Jani Peippo: A Few Words on Screenwriting

I recently finished the first draft of my first feature length screenplay. A simple little thing with themes of growing up and friendship and such.

I had previously written quite a few short film scripts as well as some 50 page comic book script, but I had no first hand experience in crafting a full lengt film script. Still I felt confident in my ability to write one.

I had read a great deal of screenwriting advice prior to the process and a few things had stuck with me.

1. There are fundamental rules to crafting a story.
2. You should’nt be bound by these rules.

Story is a fickle thing. Always in motion. So while these guiding principels are essential in creating a focused narrative, there is no sense in nailing the story in place with rules just for the sake of using rules.

So what I did is, I used this thing called a snowflake methdod. It’s a method of writing where you start very small and expand the story step by step into a more complex robust narrative. Starting with a few word synopsis and ending with a fully fleshed out script.

This method helped me put in place the foundation of the script using the more common narrative rules and still keep the more spiritual writing aspects in motion.

I feel that the end result was a success. At least considering that it’s my first. And as result I feel more confident in my understanding of the nature of stories.