Do you ever think about telling a story but don’t want to write an entire feature-length screenplay?

You’re already one step ahead because that probably led you to the conclusion that you need to write a short film.

As someone who has taken numerous screenwriting classes, read every single screenwriting book out there, and studied short film structure for years, I can proudly say I have the formula for getting the ideas in my head into a practical script that makes a good story.

I want to make this as simple as possible. After all, that’s what structure is—it’s a loose guideline for how you should shape your story. Other structure or short film advice will tell you what you can bend loosely. I, however, will tell you only the things you absolutely need to make your story work.

Instead of reading Syd Field or the entire Save the Cat book, just read this short article, and you’ll have everything you need to know.

The Formula

Character.

We need to care about the story, so we need to care about the character. There’s a simple way to do this in a short film:

Want.
Your character must have a want. That’s what keeps the story going. Establish what they want right away.

Incident.
Something needs to happen so your character has a new way to go after what they want. At first, we establish their want—now something needs to happen that forces them to try a different way and puts them in a new situation.

Flaw.
While your character is attempting to get what they want, they must also have a flaw, which you can hint at explicitly or subtly.

Raise the stakes.
We don’t have time for a B-story—it’s a short film. We don’t have time for random characters coming in and introducing themselves. However, we do have time to make things worse for the protagonist. So let’s make things worse. Have something happen that makes it look like they won’t achieve what they want.

Realize the flaw.
This is the end of the film. So many people ask me, “Does the story end when the character achieves their goal?” The answer is always no. The story isn’t about your character getting what they want—it’s about them realizing something was wrong and having a new way of thinking.

The want is not the main point of the story. The want is just what keeps the story going—it’s what the character uses as their way of solving a problem.

The main point of the story is the flaw. I’m going to say it again because it’s the most important part. The realization or epiphany in a short film is the character recognizing their flaw and having a new way of thinking—not achieving their goal.

As soon as the character realizes their flaw and decides what their call to action is, you end the film. That’s it. No hanging around.