looking for clues/ good story ideas

[ATP]

I feel my questions to be hopelessly naive, but at the risk of placing my head in the lion's mouth, I will ask nevertheless.

Ignoring the idea of adaptation of someone else's book or play, for which you can readily decide is 'good' or 'not good', then where do people usually derive their script story idea/s from, and how do you tell if it is a really good idea or not?

[dpaterso]

Are you asking about scripts in particular or stories in general?

I can only speak for myself, I think about characters, situations, conflicts, twists, cool scenes, etc. Those scattered bones come together to form a skeleton, I add flesh, hair, detail, makeup... and then the story sits up and shouts "I'm alive!" and demands to be written.

As for knowing whether it's any good... I'm a bad judge of my own writing, since I'm perfectly in tune with it. So I'll post a logline or some script pages to get opinions and advice. If it bombs then I'll rethink. Sometimes I'll write the short story first. Every story's different. Everyone has their own way of doing things. Whatever works for you is the right way.

-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Who am I? I am... I am the Invincible Sword Goddess, armed with the incredible Green Destiny. Be you Li or Southern Crane, lower your head and ask for mercy. I am the desert dragon. I leave no trace. Today I fly over Eu-Mei. Tomorrow... I'll kick over Wudan Mountain!

[whistlelock]

For me it's what I would want to see in a movie.

I tell the type of stories that I would want to see in the theater. Which in the end is all you really can do.

If an idea sounds good to you, if you'd pay money to see that in the theater then odds are several other people will too.

[Jerm]

I spent my entire weekend mulling over my next project and came up with nothing practically. Late last night I finally came up with a idea. Was it in the genre I wanted? NO! So I am a little bummed.

I have a drama and a horror flick that I had previously started and really wanted to work on my horror script. But no matter what, I could not think of anything for a plot.

So I came up with another Family/Kids script idea or characters and a couple scenes anyways. Still hammering out the overall plot. Not what I was wanting to write but I will go with it. I churned out my last script in about 2½ months. My sci-fi script before that was about 2-3 years!

I honestly don't have a method other then just sitting back and trying to figure out what I want to write next. Characters typically come first for me. Then a scene or two. Maybe a subplot then usually last the overall plot.

Another thing I consider is what is hot in the industry right now? What sells, what has potential to sell and what is the hardest sale? I think Comedy and Horror are probably a pretty easy sale just because they are commonly low budget flicks with decent box office returns.

So if you think in those terms maybe it will help. Pick a storyline in the genre that you think will sell. Think of some characters and scenes then try and put a plot together for it.

[Goodwriterguy]

I spent my entire weekend mulling over my next project and came up with nothing practically. Late last night I finally came up with a idea. Was it in the genre I wanted? NO! So I am a little bummed.

I have a drama and a horror flick that I had previously started and really wanted to work on my horror script. But no matter what, I could not think of anything for a plot.

So I came up with another Family/Kids script idea or characters and a couple scenes anyways. Still hammering out the overall plot. Not what I was wanting to write but I will go with it. I churned out my last script in about 2½ months. My sci-fi script before that was about 2-3 years!

I honestly don't have a method other then just sitting back and trying to figure out what I want to write next. Characters typically come first for me. Then a scene or two. Maybe a subplot then usually last the overall plot.

Another thing I consider is what is hot in the industry right now? What sells, what has potential to sell and what is the hardest sale? I think Comedy and Horror are probably a pretty easy sale just because they are commonly low budget flicks with decent box office returns.

So if you think in those terms maybe it will help. Pick a storyline in the genre that you think will sell. Think of some characters and scenes then try and put a plot together for it.
In features, the most important thing of all, though ... is a fresh idea.

And by fresh idea I mean a story that brings something new to the table, something we've not seen. If you think about it for a moment, you'll realize that almost every feature pic you see does indeed represent some fresh idea, or a compelling new twist on an old idea or a tried and true one. Most of these ideas work, some don't.

But if a producer reads your work and his initial reaction is "This is just like [name the picture] ..." you're sunk.

So freshness or uniqueness becomes the key to writing something that might sell.

Another way to look at story crafting is to think premise instead of story first. The way to get to a good premise is to ask the question, "What if?"

What if a soldier got detached from his outfit and lost and what if his brother had recently been KIA'd and our lost soldier became a sole surviving son?

That's the premise for "Saving Private Ryan."

You can deduce the premise from any movie and doing this on a few will aid you in learning about premises.

Basically, a premise is a situation.

Thinking in terms of a premise can be a more efficient way of getting to a story ... because it helps you quickly sift through and eliminate stuff that's already been done. Instead of a unique story, you're now looking for a unique situation. Finding one is the hard part; once found, writing the story is the easy part.

What if there was a small town in New Mexico and this town was named "Comfort" and some terrorists set up on a nearby ranch to prepare an operation to hit the lab at Los Alamos with a dirty bomb?

That's the premise for my script "Too Close for Comfort," a satire.

Seeking a good premise is often referred to as "what iffing," because you keep asking that question over and over and over.

What iffing puts the horse before the cart, so to speak. You're not concerned with characters or scenes or a setting or a plot and all those complexities, you're focused on situations ... and stories occur in situations, they have a context.

In seeking a workable premise, you can orient your thoughts genre-wise too. The first thing that usually comes out of a good premise is a character, often the protagonist but sometimes the antagonist. From there, story crafting can take off with a solid foundation upon which to build.

Any story you create by starting with a character or a plot idea or a setting or an event ... will end up having a premise anyway, all stories do, whether consciously created at the outset or simply come together in the act of story crafting as an unconscious adjunct.

Fresh ideas for movie stories are extremely difficult to conjure up. I've been at this game for 20 years and I've managed to come up with all of ten ideas that were fresh and unique, and I've written them all. But one every two years on average isn't a super high yield. It does reflect what goes on out there, however; not many screenwriters have written by credits on more than ten movies, and many never get more than three or four in a career.

Think premise!

[dpaterso]

I mention this with tongue firmly in cheek... if you're really stuck for an idea, try somewhere like Seventh Sanctum (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-writ.php) which has a variety of fun story, character, theme and plot generators. Who knows, even playing with this kind of thing for fun might kick off an idea that grows.

This is an epic drama. The story is about an arch-druid who can't resist helping people. It takes place in a universe where space travel occurs by magical means. A new kind of magic is evolving in the story.

This is an action adventure with an emphasis on our struggles against ourselves. The story is about a magician, an opportunistic witch-hunter, a shiftless midwife, and a tomb-robber who hates a driven singer. It takes place in a poorhouse. An ancient evil coming back to life is a major part of the story.

This is an escape-from-prison story with an emphasis on jealousy and the need for faith. The story is about an archaeologist who is stalked by an aged police chief. It takes place in Amsterdam. The story begins with the revelation of a dark secret, climaxes with hunting, and ends with a failure.

The story is about an official who is prone to odd statements. It takes place on a shadowy planet. The story ends with the making of a meal. The issues surrounding first-contact with an alien species is a major element of the story.

The story is about a diabolical rogue who is constantly annoyed by a slothful smuggler. It starts aboard a space station orbiting a toxic planet. The side effects of faster-than-light travel play a major role in the story.

<dizzy>

-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
If they ever tell my story let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say, I lived in the time of Achilles.

[xhouseboy]

For a lot of writers that particular journey starts and ends with a question, both related to the story.

What if....?

And -

Could I make that work?

And IMO, if the story's a strong one then it makes for a simpler task of creating fully rounded characters.

[Jerm]

Wow that's awesome! Thanks for the info GoodGuy. I never really approached my stories from the what if.. POV. That's something I will definitely try since my old methods are running dry.

Thanks Dpat for the link to the Seventh Sanctum. Kind of a cool page. Who knows, maybe it will spark something buried deep in that black abyss of mine.

[Goodwriterguy]

For a lot of writers that particular journey starts and ends with a question, both related to the story.

What if....?

And -

Could I make that work?

And IMO, if the story's a strong one then it makes for a simpler task of creating fully rounded characters.
Indeed!

Writer's who find difficulty in writing a logline, for example, often discover their problem lies in their premise, as much as it may lie in their story.

An elegant premise gives rise to a good story, a good story is easy to logline, well, aside from the wordsmithing efforts required of it.

Notice how I got my title right out of the premise with "Too Close for Comfort," and it's a classic line that's so dead on it's scary, or gorgeous, whichever.

"What if? and "Can I make this work?" sorta go hand-in-hand. Ya can't have one without the other. Both questions must be asked, as you note.

Keep on! :)

[golfaddict68]

I'm new to this forum! Just wanted to let you know where I get my ideas. I usually look for some concept around me that I find funny or topical or something that I have a very strong emotional reaction to and then bounce that concept around for a few days and more times than not, an idea or premise for a compelling narrative will form.

I also have been inspired by my dreams. I'm a very lucid dreamer and remember them often. Sometimes I'll wake up with chills having been very moved by some event in a dream, then I'll go write in my notes for screenplays ideas. I'll come back to it and see if it stinks or has longevity as an idea in the days following the dream.

there it is! my first post!

[scripter1]

What interests you?
What is going on in the world that you would like to make a statement on?
There are many current events that could inspire a story.

What movies would you like to rewrite?
What happens if you take The Dirty Dozen and put them in space against a giant meteor? Well, you get Armageddon.
So, what would happen if you took the dirty dozen idea and said "Well, lets make them .... housewives, or carnival workers, or circus people, or prominant citizens running from thier pasts, or any thing you can come up.

Or you can work off your own fears.
What's the most terrifying thing for you? If you are afraid of snakes and flying then you would come up with something like Snakes on a Plane. SO, you take your fears and amp them up several notches.
Say you are afraid of lightening and er, golf. What could happen if a guy/gal were forced to play golf with the boss and this huge storm came up?

Hey, I'm not saying any of these would be good, it's just brainstorming.
Once you get something you think you can work with and ideas start firing then you jot down some notes, maybe an outline of ways the story could go. Talk it up with your friends, see how they respond. If they look at you like you're the dumbest thing in the world then maybe the idea ain't so good. If they liven up, start tossing out ideas, say they would like to see it, then it's worth going for.

I knew an idea of mine would fly when it just happened to come up in conversation with the painters working on my house. I told em some of the scenes and they said "Wow. I'd see that."

[ctheokas]

Ultimately, no matter the genre, no matter the length, it has to have a very solid basic story. It has to boil down to a few simple words. For example, Romeo & Juliete boils down to Love Transcends Death. Othello could be Jealousy Destroys. If you can't boil your story down to a very basic idea, a very basic target, then you won't be able to wrangle the elements together. For a (relatively) more recent example, in the film Akira, the story is basically "friendship transcends rivalry".

Basically, strip all the cosmetic elements of the story away, cut away all the flesh, and see what you are trying to say with the story.

I got this from "The Art of Dramatic Writing." It's about writing plays, but it can certainly speak volumes about film writing as well.

[Goodwriterguy]

I got this from "The Art of Dramatic Writing." It's about writing plays, but it can certainly speak volumes about film writing as well.
I assume you mean the book by Lajos Egri?

If you do, it is a book that's highly recommended to screenwriters and often used in screenwriting courses of study. Hardly a screenwriter I know doesn't have Egri and hasn't studied what he has to say, including myself. Remember, it's screenPLAY. ;)