# Step outline and reverse outline: two screenwriting exercises

> Step-outline a film you love, then reverse-outline your own draft: film choices, deliverables and time boxes from Hampshire, Loyola, USC and UCLA syllabi.

*24 September 2026 · structure, outlining · [ScripTao blog](https://scriptao.com/blog)*

Two outlining exercises turn up again and again in screenwriting courses. In the first, you strip a finished film down to a numbered list of its scenes. In the second, you do the same to your own draft, and find out what it actually does. This post covers both: where they come from, which films to pick, what to hand in, and how to read what you've made.

## One document, pointed in two directions

A step outline is a numbered list of a story's scenes, one short paragraph each, with nothing in it but what happens. Alexander Mackendrick, director of *The Ladykillers* and *Sweet Smell of Success*, who later taught at CalArts, called it "a bare synopsis of the steps of a story" in the notes [collected on The Sticking Place](https://thestickingplace.com/alexander-mackendrick/step-outlines/). In his class it was a tool for taking apart *completed* films, and he added that writers also make one "when drastic reconstruction and revisions have to be made to an early draft."

That second use is what writers now call a reverse outline. The form stays the same and only the target changes: first a film someone else finished, then a draft you finished. Doing the first exercise makes the second one much easier, because you've already learned what a scene entry should contain.

## Where these assignments come from

You won't find one standard version. Several published syllabi follow a similar order, though: study a finished film or script, outline your own story, then keep revising that outline as the draft changes. Here is what a few of them actually set.

| Course | What it asks for | Weight or size |
|---|---|---|
| [Hampshire College, HACU 279 (2018)](https://www.hampshire.edu/sites/default/files/Screenwriting_Summer%202018_Syllabus_27_18.pdf) | "Step Outline: Fargo", due after a 3–5 page analysis of a feature film and before the student's own treatment | Required assignment |
| [Loyola University Chicago, COMM 326 (2017)](https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/soc/pdfs/coursesyllabi/spring2017/COMM_326-20W_B&GHoover.pdf) | A step outline of Act II "mapped on cards then typed: Chinatown step sheet as model"; full story "~24 steps" with the major turns in bold | Full step outline 20% |
| [USC, CTWR 523 (Fall 2024)](https://web.archive.org/web/2025id_/https://web-app.usc.edu/soc/syllabus/20243/19343.pdf) | Week 1: read a script similar to your idea and "Plot out its main external beats (one page)"; later, beat sheets become 4–5 page outlines, then a red-lined revision | Midterm: first 30 pages plus a scene-by-scene outline of the rest |
| [USC, CTWR 421 (Fall 2023)](https://web.archive.org/web/2024id_/https://web-app.usc.edu/soc/syllabus/20233/19203.pdf) | "Skinny beats" first, then an outline; a revised outline has "revisions marked in blue" | Beat sheet 20%, outline 20% |
| [UCLA, FTV 133B sample syllabus](https://summer.ucla.edu/app/uploads/2023/01/2026-FTV133B-Intermediate-TV-Writing_Example-Syllabus.pdf) | Beat sheet for your pilot, then the outline in two 5-page halves | Beat sheet 10%, outline 10%, first draft 20% |
| [UT Dallas, Creating Movie Scripts](https://dox.utdallas.edu/syl37277) | A film analysis, then a step outline workshopped in groups | Film analysis 5%, step outline 10% |

Look at the weights. In the UCLA sample, the beat sheet and outline together count for as much as the first draft, and at USC the outline alone is worth 20%. The weights show how much these courses expect the outline to carry. The [overview of what film schools assign](https://scriptao.com/blog/screenwriting-exercises-film-schools-assign) has more on how these fit into a full course.

## Exercise 1: step-outline a film you love

### Pick a film with one strong spine

Mackendrick's advice is still the most useful: "start with a film that has a single and strong narrative line." He also warns that some of the films students love most are "very difficult to vivisect in this way," because their strengths are tone, performance or texture rather than plot. The step outline only shows plot, so for a first attempt pick a film where the plot does most of the work.

Good first films have one protagonist whose goal fits in a sentence, scenes that cause other scenes, and an ending that follows from earlier choices. Films that syllabi and teachers have actually used include:

- *Fargo* (Joel and Ethan Coen), the step-outline assignment in the Hampshire syllabus.
- *Chinatown*, whose step sheet Loyola hands out as the model.
- Mackendrick's own teaching set: *The Maltese Falcon*, *Shane*, *On the Waterfront*, *3:10 to Yuma* and *The Hustler*, all with his step outlines published on The Sticking Place (the site adds 26 more of its own, *Toy Story* among them).
- *Get Out* (written by Jordan Peele), which is one of the 26 on The Sticking Place and the one we use for the worked example below.

Leave loose ensemble films, mood pieces and non-linear puzzle films for your third or fourth attempt. They're worth outlining, but the lesson they teach is different.

### Watch twice, write once

Mackendrick's method comes in three passes, and it's still the right order:

1. **Watch the whole film without stopping.** Hold off on notes. You're remembering the order of events, not analysing them.
2. **Watch again and pause at every scene change.** Your notes can be very short: who's there, where it is, maybe one line of dialogue.
3. **Write the outline properly from your notes, not from the screen.** This is where you cut anything that isn't a step in the story.

Time box: The Sticking Place says a step outline "shouldn't take longer to write than three times the length of the film". Split the work across two sittings. Keep the viewing and the writing on different days if you can. Your memory will throw out the filler for you.

### What each entry needs

Write every step as a full sentence with a subject, a verb and an object. Mackendrick said he could tell from a student's grammar whether they "got the hang of" cinematic storytelling. "Chris agrees to the session" is a step. "Tension at the house" is a mood, not a step.

Then check the chain. Mackendrick's test is to imagine every new paragraph starting with the unwritten words "So the consequence of this is…". If a step doesn't follow from the one before it, either you've missed a scene or the film is making a jump you should notice. [StudioBinder](https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/script-outline-template-example/) puts the same idea another way: you should never need "and then" between scenes.

For each step, add three short fields in your own words:

- **Goal:** what the scene's main character is trying to do.
- **Conflict:** what gets in the way.
- **Turn:** what's different when the scene ends.

The [scene goal, conflict and turn post](https://scriptao.com/blog/scene-goal-conflict-turn) goes deeper on those three.

At the top, put a short cast list: names, ages if they matter, and how the characters are related. Mackendrick tells of a student's outline of *Bad Day at Black Rock* that left out the fact that the hero is a war veteran with one arm. It's a small detail, but the plot depends on it. Put anything like that in.

### A worked example: the opening of *Get Out*

Here are the first five steps, written from the plot as [Wikipedia summarises it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Out). The goal, conflict and turn are our reading, and yours may differ.

| # | Step | Goal | Conflict | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Black man walking alone at night on a suburban street is followed by a car, subdued and driven away. | Get home safely | An unseen attacker | We know something hunts people here before the hero does |
| 2 | Six months later, Chris travels upstate with his girlfriend Rose to meet her family for the weekend. | Make a good impression | His unease about how her parents will see him | He's committed; he's now a guest in their house |
| 3 | Rose's parents, Dean and Missy, welcome him with awkward conversation. | Get through the first evening | Remarks that are friendly on the surface and wrong underneath | Chris starts watching instead of relaxing |
| 4 | Chris notices strange behaviour from the family's Black staff, Georgina and Walter. | Find an ally | They don't respond the way he expects | His unease now has something concrete behind it |
| 5 | Missy hypnotises Chris, using the sound of a spoon stirring in a teacup; he sinks into "the sunken place," and wakes with no urge to smoke. | Refuse the session | Missy controls the conversation, and then his body | Something has been done to him, and it worked |

Notice what's missing: no camera directions, no adjectives about the house, no theme. And step 1 plants a question that the next four keep pressing on, which is easy to see in an outline and easy to miss while watching.

### What to hand in

- A cast list, half a page at most.
- The numbered steps, each with goal, conflict and turn.
- The act breaks and major turns **in bold**, as Loyola asks for in its final outline.
- A one-page note: where the film turns, and whether each turn comes from a character's choice or from something that happens to them.

How long? Mackendrick says a step outline can be "only three or four pages" or "up to fifty pages" for a complicated plot. Don't aim for a number of steps. Count them afterwards: that count is one of the most useful things you'll learn, because it tells you how many scenes a feature can hold.

## Exercise: Step-outline a film you love

*Beginner · 2–3 hours.* Watch a film twice, then write down every scene as one step in a chain of cause and effect.

**What it trains.** Seeing structure in finished work: how many scenes a feature holds, where the turns fall, and how each scene causes the next.

### The exercise

1. Pick a film with one strong plotline and one clear protagonist: Fargo, Chinatown or one of Mackendrick's films are good first choices.
2. Watch it once without stopping. On the second viewing, pause at every scene change and make short notes.
3. From your notes, write each scene as one action sentence, then its goal, conflict and turn in your own words.
4. Mark the act breaks and major turns, then count your scenes.

### Doing it in ScripTao

1. Start this exercise: it opens an empty Scene outline
2. + Scene for every scene. Type the heading and a one-line summary in your own words
3. Fill Goal / Conflict / Turn and the page estimate
4. Export → Outline (CSV) to hand it in or compare with a classmate's

**You're done when:** An outline with every scene of the film, and none flagged for a missing goal, conflict or turn.

### Read or watch alongside

- Alexander Mackendrick's step outlines and notes on the form, collected on The Sticking Place (from his book On Film-making)
- Go Into The Story's scene-by-scene breakdowns: 102 produced scripts with downloadable PDFs to compare against
- Syd Field, The Screenwriter's Workbook (a required text in a published Loyola screenwriting syllabus)

[Start this exercise](https://scriptao.com/app/exercise/step-outline-a-film) — free, no sign-up. Opens a practice project set up for it.
## Exercise 2: reverse-outline your own draft

### Why it works

When you reread your own script, you read the version in your head, where every scene is doing the job you meant it to do. A reverse outline makes you write down what each scene does on the page. The Loyola syllabus builds this into the weekly routine: "Update step outline to track w/ script," and later, "revise outline so it tracks." The outline follows the draft instead of the other way round. [Script Angel](https://scriptangel.com/outlining-and-your-screenwriting-process/) describes the same use after a "wild and free first draft": ask "does the central story track, does every scene move the story on".

The technique isn't only for screenwriters. [Purdue OWL's handout](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/reverse_outlining.html) teaches it for essays: in one margin write what each paragraph is about, in the other write how it moves the argument forward, and "if you can't complete each step in 5-10 words," fix the paragraph. Replace "paragraph" with "scene" and "argument" with "story" and you have the screenwriting version.

### The scene log

For each scene in your draft, fill one row. This is our format, not a school's: it combines Purdue's two columns, Mackendrick's cause-and-effect test, and the throughline tag that [Quote-Unquote Apps](https://blog.quoteunquoteapps.com/reverse-outlining-your-2nd-draft/) suggests for tracking subplots.

| Field | What to write | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| # and heading | Scene number, INT./EXT., location | Several scenes in a row in the same place |
| Pages | Start and end page | Scenes over three pages |
| Whose scene | The character who wants something here | "Nobody" |
| What happens | One sentence, subject-verb-object | Needing two sentences |
| What changes | Ten words or fewer | "Nothing" or "we learn more about…" |
| Thread | A, B or C story | A thread that disappears for 20 pages |
| Verdict | Keep, cut, merge or move | Cuts you keep putting off |

Fill in "What changes" from the page, not from what you meant. If it stays blank, the scene is probably doing nothing, however good the dialogue is.

### A worked example

Here are six rows from an original short, *The Key Cutter*: a locksmith, Dev, is asked by a teenage girl to copy a key she clearly shouldn't have.

| # | What happens | What changes | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dev opens the shop and cuts keys for regulars. | Nothing; we meet Dev. | Cut, and move the one good line into scene 2 |
| 2 | A girl, Ivy, asks for a copy of a house key and pays in coins. | Dev has a choice to make. | Keep |
| 3 | Dev cuts the key and hesitates before handing it over. | Dev decides to help, but warily. | Keep |
| 4 | Dev tells his wife about the girl over dinner. | Nothing; repeats scene 3. | Cut |
| 5 | A man comes in with the original key, asking who copied it. | The key belongs to someone who is looking for it. | Keep; move earlier? |
| 6 | Dev lies to the man. | Dev has chosen Ivy's side. | Keep; this is the ending |

Six rows, two cuts, one question about order. Scene 4 reads fine but is scene 3 again, which you only notice in a log. Scene 5 asks whether the man should arrive before Dev makes the copy. The log doesn't answer that; it shows you the question is there.

### Time box and deliverable

A short film takes 30 to 60 minutes. For a feature, give each act its own sitting. [Chelsea Abdullah](https://www.chelseaabdullah.com/blog/reverse-outlines), writing about novels, suggests stepping away from a draft "for at least two weeks" before you reverse-outline it, so you read it with fresh eyes. The same applies to scripts.

The deliverable is the log, then half a page answering three questions: which scenes you'll cut or merge, which thread is thin, and where the biggest turn falls compared with where you planned it. Two USC courses above ask for the revised outline with the changes marked in red or blue, so the teacher can see what moved. Do the same for yourself.

### From log to verdict

Once the log is done, write a logline for the draft *as it reads now*, not the one you pitched. The gap between the two is your rewrite. That's also what a professional reader's report is for. Mackendrick, who read "scores" of them as a studio director, said a good one gives "the simplified bones of the plot, and a hint of opportunities for character." The UCLA FTV 133B syllabus schedules a workshop on script coverage in its first week. The [rewriting exercises](https://scriptao.com/blog/rewriting-exercises) take it from there, and if the logline won't come, try the [logline exercise](https://scriptao.com/blog/logline-exercise) first.

## Exercise: Reverse-outline your own draft

*Intermediate · 30–60 minutes.* One line per scene on what it actually does, not what you meant it to do.

**What it trains.** Reading your draft like a stranger. Scenes that change nothing stand out, and so do scenes that do the same job twice.

### The exercise

1. Take a finished draft; this one comes with a four-scene short.
2. For each scene, write in ten words or fewer what changes because of it.
3. Mark any scene where the answer is “nothing”, and any scene that repeats another's job.
4. Write a logline of the draft as it reads now, then strengths, concerns and a verdict.

### Doing it in ScripTao

1. Start this exercise: it opens Coverage on a short script, The Night Bus
2. Write one line per scene under Reverse outline
3. Fill the logline, synopsis, ratings, strengths and concerns
4. Pick pass, consider or recommend. Use it on your own drafts next

**You're done when:** Coverage reads “every scene accounted for”, and a verdict is chosen.

### Read or watch alongside

- Purdue OWL's reverse outlining handout (the 5–10 word test for each paragraph)
- Mackendrick on reader's reports, on The Sticking Place's step-outline page
- Go Into The Story's scene-by-scene breakdowns, to see what a finished script's log looks like

[Start this exercise](https://scriptao.com/app/exercise/reverse-outline) — free, no sign-up. Opens a practice project set up for it.
Both exercises open in ScripTao, which is free, needs no sign-up and keeps your work in your browser.

## Beat sheet, step outline, scene-by-scene, reverse outline

These terms get mixed up, and even [Wikipedia's step outline entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Step_outline) notes that people informally call a step outline a beat sheet. Here's a working distinction:

| Document | Unit | When | Typical length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beat sheet | Major turning points ("skinny beats" at USC) | Before outlining | One or two pages |
| Step outline | Every scene, as a cause-and-effect chain | Before drafting, or to analyse a finished film | 3–4 pages up to 50 (Mackendrick) |
| Scene-by-scene breakdown | Scenes or groups of scenes forming one event | Studying a finished script | A few pages |
| Reverse outline | Every scene of *your* draft, plus what it changes | After a draft, before a rewrite | One row per scene |

For published scene-by-scene breakdowns to compare against yours, [Go Into The Story](https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/go-into-the-story-resource-movie-script-scene-by-scene-breakdowns-35ff77befc9b/) links 102 of them with downloadable PDFs. Its breakdown of [*The Artist*](https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/script-analysis-the-artist-scene-by-scene-breakdown-322f497ebfdc/), written by Michel Hazanavicius, is a good one to read before you start. For TV, the same exercise run on an aired episode is where [TV writing exercises](https://scriptao.com/blog/tv-writing-exercises) begin.

## FAQ

### What is a step outline in screenwriting?

A numbered list of every scene in a story, each summarised in a sentence or short paragraph of pure action: who does what, and what follows from it. It has no dialogue, camera directions or description. Mackendrick called it "the bones of the narrative stripped of flesh and nerve."

### What is the difference between an outline and a reverse outline?

You write an outline before the draft, to plan what the scenes will do. You write a reverse outline after the draft, to record what they actually do. The format can be the same. The honesty is different: in a reverse outline you describe the page, not your intentions.

### How do you do a reverse outline of a screenplay?

Go through the draft scene by scene. For each one, write what happens in one sentence and what changes in ten words or fewer. Tag which storyline it serves, then give it a verdict: keep, cut, merge or move. Any scene where "what changes" comes out as "nothing" is a candidate for cutting.

### How long should a step outline be?

It depends on how dense the plot is. Mackendrick put the range at three or four pages up to fifty. Course outlines are usually shorter: the USC CTWR 523 syllabus asks for 4–5 page outlines, and the UCLA FTV 133B sample splits a pilot outline into two 5-page halves.

### Which film should I step-outline first?

Pick one with a single strong plotline and one clear protagonist, such as *Chinatown* or *Fargo*, both used in published syllabi. Or pick one from Mackendrick's list, so you can compare your outline with his.