10 Tips

When it was mentioned in the comments that someone wanted to hit my brother up for some advice on writing a screenplay, I realized that I didn't know the first thing about screenplays. So, I asked for some tips, and here they are!

Sisters,

Here ya go, and remember, everyone is an expert. (wink)

10. Read a screenplay. You would be surprised, for a medium we are so familiar with, the format is a real eye-opener. A great resources is: http://www.dailyscript.com/movie.html This website has professional screenplays from a number of films you know and love.

9. Screenwriting is almost like creative journalism. The only element of your written word that a film going audience will experience is the dialogue. Now, this isn't to say that your action lines shouldn't be artful ie.

A ranch house on the plains

or

A tumbledown ranch house juts out of the broad Texas plain like a stranger.

Photo via Flickr

Just bear in mind that all of your character's emotions and motivations can only be conveyed by what they say. You can write in body language, but action lines are intended to set the scene and regulate flow. The rule I've heard used? "Don't write anything they can't show on screen."

8. Remember a page in a properly formatted screenplay is equivalent to one minute of screen time. If you have one scene approaching ten pages, you might want to consider the length of scenes in movies. They are much shorter than you think.

7. Think about how people talk and then remember that dialogue is hyper real. You have to find that balance between tight dialogue and real conversation. We don't always know what to say as humans, but characters have to still say the most relevant thing.

6. Brevity is key. Screenplays are generally from 90-120 pages. Be smart with your space. A first time writer is going to have a tough go of selling their 290 page masterpiece no matter how good it is.

5. Be prepared to write something bad. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones who is a natural, but reading the first draft of the first screenplay is as exhilarating as it is cringe inducing.

4. Love to edit. Live to cut. This is the hardest part for me, but the best analogy I ever got for editing a screenplay is by likening it to whittling. The way you improve a figure you are trying to whittle is by cutting off more. Only then, the important details emerge.

3. Practice.

2. Practice.

1. Practice, practice, practice. Daily dedication is the only way I can really become immersed in the universe I'm trying to create. I also find that in that the daily work, some of the best ideas that never occurred to me manifest themselves in very organic ways. (I know that organic is one of those phony-baloney writer words, but when these moments happen, I feel like a real writer) And as with anything worthwhile in this life, repetition is the content of mastery.

um....yeah.