Write your screenplay treatment -- an eight- to 15-page summary of your animated story idea. The treatment must include all of the major elements that will be in the film and it should be broken into the typical three-act format Hollywood requires. The treatment should be well written, vivid and entertaining. It will serve as your first contact with animated-film producers.
Use your treatment as a guide when writing your screenplay. Dialogue should be brief and snappy with no long speeches. Animated features are aimed primarily at younger audiences and lengthy pieces of dialogue bore them and can stall the action.
Craft vivid, exciting action sequences using accurate, precise descriptions that will allow the animators to translate your words into images. This is possibly the most important step in the process. You must make certain that the animators have a clear vision of the action you want depicted. It is better to over describe the action than to cut it short. The animators will appreciate the thoroughness of your writing and the detail you provide for the actions you want depicted.
Write with a fast pace in mind. The animated film needs to move quickly with sharp, funny dialogue and vivid action. Changing your scenes often will help to sidestep stagnation and boring sequences. Each scene should advance the story and frequent changes in scenes can help maintain a breathless, exciting pace that will keep viewers in their seats.
Create only a few key characters and avoid writing scenes in which too many characters appear. Keep in mind that for the animators, the more characters that appear in a scene, the more difficult and costly it is to create that scene. In the majority of your scenes, having two or three characters appear will be sufficient. Consider a film such as :Shrek," in which three principal characters -- Shrek, Fiona and Donkey -- appear in the majority scenes. Similarly, in the hit animated film "Tangled," Rapunzel, Flynn Rider and Mother Gothel are the primary characters, appearing together or solo in many scenes. It's important not to overcrowd your scenes or confuse your audience.
Watch many of the best animated films over the course of a week before you begin writing you animated screenplay. Pinaki Ghosh suggests that by doing so, you will "tune" your mind and find not ideas, but inspiration.