How AI is innovating the field of scriptwriting
Scriptwriters use AI tools to make their jobs more productive
A script can make or break a media production, placing great responsibility on scriptwriters to always perform to the best of their abilities. However, factors like juggling several projects, burnout, and writer’s block can often interfere with the creative process. Thankfully, advancements in AI technology allow scriptwriters to employ the use of various tools to make their jobs more productive and pleasant.
- Good scriptwriting is paramount to any media production, including films, TV series, animations, commercials, documentaries, podcasts, theater productions, and even social media content.
- Prior to the AI revolution, scriptwriters would often spend endless hours developing, writing, and perfecting their scripts.
- Fortunately, advanced AI-powered tools like generative AI, writing assistants, and contextual TTS tools are highly valuable for scriptwriters, helping them to streamline their efficiency, enhance their creativity, and free up precious time for better storytelling.
What is scriptwriting?
Scriptwriting is the process of creating written material to be turned into a live performance, audio recording, or video. Much of the content we consume on a daily basis is based on a script, including films, TV series, theater performances, cartoons, animated films, commercials, podcasts, interviews, explainer videos, and even social media content (e.g., YouTube videos, Instagram reels, TikToks, etc.).
Scriptwriting is an intricate process that requires creativity, writing skills, a vivid imagination, and attention to detail. Although it’s a rewarding profession, scriptwriting isn’t always easy, with factors like fatigue, stress, writer’s block, and burnout getting in the way. Moreover, it may be difficult for scriptwriters to juggle several deadlines at once, especially if the material they are crafting is very different in nature.
Fortunately, advancements in artificial intelligence allow professionals and creatives from all industries to streamline their work, increase productivity, and generate better results; scriptwriting is no exception.
In this article, we explore how AI tools are innovating the field of scriptwriting and making writer’s lives easier, one innovative tool and platform at a time. But first, let’s explore the classic scriptwriting process to better understand how AI tools assist writers.
The old-school scriptwriting process
Prior to modern technology, scriptwriters had to rely on their imagination, dictionaries, thesauruses, and the occasional good ideas from their friends. The old-school or traditional scriptwriting process was often tedious, repetitive, and required manual revisions and edits.
Idea generation
Depending on the concept and core idea (usually defined in advance), scriptwriters had to brainstorm to develop plots, characters, and dialogue for the story. A research stage would also be required depending on the type of content (fiction vs. nonfiction) and storyline.
Structure definition
Once the idea generation process was complete, writers would need to develop a plot structure and divide the story into acts, scenes, or episodes, depending on the story's presentation (e.g., film, TV series, animated series, theater production, documentary, etc.). This is usually followed by a more detailed synopsis detailing major events minus any dialogue.
First draft write-up
After completing the structure and synopsis, scriptwriters would proceed to write the first draft in screenplay format. The first draft usually includes the dialogue and action of the storyline, ensuring that these align with the outlined structure.
Draft revisions
Before the digital era, scriptwriters would not only need to write their drafts manually, but they would need to edit them manually as well. The draft revision process usually includes sending it to the producers or directors and receiving feedback, revising the script according to said feedback, and correcting any spelling, grammatical, or structural errors.
Final draft submission
Once the script had been edited according to the feedback and any other technical aspects, scriptwriters usually conducted one more manual proofreading and submitted the final draft to be used.
However, scriptwriters are often required to either remain on set or continue with the project since changes to the storyline and dialogue of any piece of media are a common occurrence in the entertainment industry.
How can AI tools help generate engaging scripts?
That sounds like a lot of work!
Fortunately, scriptwriters no longer have to follow all these steps (or at least complete them by hand) to create engaging, creative, and grammatically correct works. Instead, they can incorporate digital technology to help them with efficiency, accuracy, and idea generation.
With the rise of AI-powered writing tools and platforms, scriptwriters have a much easier time completing projects. From generative AI tools like ChatGPT for structuring to contextual text to speech software for realistic narration, scriptwriters (and content creators in general) are spoiled for choice regarding smart assistants.
Let’s take a look at some of these examples.
Idea generation
Instead of spending hours generating creative and unique ideas for a film, series, video, or performance, scriptwriters can use generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to brainstorm.
Powered by machine learning and natural language processing, generative AI is excellent for crafting engaging and unique ideas, plots, and characters for any kind of media. However, providing these tools with detailed prompts is important, as concepts can often get lost in translation.
Likewise, it’s also essential to double-check the ideas provided by generative AI tools since there is a slight risk of plagiarism (given that these tools analyze a vast amount of data to perfect their responses).
Structure and outline creation
Similar to idea generation, generative AI tools are also handy for creating cohesive structures and script outlines. Gone are the days of meticulous and tedious planning as scriptwriters embrace a new era of instant outline generation.
Although generative AI tools have considerably advanced over the last few years, detailed prompts are essential to achieving the best possible results, as algorithms are still prone to misunderstanding specific ideas. Likewise, it’s essential to refine structures and outlines since directors and producers can tell whether a script has been entirely generated by AI.
Writing and editing assistance
As we covered above, the writing and proofreading process often takes a considerable amount of time and requires many revisions (not to mention a high concentration level to avoid spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and poor structural decisions).
With AI-powered writing assistants like Grammarly, Quillbot, and Hemingway Editor, scriptwriting has become a considerably more manageable and less stressful endeavor. Instead of being on guard throughout the entire process to avoid mistakes, scriptwriters can focus on developing the storyline and dialogue while AI writing assistants take care of the routine and technical aspects.
Text to speech for voiceover generation
When it comes to animated films, series, and even commercials, good voiceovers are essential to bring the script to life and accurately reflect the writers’ creative abilities. However, finding the perfect voice actors or narrators can be a time-consuming and costly process, especially for smaller studios or individual creators.
Thankfully, advanced contextual text to speech and voice generation tools like ElevenLabs are readily available for all content creators. With a vast voice library and helpful features like AI voice cloning and dubbing available at our fingertips, producers and scriptwriters are now entirely in control of the audio they use to bring their characters and scripts to life.
Moreover, ElevenLabs also offers a comprehensive Projects feature that organizes text to speech audio files and cloned voices based on projects. This makes it easier for content creators juggling several projects to compartmentalize their audio files, dive back into their work, and create larger projects, all with the help of AI.
Check it out below.
Final thoughts
It’s safe to say that artificial intelligence has transformed entertainment and writing, allowing scriptwriters and content creators to employ the use of various tools to generate top-tier scripts for award-winning TV shows, theatre productions, commercials, and other forms of media.
From AI-powered writing assistants and generative AI tools to contextual TTS software, scriptwriters can enjoy the creative process without the additional stress of tiring brainstorming sessions, long proofreading, and choosing voice actors to accurately reflect their characters.
FAQs
What do scriptwriters do?
Scriptwriters predominantly create scripts for various media productions, including (but not limited to) films, TV series, animation, documentaries, commercials, theater productions, and social media content.
How were scripts created before the digital age?
Prior to the technology we have today, scriptwriting was a tedious and time-consuming process, consisting of idea generation, structure and outline creation, draft write-ups, and proofreading.
What common challenges do scriptwriters experience?
The most common challenges scriptwriters experience include juggling multiple projects, fatigue/burnout, and writer’s block.
How can AI tools help with the scriptwriting process?
Modern AI tools can assist scriptwriters throughout the creative process, beginning with idea generation and outline creation to drafting and proofreading.
How does contextual text to speech benefit scriptwriters and producers?
Advanced text to speech and voice generation platforms like ElevenLabs can help scriptwriters and producers bring characters to life by generating voices that ideally match the characters’ personalities and attributes.