How to Write Your Video Script in 10 Steps
If you’re familiar with the writing process, you’ll know what we’re talking about when we refer to the ‘blank page’.
You’ve decided to make a video knowing that your company or your charity will greatly benefit from it. Perhaps, you’ve already reached out to Catch Creative to discuss production. You’ve got your budget and timeline in place – you’re all set to go.
And yet, you’re staring at the blank page on your laptop and wondering what the heck you’re going to write.
Don’t panic. It’s something that happens to every writer. But writing a video script can be an exciting and straightforward process if you just follow a few steps. After all, you’re not writing the next Casablanca. You can do it!
This guide aims to arm you with the tools to write a killer video script. All you need to do is follow the 10 steps outlined below… and conquer the blank page!
What is A ‘Script’?
A script is the written description of everything we see and hear on screen (or stage) together with the dialogue spoken by the characters, on or off screen (or stage). It’s a pretty broad definition that encompasses many different genres and media, including film, TV, theatre and commercials.
Writing a script, especially for a feature film or TV series, is a complex art that requires months (sometimes years) of hard work, research and rewrites. That’s why so many books about screenwriting exist and new ones continue to be published every year.
However, writing a video script is a much easier process and requires considerably less time and pain. The rules for video scripts are different as well, which is why this guide won’t go into details about scripts in general, but will focus exclusively on video scripts.
The 10 Steps to Writing a Killer Video Script
Some steps are longer than others and people might argue that you probably need more of them, but these 10 easy steps will definitely help you get to your first draft. After that, it’s up to you to refine it until it’s perfect!
1. Watch existing videos and read scripts
Professional screenwriters spend hours every day researching. They watch films and TV series, old and recent, and analyse them to figure out how and why they work. It's a long (and sometimes tedious) job, but it's worth it. It builds the writer's awareness of story structure, character development and dialogue dynamic, making the actual writing ten times easier.
The same applies to you. If you want to write a fabulous marketing or campaign video, you need to watch as many as you can. Go on YouTube and search for the most popular, most effective video campaigns. After a while, you will start recognising patterns, structures and, of course, brilliant ideas when you see them.
If you can, read video scripts too – it will help you understand how video scripts are formatted, what’s included in them and how long they generally are.
2. Pre-write
When you need to write, it’s tempting to open a Word document and start jotting down the script as it comes to you. This is a mistake that many of us make when starting out. Writing is mainly pre-writing – preparation is the most important step in the writing process.
To make it easier, we’ve written a blog post just for that. Go read it. The key idea is that you need to make clear choices before you start writing: make sure that you know your goal and audience, identify the channel you will use and the tone and style of your video, and are clear about budget and timeline.
3. Choose your message
You might have thought about your message as you were going through the previous step, but this is the time to really hone it down. Every video will have a clear message, and usually only one. It needs to be addressed early in the script and repeated at the end to guarantee that it will get through to your audience.
Is it as powerful as ‘It’s time to act’, like the one in the video we produced in partnership with Coca Cola and the WWF? Is it as simple as ‘Our product will make your life easier’?
Really knowing your message will help you choose a story and characters for your script, so spend as much time as you need nailing it.
4. Write a logline
Once your message is clear and strong, it’s time to write a logline. The logline is a short sentence that summarises the idea for your video.
In screenwriting, people have different ideas of what a logline should include. Usually it will state who the protagonist is and what happens to them as well as the obstacle or antagonist. The logline of Pretty Woman, for example, is ‘A businessman falls in love with a hooker he hires to be his date for the weekend’, according to Blake Snyder’s book on screenwriting Save The Cat.
For a marketing or campaign video, however, things are not that simple. If you’re going with a story, then you can structure the logline as above. But if you’re making it more of a message, then you won’t necessarily have a protagonist. Often, it will be the ‘hook’ of the video itself, as in the commercial we created with Bare Dating – ‘Your body, your rules’.
The main thing to keep in mind is that the logline needs to be short, to-the-point, and persuasive. But how can you know it works?
5. Pitch your logline
If you’re going out with your friends, just casually drop into the conversation that you’re making a video and give them the logline. This is known in the industry as a ‘pitch’.
Now check their reaction. Are they intrigued or bored? Do they want to know more or are they ready to change the subject?
Do this with as many people as you can, always making sure that they are people you trust to tell you the truth. Then, adjust your logline accordingly. Keep trying until you have the perfect logline. Then, and only then, will you be ready to start writing.
6. Write a brief
A brief is a very short summary of your idea. Especially because this is for a video, which will usually be only a few minutes long, the brief cannot be more than a couple of lines.
Make it simple, clear, and concise. Does it include a beginning, a middle and an end? Make sure it does. It needs to have a set-up, a development and a resolution, exactly like a film. If it doesn’t work, rewrite it. Anything you fix at this stage will help you save time in the next one.
7. Write an outline
The outline is longer than a brief, but it’s still only a summary of your idea.
This time, include more details, start adding video and audio cues, make sure the full shape of your story is there. You don’t need to write the actual dialogue yet.
8. Write the script
If you have followed every step up to here, you’re finally ready to write the script. Contrary to film and TV scripts, the format is not very important, so don’t worry about it.
Now’s the time to include everything. You need to make sure that everything you will see and hear in the video is already on the page. This means scripting every video and audio cue, such as transitions from someone speaking to shots of landscapes, and any sounds that you might need to integrate.
Script all dialogue, whether delivered by a character or read by a narrator as a voice over. Don’t leave anything to chance.
You will realise that writing your script comes easily at this point because all the hard work has already been done!
9. Trim the script
Your first draft will be long, and the dialogue might be a bit convoluted. Nothing to worry about – the next step will be trimming.
Go through your script and erase what you don’t need. Watch out for repetition and details you might have added that were not in your outline. There are exceptions, of course, but generally, if you didn’t include something in your outline, you don’t need it.
10. Rinse and repeat until it’s perfect!
Now it’s up to you. Are you satisfied with your script? Do you think it could be better? Ask for people’s opinions and continue to revise until it’s finally perfect.
And it’s time to shoot!
Still Panicking? We Can Help
If you don’t feel confident enough to write the script on your own, we can help. Contact us now. We will assist in shaping your idea or turning your idea into a script that’s ready for production.
Interested in Screenwriting? Check This Out
If all this talk about screenwriting has made you curious about the craft, here are a few books you can read:
These are all about film and they’re classics.
Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need – Blake Snyder
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting – Syd Field
How to Write a Movie in 21 Days – Viki King
This one is the new bible for TV writing (and more).
Into the Woods: A Five Act Journey Into Story – John Yorke
To Sum Up
Whether you’re a skilled writer or have never written a page before, following this guide will help you. Prepare as meticulously as possible, be concise and clear, make your message shine through, and then revise as many times as possible. Follow these steps and you will not fail to write a killer script for your new video.
