Aspiring Scriptwriter - Where Do I Begin?

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  • Aspiring Scriptwriter - Where Do I Begin?

    I am an aspiring scriptwriter. I have gone to several bookstores and purchased books. Most recently I purchased <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> The Screenwriters Workbook by Syd Field<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> and <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> The Elements of Screenwriting by Irwin R. Blacker<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

    Are these books any good? Where should a new screenwriter like myself begin? What resources are available? Thank you in advance to anyone who can assist me.

  • #2
    You've come to the right place akready. Go to Done Deal's main page and check out the "Links" link. One place in particular you should check out is Drew's Script-o-Rama where you can download scripts from movies you have seen for free. I believe the Wordplay site has about thirty or so essays on the craft of screenwriting, and if you are into action movies, find one of WC Martell's posts here and click on the link to his website.

    Then write. Writing is the best way to learn. One mistake I have seen many beginners do is to use stage play format when writing a screenplay. Almost half the scripts I've read on Zoetrope are divided into three acts with act headings; some even have scene numbers. This is wrong! Syd Field is a great proponent of "three-act structure", but understand that it is a concept.

    Field's books are really good but I think they lead some writers to believe there is only one way to write a screenplay, and it isn't necessarily so.

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    • #3
      I'd suggest that The Screenwriter's Bible by Dave Trottier is a must have. Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger and Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434 are good ones to have.

      The best thing you can do is I'd read through these threads and you can find most of the answers to your questions. You'll find tons of books, sources, websites, and argument for and against things listed within.

      Enjoy your reading homework. Best to you.
      Tom

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      • #4
        Books are great. Scripts are better. Read scripts. Rent the movies. Watch what changes from script to screen, and why. Watch how the written words translate from page to screen. And a good exercise is to choose a film that's an adaptation of a novel and read the novel, the script, and watch the movie. "Accidental Tourist," "Jaws," and "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe" are book adaptations that are real interesting to watch through the transition.

        And probably the best thing I ever did was study with the playwrights. Playwrights know things you'll never hear about in a screenwriting book. They know plot versus story and I've never seen a screenwriting book even address that. They know timeline. They know how to open a story. Open a collection of plays in any college bookstore and look at the first page of each play. The first page will tell you who, where, when, and what the problem is so fast. And well. Playwrights really know craft.

        Good luck.

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        • #5
          One Book...

          One book to recommend to a beginning screenwriter...

          How Not to Write a Screenplay, by Denny Flinn

          It's the last book I've read on the subject, and wish it was the first. Shame it took me 10 books to finally get there :-)

          EJ

          www.amazon.com/exec/obido...81-2540765

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          • #6
            Screenplays?

            GirlinGray,

            You said to read screenplays mostly, rather than books. But where do we find copies of screenplays that are not shooting scripts, or ones that aren't written by those already in the industry? Most of the scripts that I have found are either shooting scripts, adaptations that were assigned to someone, or ones written by established writers. Reading these are fun and make good comparisions with their on screen counterparts, but most don't teach the craft very well, because they are written however the writer wants to, instead of staying within format.

            The closest one I've found online to the correct format that beginners should be studying is Fight Club, which was surprising because it's an adaptation.

            If you stick to reading Shane Black or James Cameron scripts, you're not going to learn the craft -- you'll only learn what you can do AFTER you're established.

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            • #7
              Re: Screenplays?

              Read the Oscar nominated scripts. Most can be purchased through Amazon.com.

              If you want to be a pro, write like one. Black and Cameron don't write like they do because they are professionals. They are professionals because they write like they do.

              However, you raised a good point. Find more traditional writers and emulate their style until you discover one of your own. After you've read different styles, it'll make it easier for you to decide which one you want to emulate. Darabont, Ball, Mamet, the Coen brothers, or simply go to IMDB.com and punch in your favorite movies. If you find that several of your favorites are written by the same person, then that's a sign you like their "voice" (perhaps not their style, but it's a good start) You'll find a style that appeals to you.

              Then again, perhaps, you've already done that. I don't know.

              Good luck.
              DS2

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              • #8
                Reading the shooting scripts of great films is nothing but beneficial in the learning process.

                After all, studios use these scripts to make the films we all see. I'll admit that reading unproduced scripts can also help, but it would be wiser to focus on produced screenplays as a guide.

                As far as books go, I can recommend "Story" by McKee as an important read for any aspiring screenwriter.

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                • #9
                  Re: Screenplays? &amp; might also check these links

                  I've found help from seeing the 'editing and development of scripts' - before becoming a shooting script by getting 'earlier drafts' - which kind of shows what was done to become a shooting script opens up the process for me.

                  William Froug, recommends reading and viewing a film together at the same time. If I have several drafts, I find it really helpful in the learning the process, to use 'pause' on the VHS and get seveal different 'reads' of what's coming next, and then see what went into release.

                  I did this for about a year before I started writing my my script. (I find that 'bountiful research' has helped me to become able to be on 'autopilot' while writing because I had all this 'strange' new info in my head. The 'teckie' stuff is more natural, now.)

                  I followed a lot of 'very successful writers advice' on this one point: - write it first in any format you choose - they don't care if it's 400 pages! Get your story down. Let your characters speak to you - then worry about the rest of it <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> after your first draft!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

                  (I hope that made sense.)

                  - - - -

                  I'm adapting my first -ever- screenplay, from my own novel (a trilogy). I find Final Draft5 software has (mostly) a lot of value - along with the book, Elements of Style. (Argentini) A TEN! Most helpful to explain 'which of what' (And why!) to select whatever, while using the script formatting software - Argentini has an example script which is used throughout Elemenst of Style (funny as hell in places!). I keep that book next to the keyboard.

                  - - -

                  Try these links - some are freebie downloads - I agree with DS2 about shooting script books - & they always have a <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START-->lot<!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END--> of extra info about the making of the film.

                  (I haven't checked these links for currency, today, some might not work.)

                  www.script-o-rama.com/ - excellent, for a lot of choices -
                  www.moviescripts.de/links.html - link list -
                  hollywoodnet.com/scriptindex.html
                  www.iscriptdb.com/scriptsites.html

                  - - - -


                  'chills go up my spine DS2 - not because I love Tennyson - but because I had so much trouble with it in the 8th grade! (Still do!)

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                  • #10
                    Re: Screenplays?

                    KinTar, do you want to learn to write like a pro, or do you want to learn to write like a beginner? Black and Cameron did not start writing some different way after they broke in. They broke in because they wrote the way they write. The only rule for beginners is write well. That is it. That is what makes the difference. You write like a pro, in which case you have a chance of becoming a pro. Or you do not, in which case, you do not have a chance because you do not write to the standards of the pool you are entering that contains people like Black and Cameron.

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