Fast writing starts with smart planning

You might have heard of (and even tried) something like a "speed draft" or "vomit draft" or "messy first draft." The idea behind them being to get through a first draft as quickly as possible, and without overthinking things.

To be clear, you don’t have to write a fast first draft; it's just one strategy.

But as a writing strategy, this method can be effective if you're struggling with some of the common hurdles that keep writers from starting or finishing a screenplay. It's a way to outrun your fear, insecurity, and doubt. Moving fast means you can get the draft done before you run out of steam or enthusiasm.

This approach can also take the pressure off of the first draft, which is really just a starting point anyway. Rewriting is where you make the script great, but you can't start the rewriting process until the first draft is on the page.

Unfortunately, what some writers find is that, if their messy first draft is totally rudderless, they can't turn it into a solid next draft of their screenplay.

No matter how fast you write the first draft, if it's unusable it's not a productive way to spend your time.

So today I want to give you a few ways to set yourself up for success, so the fast first draft can be a useful and effective way to get the ball rolling on your project.

Know what you want to write

Writing a speed draft can feel delightfully devil-may-care, and that's great for your productivity in the moment. But you're more likely to end up with a usable draft if you start the process on a solid foundation.

We sometimes hear stories of writers who turn out screenplays in ridiculously short amounts of time, e.g. Swingers in 10 days, Sex, Lies, and Videotape in 8, Rocky in 3 ½. What makes that possible is almost surely a very clear vision of the story.

Noam Kroll, who wrote a screenplay in 5 days as a personal challenge and experiment, says this: “If I was going to only give myself 5 days to write an entire screenplay, I knew the concept had to be firmly in place before I typed fade in.”

If we’re talking about turning out a solid draft fast, then a necessary first step is to get clear on what the story is.

A good test for how clearly you understand your own concept is simply to explain it in a sentence or two.

Just the act of putting words to an idea can show you what you don't yet know about it. And brevity requires clarity. If you can’t say what your movie is in a sentence or two, you probably aren't quite clear on the target you're aiming for.

So start by just telling us what the movie is. Aim for something even more basic than a logline here.

For example, if I were writing The Silence of the Lambs my quick explanation would be: An FBI trainee works with a brilliant psychopath to catch a mysterious serial killer.

It's just a straightforward description of what the movie is, which is what you're aiming for at this point. If we can get to the simple, essential stuff at the core of your story then we have a clear starting point and also a North Star to keep an eye on while writing the draft.

Next steps to set yourself up for writing success

How much of the plot you want to work out before you start writing is up to you, and every writer's process is their own – no wrong answers here.

But if you'd like to figure out the beats of the story in a bit more detail and give yourself some writing milestones to aim for along the way, here are the steps I've found to be most useful:

1. Identify the foundation elements

This is really just expanding on the description you came up with, articulating the pieces that make up the story’s foundation. It seems basic, but it really helps for your own clarity. And if you find gaps, then you can fill them in here before you move forward.

1. Protagonist – Who is your story about?
2. Goal – What does your protagonist want to accomplish by the end of the movie?
3. Antagonist or Main Conflict – Who or what is standing in the protagonist's way?
4. Stakes – Why does the goal matter? What happens if the protagonist fails?

These form the foundation of your story. The way these elements interact generates the story from beginning to end. If you ever lose sight of these elements, your story has gone off the rails.

2. Match the plot to character arc

In any good story, plot and character development are intertwined. Plot events act on a character and force change. The changing character makes choices that drive plot direction. When plot and character are designed to intertwine effectively, it makes the story feel more meaningful because we can see how those elements are working on each other and creating change.

So, now is a good time to think through how your story will cause your protagonist to transform, if at all.

Does the experience of these plot events show your character that he's worthy of success and love, allowing him to succeed in the end? Does the story show your protagonist that the only way to get ahead is to ruthlessly fight for what she wants? Whatever it is, this is what the story is about, what gives the story resonance and meaning.

Brainstorm the broad strokes of the transformation, thinking about what lesson this experience will teach the protagonist, and how that change will manifest in the protagonist's choices, behavior, and attitude as the story progresses.

3. Plan the Major Plot Points

Planning the Major Plot Points is another way to see how thoroughly you know your story, and a way to develop out your story in a bit more detail. But more than that, the MPPs also help you generate ideas for the scenes that happen in between.

If you know the MPPs, it gives you something to aim for as you're writing. That next Major Plot Point acts as a beacon, so you don't have to stare at the blank page wondering where you're headed next.

And an MPP also helps generate what comes after. A Major Plot Point has consequences. Its effects will play out in the scenes that follow, triggering new events and character reactions.

But you don't have to know all of that in advance, of course.

At this point, just thinking through the Major Plot Points themselves is a relatively quick and easy way to map out more broad strokes of your story.

After all, structure tells the story. Take Little Miss Sunshine as an example. We can see the shape of the story through the major plot points:

• Olive learns she has a chance to compete in the pageant. (Inciting Incident)
• The family reluctantly hits the road on a cross country trip to get her there. (Break into Act 2)
• During the trip, Grandpa dies. It's an emotional blow, as well as a time delay. (Midpoint)
• They're racing to complete the final leg of the trip when brother Dwayne has a personal crisis and refuses to continue. (Low Point)
• But when Olive stands by Dwayne, he returns the favor and allows the family to resume the trip. (Break into Act 3)
• Olive competes but the crowd hates her. Seeing this, the family jumps to her defense and make her feel like a winner, regardless of what anyone else thinks. (Climax)

These moments are the story. Instead of thinking about major plot points as a bunch of structure “rules,” think of these turning points as the story in a nutshell.

Drafting fast doesn’t mean drafting carelessly

Writing a fast draft doesn’t mean skipping the important steps of story development.

Instead, doing a bit of story planning before you dive in means you're much more likely to have a productive and enjoyable experience, and end up with a usable first draft you can continue to build on.

The clearer you are on your story’s foundation, the easier (and faster) it will be to get through your draft.

Until next time,

Naomi

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