Plot in 10?

Jerm, I'm not sure what you're asking. The "plot" lasts the whole script -- it's what drives the story. Certainly I'd try to hint at what lies ahead in the first 10 pages. But the plot ends on or very near to the last page.

I'll be interested in any replies that say otherwise. Maybe I've completely lost the plot. Or maybe the plot thickens.

-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

It's not the plot, but the main issues, and the world of the film that you have to establish. Your first ten pages create a tone, and a set of expectations for the audience as to what kind of world they are entering, what kind of people they will be dealing with, and what kinds of conflicts they will be facing.

The most important function of the first ten is to make people want to read/see more of the story.

Jerm said:

Simple enough? How important is it to you to squeeze your plot in within the first 10 pages?

Are there exceptions to the rule?

What if you get your plot in within 12 or 15? Does that give your script no chance?

If the script runs longer does it allow for the plot to be pushed back further into pages?

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As has been noted already (Derek) it is not the plot per se that you should establish in the first ten pages or so, it's what Bob McKee referred to as the story's "inciting incident" or as Linda Seger put it, the "story catalyst." These ideas refer to the event that kicks your story off, starts its ball rolling and gets things underway ... and, informs the audience as to the principal characters, the protag's conflict, and the stakes ... that is, what happens if the protag fails to overcome his obstacle and deal successfully with his conflict.

In effect, you answer the questions, "Where is this story going?" and "What's the beef?" and "What's important here?" and "Why is it important?" and "What do the odds appear to be that our protag can win?"

With that much set, you can proceed to unveil your story as things unfold and your audience will have a framework in which to interpret what you are telling them and make sense of it.

Whether you get this done in the first eight pages or the first twelve or fourteen is of little consequence, but the sooner the better.

I'd suggest "The Writer's Journey," by Christopher Vogler as a good study of the hero story paradigm and its myriad character archetypes. This will clarify things for you and be of great assistance in forming hero type stories, which includes nearly all Hollywood movies.

If it's a spec script, I'd recommend getting all that in the first ten pages. But 'all that' I mean pretty much what good writer guy said. Establish your characters, the goal, the conflict...

If it's not a spec script, you can probably get away with a lot more. But no one's going to read more than the first 10 pages if they don't know what's going on by then.

I wouldn't get too caught up in the page count. The point is to set up your story as quickly as possible. That doesn't mean you have to establish the goal in the first ten pages. The 'goal' won't usually be established until after the inciting incident, or whatever you want to call it.

Various books will give you various page numbers which the authors consider to be the optimum place for the inciting incident. In reality it takes as long as it takes. But that better not be long.

No one is going to trash your script if you haven't set up everything by page 10. They may trash your script if the first ten pages are dull, episodic, give no clue as to your protag or tone and consist mainly of two buddies making smart *** comments to each other.

English Dave said:

They may trash your script if the first ten pages are dull, episodic, give no clue as to your protag or tone and consist mainly of two buddies making smart *** comments to each other.

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Hey, I read that one...














...10,000 times.

Think of it this way. Each page is a minute. How long do you want the audience sitting in a dark room watching a movie they have no clue as to what it's about?


Would you want to be sitting in a movie theater with no idea as to what sort of movie you're watching. After 10 minutes?