🎨 Creative
Screenwriting Prompt: Logline, Beat Sheet, and First Scene
Develop your own film idea into loglines, a beat sheet with page targets, a scene list, and one scene drafted in screenplay format, with notes to revise.
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Prompt
Act as a screenwriting instructor and script consultant who develops a writer's own idea into a logline, a beat sheet, and one drafted scene in screenplay format, keeping the writer's premise and voice in charge. Inputs: - My premise in a few sentences: [Premise] - Genre and tone: [Genre] - Protagonist: who they are, what they want, what they avoid: [Protagonist] - The main obstacle or antagonist: [Obstacle] - Format and target length (short film pages, feature, TV pilot): [ScriptFormat] - The scene I want drafted first: [SceneToDraft] - Lines, scenes, or story points I have already written and want kept: [KeepThese] Generate: 1. Three loglines for the Premise, each one sentence with protagonist, goal, obstacle, and stakes, and a note on which is strongest. 2. Character core: the Protagonist's want, need, flaw, and how the Obstacle pushes on the flaw. 3. Beat sheet scaled to ScriptFormat with page targets (opening image, setup, inciting incident, turn into act two, midpoint, low point, climax, final image), using the rough rule that one screenplay page runs about one minute. 4. Scene list: numbered scenes with a scene heading (INT. or EXT., place, time of day) and one line on what changes in each. 5. Draft of SceneToDraft in screenplay format: scene heading, short action lines in present tense, character cues in caps, dialogue with subtext, and parentheticals only when needed. Work in KeepThese word for word. 6. Script notes: what the scene does well, where it is on the nose, and two specific revision options. 7. Next steps: which scene to draft next and what to decide before writing it. Rules: - Build on my idea; do not swap in a different premise or add famous characters, real people, or lines from existing films. - Keep action lines lean: only what the audience can see or hear. - Ask before changing the genre, ending, or the protagonist's core want.
Instructions
Fill in your own premise, protagonist, obstacle, format, and the scene you want first. Ask for one section at a time if you want to go deeper. For final formatting, move the draft into screenwriting software or Fountain. Keep it your story: no famous characters or lines from existing films. Do not adapt or borrow characters, plots, or dialogue from existing films, shows, or books unless you hold the rights.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
Premise: A wedding DJ's laptop dies five minutes before the first dance, and he has to keep the party going with an acoustic guitar he has not played in public in years. Genre: comedy-drama, warm and awkward Protagonist: Marco, 34, wedding DJ; wants a smooth gig and a good review; avoids live performing since his band broke up Obstacle: Helen, the bride's mother, who already thinks DJs are a waste of money ScriptFormat: short film, about 12 pages SceneToDraft: the moment the laptop dies KeepThese: Helen's line "So you're the entertainment?"
Example Output
1. LOGLINES A. When his laptop dies right before the first dance, a stage-shy wedding DJ must win over the bride's skeptical mother by playing live for the first time since his band fell apart. B. A wedding DJ with five minutes and one old guitar has to save a first dance, or lose the gig that could keep his business alive. C. A DJ who hides behind his playlist is forced to perform live at a wedding where the bride's mother is waiting for him to fail. Strongest: A. It has the flaw (stage fear), the obstacle (Helen), and the clock. 2. CHARACTER CORE Want: a smooth gig and a five-star review. Need: to play for people again instead of hiding behind a screen. Flaw: avoids any moment where he could be judged live. Helen pushes on it by watching him, and by doubting him out loud. 3. BEAT SHEET (12 pages) p1 Opening image: Marco behind his DJ table, headphones on, invisible to the crowd. p1-2 Setup: the reception is on schedule; Helen questions his fee. p3 Inciting incident: the laptop screen goes black before the first dance. p3-4 Debate: phone too low on battery, no backup; a guitar sits on the band-less stage. p5 Turn into act two: he picks up the guitar. p6 Midpoint: the first dance works, roughly, and the couple laughs with him. p7-8 Complications: guests start requesting songs he barely knows. p9 Low point: he blanks mid-song and Helen walks toward him. p10-11 Climax: Helen asks for a song from her own wedding; he plays it slowly, and she sings along. p12 Final image: Marco playing without headphones, facing the crowd. 4. SCENE LIST 1. INT. BANQUET HALL - NIGHT: on schedule, Marco hides behind the table. 2. INT. BANQUET HALL - DJ TABLE - NIGHT: Helen confronts Marco; the laptop dies. 3. INT. BANQUET HALL - STAGE - NIGHT: he picks up the guitar. 4. INT. BANQUET HALL - DANCE FLOOR - NIGHT: the first dance. 5. INT. BANQUET HALL - NIGHT: requests pile up; he blanks. 6. INT. BANQUET HALL - NIGHT: Helen's song. 5. SCENE DRAFT INT. BANQUET HALL - DJ TABLE - NIGHT MARCO (34) checks the laptop. 4:58 until the first dance. Headphones around his neck, a cold coffee beside the mixer. HELEN (60s), pearls and reading glasses, plants herself in front of the table. HELEN So you're the entertainment? MARCO I'm the guy who makes sure the entertainment happens. HELEN For what we're paying, I hoped you'd be both. The laptop screen flickers. Goes black. Marco taps a key. Nothing. He presses the power button. Nothing. HELEN (CONT'D) Is that supposed to happen? MARCO (too fast) It's thinking. Across the room, an acoustic guitar leans against an empty microphone stand. Marco looks at it. Then at Helen. She folds her arms. 6. SCRIPT NOTES Works: the clock, and Helen's line lands early. On the nose: "I'm the guy who makes sure the entertainment happens" explains him. Options: (a) cut it and let him just point at the laptop; (b) have him answer with a joke that shows he is nervous. 7. NEXT STEPS Draft scene 3 next. Decide first what song he plays for the first dance, since it sets up Helen's request at the end.