The 8-step outline of your screenplay

Before we get into today's enticing subject, a quick update on the Zero Draft Challenge:

​Sign-ups are open! All systems go! I'm a little excited! 😂

I hope you'll join me so we can chat in the Slack group, talk about screenwriting in the live Zoom sessions, and get you moving on your next great screenplay!

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Now, if you you're getting ready to write a screenplay and you're trying to figure out what the heck happens in all of those pages, today we're going to talk about using eight sequences to outline your story in broad strokes.

I find that the eight sequences are a helpful step when you're working out a story. Because it's a bit more granular than the big "beginning, middle, and end" blocks of 3-act structure... but not so zoomed in that you can't move forward because you don't yet know every detail.

Should you use 8 sequences to plan your story?

Not every movie fits this pattern, of course, but when we’re in the process of breaking and creating a story, sequences can be a useful tool.

Thinking in eight sequences gives you a little more guidance in shaping and structuring your story. It can be a helpful step when you're working your way toward a complete outline and writing your screenplay draft.

And using the eight sequences can help ensure there’s a nice progression in your plot, too.

Visualizing the 8 sequences

It’s pretty easy to see how sequences work in the big picture. They break the larger whole into a series of eight smaller steps. In the timeline of your movie, the sequences line up like this:

You'll notice that the key turning points work nicely with sequence structure, as well.

Planning a story in 8 sequences

When you work with sequences to plan a story, you won't start out with too detailed of a description of each sequence. Not yet.

The idea is to work out the broad strokes first, and then get more detailed as you learn more about your story.

When all of the high-level sequence descriptions work together, and you can see the whole story laid out in those broad strokes, then you can add more detail and break each sequence down into individual scenes.

What does an 8-sequence outline look like?

Let's use Toy Story as an example today. Here I've broken down the events of the movie* into eight sequences, and underneath each sequence description I've included a little prompt to apply to your own story:

1. Meet protagonist Woody and the world of the story. Woody is Andy’s favorite toy, and de facto leader of the toys in Andy’s bedroom. It’s Andy’s birthday, and the toys worry that the new toys he receives as gifts will replace them. All seems fine until… one last, surprise gift sends all the kids into an excited frenzy.
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   >> How will you introduce the protagonist and the big, new problem in his life?​
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2. Woody and the toys meet Buzz Lightyear, the new toy. Everyone’s impressed but Woody. Soon Buzz has encroached on Woody’s spot as Andy’s favorite toy.
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   ​>> How will the problem grow and solidify, and/or how does the protagonist come up with a plan to solve it?​
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3. Woody pushes back against Buzz, and accidentally sets off a chain of events that ends with Buzz going out the window. The other toys think it was done on purpose and turn on Woody. Unbeknownst to anyone, Buzz sees Woody leaving with Andy and secretly jumps onto the departing family van.
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   ​>> What does the protagonist do first to try to achieve his goal, and how does that go wrong?​
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4. When the van stops at a gas station, Buzz confronts Woody and the two struggle, falling out of the van, which takes off without them. Woody realizes he can’t return home without Buzz, and convinces Buzz to come with him to Pizza Planet to catch up with the family van. But once there, Buzz and Woody end up inside a claw game, which lands them in bratty neighbor kid Sid’s lethal hands.
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   ​>> What new strategy or next step does the protagonist try to pursue his goal? What new conflict or obstacles appear?​
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5. At Sid’s house, Buzz and Woody witness Sid “operating” on a toy and see his many mutant toy creations. At their first chance, Buzz and Woody escape Sid’s room, make it past his attack dog Scud, but split up before hiding in other rooms of the house. While there, Buzz sees a Buzz Lightyear commercial on TV and realizes Woody was right about him — he’s not a real spaceman, he’s just a toy.
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   ​>> How does the Midpoint create new circumstances, conflict, or obstacles the protagonist must push back on with new actions, in order to pursue his goal?​
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6. Woody tries to rally Buzz so they can escape again, but Buzz is despondent. Woody seeks help from the other toys, but they still don’t trust him. Sid returns, traps Woody, and tapes Buzz to “The Big One” — a rocket for launch the next day. Meanwhile, Andy’s family prepares for moving day tomorrow. That night, while Sid is asleep, Woody finally convinces Buzz that’s he’s the favorite toy — which is better than being a spaceman — and they work together to free Woody. But before they can escape, Sid wakes and takes Buzz away for the launch.
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   ​>> How does the protagonist’s “worst nightmare” situation play out? What does it look like for the protagonist to be the furthest from his goal, or for the antagonist to appear to be winning?​
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7. Woody rallies the mutant toys to help him and they execute an exciting plan to distract Scud, escape Sid’s room, and stop the launch.
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   ​>> What’s the protagonist’s new plan to achieve his goal, or new goal he’s aiming to achieve by the end of the movie?​
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8. Buzz and Woody hear Andy’s family leaving! They race to catch up with the moving truck as Scud gives chase. Woody and Buzz show the other toys they’ve reconciled, and they all work together to finally deliver Woody and Buzz to Andy. Epilogue: Christmas morning, the toys watch new toys being unwrapped, now with excitement rather than fear. Until… Andy receives a puppy.
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   ​>> What “final battle” must the protagonist win in order to achieve his goal? Does he succeed or fail?

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*Full transparency: I actually created this breakdown from the screenplay, which I think is pretty close to the finished film, but just in case you notice discrepancies — that's probably why.

How to plan your 8 sequences

Each sequence is a step in the overall story. So, for each sequence after the story goal has been established, you can think about:

• What the protagonist is doing to pursue his goal.
• What goes wrong, which will affect the protagonist's next actions. (You can also think of this as what the antagonist does to pursue his goal, if that applies to your story.)

In the Toy Story example, Sequence 3 shows Woody making his initial efforts to defend his spot as Andy's favorite toy. That goes wrong when he accidentally sends Buzz out the window, which makes the other toys turn on Woody. Now Woody has to fix the problem he's created or he'll be ostracized from the group.

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As I mentioned before, not every movie fits into this 8-sequence pattern, but when we’re working out the flow of our stories it’s a really good starting point to work from. As you learn more about how your story plays out, you can adjust the framework to best serve your screenplay.

And if you're interested in learning more about 8-sequence structure and using it to plan your story, join me in the Zero Draft Challenge! The prep work lesson you'll receive as soon as you sign up includes a handy cheat sheet that covers the eight sequences and the Major Plot Points, and shows how they work together.

Until next time,

Naomi

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