Screenwriting for Profit

Chapter 7Screenplay Structure and Components

Three-Act Structure

I first started writing screenplays back in the 1970s, sometimes with a collaborator and sometimes alone, and at first flew by the seat of my pants, intuitively guessing how screenplays should be structured. Working as an actor for many years, prior to producing and directing, made me more aware that the storyline and subject matter were critical to the interest of prospective readers, whether actors, producers, or financiers. For many years, I constantly read scripts and prepared for auditions, trying selfishly at first, to glean the essence of my particular character from the brief character description and additional clues layered into screenplays and teleplays by the respective ...