: Re: Short Story first or skip to Screenplay I'm planning to shoot and direct my own short, small budget science fiction movie as a long term project to learn more about movie making. However, I'm

@Berumen699

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(I'm not a screenwriter, but I've studied the process.)

I'm assuming you're talking about writing the script for the short movie, and not for a second feature-length movie.

In general, you don't want to start writing your script until you absolutely know your story. There are a number of ways to get your story down: an outline, a treatment (which is basically an outline in paragraph form), or just in your head. The third is probably the toughest to do because you can't show it to anyone, and you can't store it losslessly.

My suggestion is to first write a pitch, which is a basic statement of your characters, their motivation, and what happens in the story. Tell your pitch to some people to see if it's compelling. If it's working for you, write out an outline so you know exactly what each scene will do. From there, writing the actual script is a snap.

I think it's better to show people completed scripts. It shows you're committed to the project and communicates clearly what you want to shoot.

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