What is the plot? Here is where you really get a chance to shine as a writer. You may have the most memorable character in cinematic history, but if what he does is dull as dishwater your movie isn’t going to see the light of day.
Someone once said to put your hero up a tree and then throw rocks at him. Make life miserable for your protagonist, set up obstacles, and discover how he overcomes them. The obstacles, the solutions, and how the character grows along the way are the meat and potatoes of the story.
Once you have your plot and your characters it is important to define what screenwriting author William Froug calls the “Dramatic Spine of Action.” Your Dramatic Spine is the drive behind the hero’s actions; it is what pushes him along when, without it, he would give up. Perhaps the bad guy is holding his child hostage and he needs to get her back, no matter what he has to do. Perhaps he is a model cop who’s never broken a law in his life, and he now discovers he will do anything to keep his child safe. Here you have a Dramatic Spine of Action that will influence and drive everything your Cop Hero does, and this spine must be evident, even if subtly, throughout the entire movie.
Use note cards
A common tool in writing a screenplay is the use of note cards of any size. Some recommend using colored note cards to indicate plot points (pivotal scenes that indicate a change of direction in the plot) and other significant moments, while others recommend blank cards so that the lines do not get in the way. It all comes down to experimenting with using them and coming up with your own personal preference. All agree, however, on what they are to be used for.
Each note card is a scene; on the top write your slug line, under that write what characters figure in the scene, and finally write a very brief description of what is happening in a scene. For example, if the scene on paper were to look like this:
INT. MOLLY’S KITCHEN - DAY
The dayglow yellow wallpaper in the kitchen is peeling and flaking, as is Molly’s makeup. The CLICKING of a whisk against glass punctuates each sharp stroke as she beats the breakfast eggs. Dean scratches his head and opens his mouth. After a pause, he closes it and watches her beat eggs.
Then your note card would look something like this:
INT. MOLLY’S KITCHEN - DAY
Molly & Dean
THE MORNING AFTER, MOLLY IS MAD, DEAN IS EMBARASSED
The point of being so terse is that you can tell at a glance what is happening in the scene. Some advise numbering the note cards as well; if you do, make sure you write in pencil, because another reason for using note cards is navigation. Once you have written out all your scenes on cards, you can lay them out on a table or pin them to a wall, and see your entire movie at once. Now you can go back and forth, move cards around, and rearrange your movie in ways that work better.