Screenwriting Ideas are what make up a good script. It is like what fuel does to an automobile. It cannot run without fuel, so is a script without a good running idea behind it. One writer said and I quote “idea is the inspiration and the writing is the perspiration”. It is very difficult to do a screen write without you having an idea of what you really want to write about.
There are many ways you can come p with screenwriting ideas; you can get inspiration from the happenings around you, where you have lived or are still living, your former or present school, your friends and colleagues and your neighbors. Ideas can spring up from the day to day happenings around you. You only need to be conscious of your environment and be alert to pick ideas whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Again, you can get screenwriting ideas from what reading materials like books (e.g. the screenwriter’s bible), magazines and articles online. There are so many ideas available especially on the internet. It is such a large encyclopedia of ideas. You can also attend seminars organized by frontliners in the industry to learn more about how to get your script ideas.
Screenwriting ideas can pope up to any writer at anytime. You just have to be ready to write it down as it comes. Otherwise there are tendencies that you either forget them or ignore them. One thing is that ideas have the tendency to evaporate from your mind when you refused to work on them at the right time. You need to also understand that ideas that are worked upon immediately produces great inspiration for a good script. So, as a screenwriter always be mindful to write down good script ideas you may have from day to day, you can never tell, it may be a big hit by the time you finished working on it.
To safeguard your ideas from getting lost, you can open a file on your computer and give it the title “screenwriting ideas” where you will be saving all your ideas. This will act like a bank for you to withdraw whenever you run out of screenwriting ideas. Though, many times writers tend to be busy writing scripts and so may forget to work on new ideas. There is a way you can combine the two together. Just make sure you balance them so you will not loose out on your current job and your new idea.
It is worthy of note to mention that as a screenwriter you need great ideas to survive in this profession. So, it will be wise to always look out for great ideas that will inspire you to write good script for production. As mentioned above, you can find good books, magazine, articles online and any other source you can gather your screenwriting ideas from. It will help you to develop good concept for your script. Great screenwriters you see today started out writing good ideas on their script because great ideas make good script.