Good way to get a story started? Just start writing. Get out paper and pencil, or sit down in front of the computer, and make yourself keep writing for a given period of time. Say 10 or 15 minutes. Don’t worry about whether or not what you’re writing is a “story” or will make for a good movie. You’re just looking for an idea. You might write 99% junk, but there might be one little fragment that could generate into a story. Give yourself an idea. [1] X Research source

In general, it would be hard to adapt a novel into a short film. Try to stay focused on short stories. Check out Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” for a great example of a minimal story with a compelling and exciting plot.

Even if you don’t want to make a documentary, you can still get inspiration from real people and stories all around you. [4] X Expert Source Kendall PayneWriter, Director, & Stand-up Comedian Expert Interview. 3 April 2020.

What scares you? A good creepy dream can be a great way to start a horror short. When you write your script and film your short film, try to capture the same vibe of your creepy dreams. Check out David Lynch’s short series Rabbits for inspiration.

Good examples of a story synopsis might look like: A boy finds a small alien in a field and brings it home. The kindergarteners start painting strange images after school. Bad examples of a story synopsis might look like: A man struggles with depression. A series of mysterious events befall the residents of Pittsburgh.

Make sure your story is filmable. Equipment and sets are at a premium when you’re making a movie on your own and working without studio support and a bunch of money. Again, it’s going to be hard to film a sci-fi opera in your mom’s basement. Try to make sure you’ll be able to get the shots you need to make the movie you want to make. Will you be able to do a swooping crane shot over New York City if you live in Scranton and don’t have any money or a camera? Probably not. Work around it.

A protagonist is the character that we’re rooting for, the one that we empathize with and feel some kind of emotional connection to. The antagonist is the character, situation, or setting that works against the protagonist, creating drama. An antagonist isn’t necessarily a mustache-twirling villain, but can be a tough situation or some other abstraction.

Try to work with what you have. If you know you’re going to have to film at your parents house, it’d be hard to film a sci-fi epic in the backyard and in the basement. Instead, Try to think of a good domestic story that would work well locally. Think of stories that happen in houses, in the town you might live in. Stories that work with their setting work much better.

Conflict doesn’t have to involve a fist fight or a shootout to count as high drama. It needs to involve real conflict between characters and emotional heft. If a boy brings home an alien, what trouble is he likely to encounter? What’s the risk in it for him? What hooks us about watching kindergarteners paint? Find the inner story and the outer story. What we watch is the outer story: a character moves around the world and things happen. What makes it compelling is the inner story. How does this change the character? What does it mean for the character? A good short film, or any kind of story, will have both of these elements happening simultaneously.

Alternatively, it might be fun to force yourself to film a super-long or complicated story as briefly as possible. What would War and Peace look like as a ten minute short? What if all six Star Wars movies happened in 10 minutes with the equipment you’ve got handy? How would you pull it off?

A character is alone, staring into a mirror talking, then commits suicide. Avoid genres which have been overused in short films, such as film noir and the gangster film. Anything involving a hitman. Two characters argue about something, until we discover that it’s really one character with multiple personality disorder The movie starts with an alarm buzzing and the protagonist gets out of bed.

YouTube and Vimeo are great resources for short films, both bad and good. Check out and see whether or not your town has a short film festival–common in some metro areas–to see some submissions in person. Music videos are also a great style of short film that you’re probably already familiar with. Watch closely the way your favorite music videos are put together and study them closely. Check out Spike Jonze, Hype Williams, and Michel Gondry for modern masters of the form.

Film is a visual medium of telling stories so don’t rely purely on dialogue to tell the story. In good stories, the outline should be explicit about the outer story, though the inner story should be implied.

Francis Ford Coppola filmed the sequel to The Outsiders, called Rumble Fish, without having written a script until the day the scene was to be shot. None of the actors had any clue what was going to happen next, giving the film a spontaneous and experimental feel.

Try to show your script to potential collaborators, as well. Actors, producers, potential directors. Show your script to people who can help.

Characters Locations Plots Structure