Before writing a word of your first screenplay.

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  • Before writing a word of your first screenplay.

    Last week it was suggested I should place an edited copy of my latest Blog on to Done Deal, so here is an edited version of this weeks Blog.

    Obviously the full version is available at http://www.ronaberdeen.com/?p=901

    Before writing a word of your first screenplay, how much of the story have you thought about?

    The first question to consider is do you have a story or just a collection of possible events fermenting in your mind, seen as possible scenes.

    But before most writers commit a story to paper, the concept, characters, conflict and presentation, live in an isolated world within the writer's head.

    A jumbled, fragmented, inconclusive and probably unclear mix of ideas with an uncertainty as to what medium it best fits; such as short story, novel, M.O.W, television drama, a television series or a feature film.

    The writer has to make a decision at some point before committing their vision to paper how they envisage their presentation because which ever form it is in, it will affect the way the story is structured and written.

    Initially only the creator of the concept can decide the format and until at least an outline or treatment has been written no one else can share the nuances of the vision that live within the writer's brain.

    This is part of being the writer.

    Deciding where to place empathises on events in the story and how to deliver the timing and pacing again are the ingredients only the writer can initially control.

    On some decisions the writer cannot and should not pass the buck. The writer has to go with their own intuition, not anybody else's. If the writer elects to write their story as a screenplay, a novel or a teleplay they can always change it later, but they must make a commitment.

    If the story is presented as a screenplay and is strong enough and written well enough other people such as a producer and director will almost certainly contribute to the final presentation. They may even move the sequences of events but initially the writer must commit themselves, by themselves and realise being a writer is a lonely occupation.

    Remember the story is the writer's story and it requires the writer's voice to relate it.

    Writing a screenplay is like climbing a mountain, so some preparation is not a bad idea, remember, "Preparation should precede presentation-.
    Ron Aberdeen
    http://www.ronaberdeen.com/
    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3609083/

  • #2
    Re: Before writing a word of your first screenplay.

    Too. Much. Black.

    *Dropkicks Ron Aberdeen out of his writing chair*.

    The key to writing your first screenplay is something we used to do all the time as a kid -- DREAM. Close your eyes and visualize your movie on a screen. Tap into that imagination that has been hidden away since you became an adult in the 'real world'. All of the other basic advice is repeated and regurgitated like a load of laundry that won't come clean.
    2011 Screenwriting Goal: 15 pages a day.

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