.
An undercover agent gets too close to the criminal organization they're infiltrating.
A child prodigy wrestles with expectations and their own desires.
A person gains the ability to hear others' thoughts, uncovering more than they bargained for.
A parent and child reconcile after years of estrangement.
A heist gone wrong forces criminals to confront their own morality.
A celebrity's fall from grace and their journey to redemption.
A young adult must choose between familial duty and personal dreams.
An ancient curse haunts a family generation after generation.
A character faces a moral dilemma after finding a bag of money.
A betrayal among friends leads to a web of lies and revenge.
A natural disaster traps a group of characters, revealing their true selves.
An aging athlete attempts a comeback against all odds.
A character is accused of a crime they didn't commit.
A couple adopting a child faces unexpected challenges.
A rivalry between two chefs in a high-stakes culinary competition.
A survivor of a cult struggles to adjust to normal life.
A character receives a heart transplant and begins to take on the traits of the donor.
An actor's obsession with a role leads to blurred lines between fiction and reality.
A character embarks on a quest to find a lost parent.
A dystopian society where emotions are forbidden.
A small town's dark secrets are uncovered by a new arrival.
A character must navigate the dangerous world of organized crime to protect their family.
A magical realism story where a character can see the future but cannot change it.
A journalist fights to expose the truth in a corrupt society.
A character struggles with addiction and the journey to recovery.
A forbidden love story set in a futuristic society.
A story of survival in a post-apocalyptic world.
A family's generational curse comes to a head with the youngest member.
A character's life changes after swapping bodies with a stranger.
A person tries to rebuild their life after losing everything.
A tale of revenge between two powerful families.
A character discovers they are part of a government experiment.
A love triangle with a supernatural twist.
An artist finds a mysterious painting that holds the key to their past.
A character must choose between love and duty.
A story exploring the complexities of identity and gender.
A group of survivors on a deserted island uncover a mystery.
A ghost seeking to resolve unfinished business in the living world.
A political thriller set in a volatile regime.
A character becomes entangled in the world of espionage.
A forbidden relationship challenges societal norms.
A family is haunted by a tragic event from their past.
A story of redemption for a character who has lost their way.
A rivalry between two magicians becomes dangerously intense.
A journey through a fantastical land to break a curse.
A character must save their sibling from a cult.
A prophecy foretells a great calamity, and characters must prevent it.
A story of friendship tested by a moral dilemma.
An exploration of the impact of technology on human relationships.
A character is forced to confront their past when an old friend reappears.
A rivalry turns into an unexpected partnership to overcome a common enemy.
A person must navigate the complexities of a polyamorous relationship.
A character's ability to manipulate dreams becomes a curse.
A small town detective uncovers a national conspiracy.
A character is reincarnated with memories of their past life, affecting their present.
A historical drama about a revolution that changes the fate of a nation.
A character faces discrimination while trying to reveal their true identity.
A tale of sacrifice, where a character must give up something precious for the greater good.

These prompts can serve as a foundation for stories that explore deep emotional truths, challenge societal norms, and capture the complexities of the human condition.

Feel free to adapt and combine prompts to create unique and compelling narratives.

Now, go get writing before your estranged uncle reveals a tragic secret about your family heritage.

10 Writing Prompts in the Film Noir Genre ›
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101 Riveting Drama Story Prompts - ScreenCraft ›

How ‘Continue’ Director Nadine Crocker Turned Rejection Into Two Lionsgate Features

“i invested my life savings into this movie, like everything we had, and went back to waitressing so that i could keep the lights on.”.

The world of filmmaking is full of challenges, from industry rejection to personal setbacks. Yet, for many independent filmmakers, these obstacles become opportunities for growth and perseverance.

In our latest podcast, we explore how passion, persistence, and determination can turn seemingly insurmountable odds into career-defining moments. Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker or a seasoned professional, the story of how Nadine Crocker made her mark in the industry is sure to inspire.

Nadine is a filmmaker, actor, and mental health advocate. In her latest feature, Continue , she explores her own struggles with depression and suicide. The award-winning drama tells the story of a woman who, after a failed suicide attempt, is taken to a mental institution where she finds unexpected friendships, love, and a new purpose.

Continue was released by Lionsgate during Suicide Awareness Month, garnering critical acclaim for its raw portrayal of mental health struggles. Nadine not only wrote, directed, and produced Continue , but also stars in it, bringing an intensely personal narrative to life.

Listen to our latest pod to hear how Nadine went from years of typecast and rejection to taking control of her career.

In today’s episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins speaks with Nadine Crocker to discuss:

Being dropped by her reps shortly after having her son—and how it led her to make Continue independently.
Breaking free from being typecast and proving herself as a writer, director, and producer.
Balancing waitressing and raising a newborn while working on her first feature film.
Securing financing through personal savings and a small group of supportive investors.
Deciding to stop waiting for permission and create her own opportunities.
How Continue became a movement for mental health awareness through her nonprofit, Continue On.

Continue IMDb

Follow Nadine Crocker on Instagram

Continue the Film on Instagram

Learn more about her nonprofit

Subscribe to the No Film School Podcast on:

Apple Podcasts

Listen to more episodes of the No Film School podcast right here:

This episode of The No Film School Podcast was produced by GG Hawkins .

The 'Longlegs' Ending Explained

Why is red dropping prices on the komodo and komodo-x cinema cameras, filmsupply's annual 30-day editing competition, filmsupply editfest, is officially underway, turn your smartphone into an ai-powered micro-four-thirds camera, sigma announces the powerful 28-105mm f/2.8 dg dn art zoom lens, more generative ai is coming to your adobe workflows with new firefly video model, tips for shooting special effects, behind the scenes of lionsgate’s “greedy people” with editor jamie kirkpatrick, ace, the best fight scenes in movies, types of film lights (and how to use them).

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Creative Writing

The vital presence of creative writing in the English Department is reflected by our many distinguished authors who teach our workshops. We offer courses each term in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, playwriting, and television writing. Our workshops are small, usually no more than twelve students, and offer writers an opportunity to focus intensively on one genre.

Apply to Creative Writing Workshops

Workshops are open by application to Harvard College undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and students from other institutions eligible for cross registration. Submission guidelines for workshops can be found under individual course listings; please do not query instructors. Review all departmental rules and application instructions before applying.

Fall 2024 First Application Deadline: 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, April 7

Fall 2024 Second Application Deadline: 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, August 22 (Not all workshops will be reopen to applications. First-year students, incoming transfer students, and incoming graduate students - who could not participate in April registration processes - will be given priority during the August application review cycle. Returning students who did not submit workshop applications in April may apply in August. Students who applied in April and were not offered a seat in a workshop will automatically be reconsidered and need not submit a new application.) Spring 2025 Application Deadline: October-November 2024, TBA

Please visit our course listings for all the Fall 2024 workshops.

Our online submission manager (link below) will open for Fall 2024 applications on Thursday, August 15 .

Students who have questions about the creative writing workshop application process should contact Case Q. Kerns at [email protected] .

Featured Faculty

Teju Cole is a novelist, critic, and essayist, and is the first Gore Vidal Professor of the Practice. "Among other works, the boundary-crossing author is known for his debut novel “Open City” (2011), whose early admirers included Harvard professor and New Yorker critic James Wood."

Faculty Bookshelf

Once the shore by paul yoon (2009).

See Now Then by Jamaica Kincaid (2013)

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud (2013)

The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dream by Darcy Frey (2004)

The Last Shot City Streets Basketball Dreams

Creative Writing Workshops

Spring 2024

English CACD. The Art of Criticism

Instructor: Maggie Doherty Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site

This course will consider critical writing about art–literary, visual, cinematic, musical, etc.—as an art in its own right. We will read and discuss criticism from a wide variety of publications, paying attention to the ways outlets and audience shape critical work. The majority of our readings will be from the last few years and will include pieces by Joan Acocella, Andrea Long Chu, Jason Farago, and Carina del Valle Schorske. Students will write several short writing assignments (500-1000 words), including a straight review, during the first half of the semester and share them with peers. During the second half of the semester, each student will write and workshop a longer piece of criticism about a work of art or an artist of their choosing. Students will be expected to read and provide detailed feedback on the work of their peers. Students will revise their longer pieces based on workshop feedback and submit them for the final assignment of the class. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Thursday, August 22) Supplemental Application Information: Please write a letter of introduction (1-2 pages) giving a sense of who you are, your writing experience, and your current goals for your writing. Please also describe your relationship to the art forms and/or genres you're interested in engaging in the course. You may also list any writers or publications whose criticism you enjoy reading. Please also include a 3-5-page writing sample of any kind of prose writing. This could be an academic paper or it could be creative fiction or nonfiction.

English CACW. Advanced Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Paul Yoon TBD | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Advanced fiction workshop for students who have already taken a workshop at Harvard or elsewhere. The goal of the class is to continue your journey as a writer. You will be responsible for participating in discussions on the assigned texts, the workshop, engaging with the work of your colleagues, and revising your work. Supplemental Application Information: * Please note: previous creative writing workshop experience required. * Please submit ONLY a cover letter telling me your previous creative writing workshop experience, either at Harvard or elsewhere; then tell me something you are passionate about and something you want to be better at; and, lastly, tell me why of all classes you want to take this one this semester. Again, please no writing samples.

English CBBR. Intermediate Poetry: Workshop

Instructor: Josh Bell Monday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: Barker 018 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site

Initially, students can expect to read, discuss, and imitate the strategies of a wide range of poets writing in English; to investigate and reproduce prescribed forms and poetic structures; and to engage in writing exercises meant to expand the conception of what a poem is and can be. As the course progresses, reading assignments will be tailored on an individual basis, and an increasing amount of time will be spent in discussion of student work. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Thursday, August 22)

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a portfolio including a letter of interest, ten poems, and a list of classes (taken at Harvard or elsewhere) that seem to have bearing on your enterprise.

English CCEP. Ekphrastic Poetry: Workshop

Instructor: Tracy K. Smith Wednesday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: Lamont 401 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site What can a poem achieve when it contemplates or even emulates a work of art in another medium? In this workshop, we'll read and write poems that engage with other art forms--and we'll test out what a foray into another artistic practice allows us to carry back over into the formal methods and behaviors of poetry. With poems by Keats, Rilke, Auden, Hughes, and Brooks, as well as Kevin Young, Evie Shockley, Ama Codjoe and other contemporary voices. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, August 26) Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a writing sample of 5-10 poems and an application letter explaining your interest in this course.

English CCFC. Poetry Workshop: Form & Content

Instructor: Tracy K. Smith Tuesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: Sever 112 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site

In this workshop, we’ll look closely at the craft-based choices poets make, and track the effects they have upon what we as readers are made to think and feel. How can implementing similar strategies better prepare us to engage the questions making up our own poetic material? We’ll also talk about content. What can poetry reveal about the ways our interior selves are shaped by public realities like race, class, sexuality, injustice and more? Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, August 26)

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a writing sample of 5-10 poems and an application letter explaining your interest in this course.

English CCIJ. Intermediate Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Jesse McCarthy Thursday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: Barker 269 Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site This is an intermediate course in the art of writing literary fiction. Previous experience with workshopping writing is encouraged but not required. The emphasis of the course will be learning how to read literature as a writer, with special attention given to the short story, novella, or short novel. We will read these works from the perspective of the writer as craftsperson and of the critic seeking in good faith to understand and describe a new aesthetic experience. We will be concerned foremost with how literary language works, with describing the effects of different kinds of sentences, different uses of genre, tone, and other rhetorical strategies. Together, we will explore our responses to examples of literature from around the world and from all periods, as well as to the writing you will produce and share with the class. As a member of a writing community, you should be prepared to respectfully read and respond to the work of others—both the work of your peers and that of the published writers that we will explore together. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Saturday, August 26) Supplemental Application Information: This course is by application only but there are no prerequisites for this course and previous experience in a writing workshop is not required . In your application please submit a short letter explaining why you are interested in this class. You might tell me a bit about your relationship to literature, your encounter with a specific author, book, or even a scene or character from a story or novel. Please also include a writing sample of 2-5 pages (5 pages max!) of narrative prose fiction.

English CCFS. Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Teju Cole Spring 2024: Tuesday, 6:00-8:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Spring 2025: TBD This reading and writing intensive workshop is for students who want to learn to write literary fiction. The goal of the course would be for each student to produce two polished short stories. Authors on the syllabus will probably include James Joyce, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Diane Williams.

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a cover letter saying what you hope to get out of the workshop. In the cover letter, mention three works of fiction that matter to you and why. In addition, submit a 400–500 word sample of your fiction; the sample can be self-contained or a section of a longer work.

English CLPG. Art of Sportswriting

Instructor: Louisa Thomas Spring 2024: Tuesday, 9:00-11:45am | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Spring 2025: TBD

In newsrooms, the sports section is sometimes referred to as the “toy department” -- frivolous and unserious, unlike the stuff of politics, business, and war. In this course, we will take the toys seriously. After all, for millions of people, sports and other so-called trivial pursuits (video games, chess, children’s games, and so on) are a source of endless fascination. For us, they will be a source of stories about human achievements and frustrations. These stories can involve economic, social, and political issues. They can draw upon history, statistics, psychology, and philosophy. They can be reported or ruminative, formally experimental or straightforward, richly descriptive or tense and spare. They can be fun. Over the course of the semester, students will read and discuss exemplary profiles, essays, articles, and blog posts, while also writing and discussing their own. While much (but not all) of the reading will come from the world of sports, no interest in or knowledge about sports is required; our focus will be on writing for a broad audience. Supplemental Application Information: To apply, please write a letter describing why you want to take the course and what you hope to get out of it. Include a few examples of websites or magazines you like to read, and tell me briefly about one pursuit -- football, chess, basketball, ballet, Othello, crosswords, soccer, whatever -- that interests you and why.

English CALR. Advanced Screenwriting: Workshop

Instructor: Musa Syeed Spring 2024: Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBA Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Spring 2025: TBD

The feature-length script is an opportunity to tell a story on a larger scale, and, therefore, requires additional preparation. In this class, we will move from writing a pitch, to a synopsis, to a treatment/outline, to the first 10 pages, to the first act of a feature screenplay. We will analyze produced scripts and discuss various elements of craft, including research, writing layered dialogue, world-building, creating an engaging cast of characters. As an advanced class, we will also look at ways both mainstream and independent films attempt to subvert genre and structure. Students will end the semester with a first act (20-30 pages) of their feature, an outline, and strategy to complete the full script.

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a 3-5 page writing sample. Screenplays are preferred, but fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and plays are acceptable as well. Also, please write a short note to introduce yourself. Include a couple films/filmmakers that have inspired you, your goals for the class, as well as any themes/subject matter/ideas you might be interested in exploring in your writing for film.

English CNFR. Creative Nonfiction: Workshop

Instructor: Darcy Frey Fall 2024: Wednesday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students. Course Site Spring 2025: TBD

Whether it takes the form of literary journalism, essay, memoir, or environmental writing, creative nonfiction is a powerful genre that allows writers to break free from the constraints commonly associated with nonfiction prose and reach for the breadth of thought and feeling usually accomplished only in fiction: the narration of a vivid story, the probing of a complex character, the argument of an idea, or the evocation of a place. Students will work on several short assignments to hone their mastery of the craft, then write a longer piece that will be workshopped in class and revised at the end of the term. We will take instruction and inspiration from published authors such as Joan Didion, James Baldwin, Ariel Levy, Alexander Chee, and Virginia Woolf. This is a workshop-style class intended for undergraduate and graduate students at all levels of experience. No previous experience in English Department courses is required. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm ET on Thursday, August 22)

Supplemental Application Information: Please write a substantive letter of introduction describing who you are as writer at the moment and where you hope to take your writing; what experience you may have had with creative/literary nonfiction; what excites you about nonfiction in particular; and what you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Additionally, please submit 3-5 pages of creative/literary nonfiction (essay, memoir, narrative journalism, etc, but NOT academic writing) or, if you have not yet written much nonfiction, an equal number of pages of narrative fiction.

English CLAR. Getting the Words Right: The Art of Revision

Instructor: Laura van den Berg TBD | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students A promising draft is of little use to us as writers if we have no idea what to do next, of how to begin again. This course aims to illuminate how revision can be every bit as creative and exhilarating as getting the first draft down—and how time spent re-imagining our early drafts is the ultimate show of faith in our work. We will explore the art of revision—of realizing the promise of that first draft—through reading, craft discussion, exercises, and workshop. Students can expect to leave the semester with two polished short stories (or 40-50 polished novel pages), a keener understanding of their own writing process, and a plan for where to take their work next. Texts will include How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee, Refuse to by Done by Matt Bell, and Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses. It will be helpful to enter into the semester with some pre-existing material that you wish to revise (a short story, several chapters of a novel). Previous experience with workshopping writing is encouraged but not required. Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a brief letter—1-2 pages—that discusses your interest in the course and in writing more broadly. What are you interested in working on and learning more about, at this point in your practice? Please also submit a short—2-3 page—writing sample (the first 2 pages of a short story or novel, for example).

English CACF. Get Real: The Art of Community-Based Film

Instructor: Musa Syeed Wednesday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 student Course Site

“I’ve often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us,” the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami said, “unless it’s inside a frame.” For our communities confronting invisibility and erasure, there’s an urgent need for new frames. In this workshop, we’ll explore a community-engaged approach to documentary and fiction filmmaking, as we seek to see our world more deeply. We’ll begin with screenings, craft exercises, and discussions around authorship and social impact. Then we each will write, develop, and shoot a short film over the rest of the semester, building off of intentional community engagement. Students will end the class with written and recorded materials for a rough cut. Basic equipment and technical training will be provided.

Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Thursday, August 22)

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a brief letter explaining why you're interested to take this class. Please also discuss what participants/communities you might be interested in engaging with for your filmmaking projects. For your writing sample, please submit 3-5 pages of your creative work from any genre (screenwriting, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, etc.)

English CAFR. Advanced Fiction Workshop: Writing this Present Life

Instructor: Claire Messud Thursday, 3:00-5:45 pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site Intended for students with prior fiction-writing and workshop experience, this course will concentrate on structure, execution and revision. Exploring various strands of contemporary and recent literary fiction – writers such as Karl Ove Knausgaard, Rachel Cusk, Chimamanda Adichie, Douglas Stuart, Ocean Vuong, etc – we will consider how fiction works in our present moment, with emphasis on a craft perspective. Each student will present to the class a published fiction that has influenced them. The course is primarily focused on the discussion of original student work, with the aim of improving both writerly skills and critical analysis. Revision is an important component of this class: students will workshop two stories and a revision of one of these. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm ET on Thursday, August 22)

Supplemental Application Information: Please submit 3-5 pages of prose fiction, along with a substantive letter of introduction. I’d like to know why you’re interested in the course; what experience you’ve had writing, both in previous workshops and independently; what your literary goals and ambitions are. Please tell me about some of your favorite narratives – fiction, non-fiction, film, etc: why they move you, and what you learn from them.

English CAKV. Fiction Workshop: Writing from the First-Person Point of View

Instructor: Andrew Krivak Tuesday, 9:00-11:45 1m | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site This course is a workshop intended for students who are interested in writing longer form narratives from the first-person point of view. The “I” at the center of any novel poses a perspective that is all at once imaginatively powerful and narratively problematic, uniquely insightful and necessarily unreliable. We will read from roughly twelve novels written in the first-person, from Marilynne Robinson and W.G. Sebald, to Valeria Luiselli and Teju Cole, and ask questions (among others) of why this form, why this style? And, as a result, what is lost and what is realized in the telling? Primarily, however, students will write. Our goal will be to have a student’s work read and discussed twice in class during the semester. I am hoping to see at least 35-40 pages of a project —at any level of completion—at the end of term. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Thursday, August 22) Supplemental Application Information: Please write a substantive letter telling me why you’re interested in taking this class, what writers (classical and contemporary) you admire and why, and if there’s a book you have read more than once, a movie you have seen more than once, a piece of music you listen to over and over, not because you have to but because you want to. Students of creative nonfiction are also welcome to apply.

English CCSS. Fiction Workshop: The Art of the Short Story

Instructor: Laura van den Berg Tuesday, 12:00-2:45 pm | Location: TBD Enrollment: Limited to 12 students Course Site This course will serve as an introduction to the fundamentals of writing fiction, with an emphasis on the contemporary short story. How can we set about creating “big” worlds in compact spaces? What unique doors can the form of the short story open? The initial weeks will focus on exploratory exercises and the study of published short stories and craft essays. Later, student work will become the primary text as the focus shifts to workshop discussion. Authors on the syllabus will likely include Ted Chiang, Lauren Groff, Carmen Maria Machado, and Octavia Butler. This workshop welcomes writers of all levels of experience. Apply via Submittable (deadline: 11:59pm EDT on Thursday, August 22) Supplemental Application Information: Please submit a letter of introduction. I’d like to know a little about why you are drawn to studying fiction; what you hope to get out of the workshop and what you hope to contribute; and one thing you are passionate about outside writing / school. Please also include a very brief writing sample (2-3 pages). The sample can be in any genre (it does not have to be from a work of fiction).

Write an Honors Creative Thesis

Students may apply to write a senior thesis or senior project in creative writing, although only English concentrators can be considered. Students submit applications in early March of their junior year, including first-term juniors who are out of phase. The creative writing faculty considers the proposal, along with the student's overall performance in creative writing and other English courses, and notifies students about its decision in early mid-late March. Those applications are due, this coming year, on TBA .

Students applying for a creative writing thesis or project must have completed at least one course in creative writing at Harvard before they apply. No student is guaranteed acceptance. It is strongly suggested that students acquaint themselves with the requirements and guidelines well before the thesis application is due. The creative writing director must approve any exceptions to the requirements, which must be made in writing by Monday, February 7, 2022. Since the creative writing thesis and project are part of the English honors program, acceptance to write a creative thesis is conditional upon the student continuing to maintain a 3.40 concentration GPA. If a student’s concentration GPA drops below 3.40 after the spring of the junior year, the student may not be permitted to continue in the honors program.

Joint concentrators may apply to write creative theses, but we suggest students discuss the feasibility of the project well before applications are due. Not all departments are open to joint creative theses.

Students who have questions about the creative writing thesis should contact the program’s Director, Sam Marks .

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Join (probably?) the world's largest writing contest. Flex those creative muscles with weekly writing prompts.

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Overcoming obstacles with writers ink, your character wants something very badly — will they get it.

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Write a story set against the backdrop of a storm.

There’s been an accident — what happens next, your character overhears something that changes their path., write a story with two characters who meet for the first time — and one of them has a secret..

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Write about someone who summons the creative muse through a convoluted ritual or method.

Your protagonist has the perfect day scheduled — but things don’t go according to plan., write from the pov of a character in a story who keeps getting re-written by their second-guessing author., your protagonist discovers that everything they type comes true. what happens next, start your story with someone who wants to give up on their career right before their big break., subscribe to our prompts newsletter.

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Follow a group of strangers touring a city on some kind of vehicle — a bus, a duck tour boat, a party bike… anything that transports passengers!

Write about someone who’s traveling away from their hometown for the first time., write about someone’s journey to retrieve an important object that’s been out of their possession for a long time., set your story in an airport where all flights have been canceled and all the passengers and crew members are stranded., write about someone who’s traveling to a place they’ve never been to meet someone they’ve never met., end your story with someone saying “i do.”, write a story from the pov of a plus-one., start your story with people arriving at a special ceremony., write a story in the form of a speech (or multiple speeches)., center your story around two people who meet at a wedding., win $250 in our short story competition 🏆.

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here.

After you find the perfect story idea

Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions.
Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more.

Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Hugh Grant Reveals He Wrote Himself Into 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy'

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Hello, mummy. It's time to get out your "absolutely enormous pants" as Hugh Grant is returning to one of his most iconic roles, Daniel Cleaver, for the upcoming Bridget Jones sequel, Mad About the Boy , which is set to hit theaters on Valentine’s Day. Known for portraying the charming yet rakish character in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and its sequel, The Edge of Reason (2004), Grant’s portrayal of Cleaver has left an indelible mark on romantic comedies. While he skipped out on Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016), Grant is now set to return to the beloved franchise — though not without some creative input of his own.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair , Grant reflected on how Cleaver was a pivotal character for him, both professionally and personally. Playing the womanizing Daniel Cleaver gave Grant a role that allowed him to move beyond his typecast image of the bumbling, awkward romantic lead. “There are people in my life who have always said, ‘Oh, that’s much more like the real Hugh,’ ” he admitted.

However, Grant wasn’t initially on board for this new installment. When approached about reprising his role for Mad About the Boy , he felt the script left little room for his character. “Really there’s no part for Daniel Cleaver in it at all,” he explained. He wasn’t thrilled about how his character was being written back into the story, leading him to take a more hands-on approach. " They wanted him in it, and in the end, they’d done something I wasn’t crazy about. So, I wrote some scenes, ” Grant revealed, and to his surprise, the filmmakers liked his contributions enough to include them in the final script.

Hugh Grant Believes 'Mad About the Boy' Is "Absolutely" The Best Bridget Jones Story

Grant’s return to the Bridget Jones world , albeit in a smaller role, is one he feels proud of. Despite only doing a week’s worth of work for the film, he expressed excitement about the project, describing it as the best of the Bridget Jones stories. He explained:

“It’s absolutely the best [Bridget Jones book], and I think the movie is very funny and very, very moving. I’m not in a lot, I did a week’s work, that’s it."

Although his role may be limited, he believes the film will leave a significant emotional impact on audiences . “When you see the film, you’ll be very moved,” Grant assured fans. For those who might have thought Cleaver had met a fatal end after his plane crash in Bridget Jones’s Baby , rest assured, he’s alive and back for more chaos.

Mad About the Boy opens on Valentine's Day 2025. Stay tuned at Collider for further updates. You can stream the original Bridget Jones's Diary on Max.

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget, a single woman in her thirties, embarks on a mission to overhaul her life by keeping a diary, where she records her resolutions, romantic entanglements, and professional aspirations. Her love life becomes a rollercoaster as she juggles the attentions of her charming but roguish boss and a seemingly cold but earnest family friend. Amidst comedic blunders and poignant reflections, Bridget’s journey highlights themes of self-discovery and genuine love. The film offers a witty and heartwarming portrayal of personal growth and the complexities of relationships in the contemporary world.

Watch on Max

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21 Principles of Script Writing: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Script Writing

Introduction

Understanding the Art of Script Writing

The Importance of Storytelling

Elements of a Good Script

Character Development

Plot Structure

Setting and Atmosphere

Theme and Message

Principles of Script Writing

Knowing Your Audience

Identifying Target Viewers

Adapting to Genres

Cultural and Societal Considerations

The Screenwriter’s Process

Research and Preparation

Outlining and Storyboarding

Drafting the Script

Rewriting and Polishing

Style and Formatting

Industry Standards

Writing Visuals and Actions

Handling Dialogue

Using Parentheticals

Character and Scene Headings

Building Tension and Conflict

Incorporating Foreshadowing

Crafting Memorable Dialogue

Show, Don’t Tell

Balancing Action and Emotion

Collaboration and Receiving Feedback

Working with Producers and Directors

Joining Writing Teams

The Importance of Feedback

Adapting Scripts for Different Mediums

Film Scripts

Television Scripts

Playwriting

Scriptwriting Software and Tools

Advantages of Specialized Software

Revision Tracking and Collaboration

Popular Scriptwriting Tools

Copyright and Legal Considerations

Protecting Your Work

Understanding Intellectual Property

Collaboration Agreements

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a formal education to become a successful screenwriter?

Should I stick to one genre or explore different ones?

Can I write a script based on real events or people?

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How to Write a Movie Script: Screenplay Format and Examples

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SCENE HEADING

Script format example in StudioBinder Screenplay Writing Software: Scene Heading

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Script formatting example in StudioBinder Sciptwriting Software: Scene Subheading

TRANSITIONS

Screenplay formatting example in StudioBinder Sciptwriting Software: Scene Transition

CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS

Script format example in StudioBinder Scriptwriting Software: Character Introduction

Script format example in StudioBinder Screenwriting Solution: Action Lines

Script format example in StudioBinder Free Screenwriting App: Dialogue Lines

Screenplay format example in StudioBinder Web-Based Scriptwriting Software: Extensions

PARENTHETICAL

Script format example in StudioBinder Free Script Writing Software: Parenthetical

CAMERA SHOTS

Script format example in StudioBinder Online Screenwriting Software: Camera Shot

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