Arts & Entertainment, Writing

Writing a Script: Process

Lesson time 09:16 min

You have your premise, your characters, and your research. Now it's time to write your script. Shonda talks about her own process for preparing to write a script, including how to create beat sheets and outlines.

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Topics include: Writing a Beat Sheet • Developing an Outline • Themes

Shonda Rhimes

Teaches Writing for Television

In 6+ hours of video lessons, Shonda teaches you her playbook for writing and creating hit television.

Preview

I definitely have an incubation period with everything. Not just every show idea. Every script I'm supposed to write. Every scene I'm supposed to write. I sort of knock it around in my head until I know. There aren't checklists that I go through in my head to say, am I ready to write this story? There aren't rules that I follow that-- you know, very specific rules. Writing doesn't work that way. I think that there are checklists, and there are rules of things to do to keep yourself disciplined. But those didn't have anything to do with actually writing. So for me, I like to let an idea simmer in my head until either I can't take it anymore or I've been given a deadline for something. Deadlines are wonderful for making you get your act together. And then I just start writing. And that is the way of the world. And either you'll hit a point where you can't write about it anymore, meaning it didn't work. Or you find yourself in a great space where you're just flying with it because it's working perfectly. What's funny is, I wrote the pilot script for Scandal in four days and a year, because Judy Smith and I met the year before. And then I basically thought about it for a year. And then I went away and wrote it in four days. Mainly because I didn't have any time, but also because I kept trying to figure out how I was going to approach this story. And I wasn't totally sure the best way in or who-- how or when to come into the story at all. Judy had told me all of these different aspects of her job, and they were all fascinating. And I couldn't decide how much to incorporate, how little to incorporate, what parts to be inspired by. And so I just thought about it for a year. And then, sort of a year later, I was done thinking truly. And I thought, well, I better go write this now. And I went away for four days and wrote it. [MUSIC PLAYING] To me the process of writing a drama goes like this. You have an idea. You turn that into a premise. You do a bunch of research. You've really thought about your characters. You feel sort of ready to start writing. That's the point at which, I think, you write a beat sheet. And a beat sheet is where you decide what all the beats of your story are going to be. You know, Meredith is going to be-- she's going to sleep with Derek and kick him out of her house. She's going to go to work, and she's going to discover that surgery is hard. You know, all the-- they meet Dr. Bailey, and she gives him the rules of the world. Those are your beats. You put all those down on paper as best as you know them, in one or two sentences. Maybe even one or two words. For me, sometimes I just write one word down on a page. A beat sheet really is a precursor to an outline. You write your beat sheet. That beat sheet becomes an outline. The outline becomes your pilot....

About the Instructor

When Shonda Rhimes pitched Grey’s Anatomy she got so nervous she had to start over. Twice. Since then, she has created and produced TV’s biggest hits. In her screenwriting class, Shonda teaches you how to create compelling characters, write a pilot, pitch your idea, and stand out in the writers’ room. You’ll also get original pilot scripts, pitch notes, and series bibles from her shows. Welcome to Shondaland.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Shonda Rhimes

In 6+ hours of video lessons, Shonda teaches you her playbook for writing and creating hit television.

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