This is an introduction to the essential elements of screenwriting, from finding an idea to creating a finished screenplay. The text includes methodology, how to apply creative vision, a focus on the project itself, and considers the work prior to deciding the format, as well as the market. It uses contemporary film and television examples from the UK, Europe and across the world. The overall framework breaks from the dominant concerns of act structure, as well as the debate on the merits of story-driven or character-driven narratives. This is replaced by a six-part framework, comprising story, theme, plot, dramatic structures, narrative and style. This approach uses a wide range of examples from world cinema, including mainstream as well as minority film interests, and links the basics of screenwriting across the film/television divide.