Screenwriting : How much reading do you do? Reading is essential to growth. by Regina Lee

Well, not to be disagreeable, but I contend that studying "professionally written" scripts is of little benefit to novice writers. As seen time and again, and admitted to as much by screenwriting teachers and some blogs and books, pros and assignment writers get away with murder, so to speak, in action, dialog, plot, formatting, camera callouts, etc. precisely because they're already established. They are not subject to anywhere near the same level of scrutiny as newbie specs. Emulating pros' styles would be pointless for novices precisely because the latter have no industry standing. As for classic screenplays, if one were to take the shooting script for, say, Casablanca, change the names, places, era, minor plot points, and giveaway dialog, I doubt the result would make even first cut in today's competitions or get above a Consider by most coverage analysts. A lovely sting operation, set up by a cabal of writers with way too much time on their hands, could easily test this hypothesis. One could hope it would shame the victims and bring their self-estimation down a notch, but since shamelessness is the byword in much of the industry, that seems unlikely. Ditto any shooting script or after-the-fact transcripts of produced movies. And if perchance a clone of those scripts were to get a Recommend, what would that say about the writer and the producer? Now studying recent award-winning novices' spec scripts, plus the associated coverage or at least the readers' notes given them, would be far more useful and relevant to aspiring screenwriters.

Hey Alex, you and everyone else should feel free to disagree with me. Your experience has not been mine. My favorite new quote is from S32er William Martell who said, "There are no rules, only tools." I've quoted him twice in the Lounge now. My perspective is that we should all read professionally written scripts and use them as tools for your own growth. As a studio exec, I read early scripts by, for example, Danny Strong, Mindy Kaling, and Kyle Killen. At the time, they had managers or agents, but no script sales under their belts. Their story prowess, unique voices, and savvy were crystal clear even in their early days. There was no need for them to hide their voices. I respectfully call back Alex's phrasing, and to my knowledge, no one knocked them for "trying to get away with murder so to speak." They had the ability to write like a pro, and they did. Now of course, there are degrees for everything, and if a writer takes style to the extreme and pulls an "E.E. Cummings," that is most likely not going to get him a studio rewrite job! But within the margins, there is a lot of room for an actor/playwright-turned-screenwriter like Mindy Kaling to knock your socks off. Alex, thank you for pointing out my lack of clarity w/r/t classic movies. Personally, I'm not a student of the classics, and I'd suggest knowing some of the classics for context, less so for instruction, so I do 100% agree with you there. In terms of coverage services, you may have seen from my other posts that I don't recommend any coverage services as I can't account for the readers' skill level or current marketplace knowledge. I expect that some coverage services allow the blind to lead the blind, so to speak. I believe simple coverage, taken out of context, can do more harm than good, because I've seen it happen. That said, I'm sure there are good ones, though I can't personally vouch for any of them.

I think the 5% of any production draft you find online that is "getting away with murder" is more than offset by the 95% of that draft that holds some great lessons on screenwriting. My "instruction" was limited to reading production drafts of screenplays - and that's where I learned just about everything. My first screenplay was produced before Syd Field's screenwriting book came out. So my education was buying and reading screenplays and reading interviews with screenwriters, directors, producers, etc. A few years ago, I read a bunch of the BlackList screenplays (somewhere online linked them) and it was fascinating to see different styles and methods and screenplays that worked on the page but may not work on the screen (THE BEAVER) and others that would work well on page and screen. I also read stacks of fiction - input = output - and just finished reading a bunch of early Ellery Queen mysteries. Now I'm halfway through the new Lawrence Block novel. The thing about production drafts (scripts usually available online) is that the writer wrote them. I've written some of the production drafts for my movies - inserting any shots the director wanted in there, etc. The use of language is still important, and I love things like how THE MATRIX screenplay uses computer terms to describe Agent Smith (and the other agents). That's genius.

My point here is that you shouldn't worry about "getting away with murder." Giving credit where credit is due: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/POV-Format William Martell's quote. "There are no rules, only tools." Also see CJ Walley's comments: "Regina, the whole we see thing is a very contentious issue within amatuer screenwriter communities. It's often touted as one of the biggest mistakes we can make a surefire way to look amateurish. For example; http://reelauthors.com/screenplay-coverage/do-not-use-we-see.php http://theworkingscreenwriter.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/we-see-and-other-ru... http://www.doctormyscript.com/2010/10/screenwriting-mistake-9weseewehear... http://www.trilane.com/ref/action/action5/action5.html The wierd thing is a lot of the professional advice is the the contrary such as; http://johnaugust.com/2007/we-in-scene-description As mentioned I personally find it a silly and creatively limiting rule. As Beth has said, it should purely be a personal choice." "Stuart, your jitters is exactly the issue I was originally referring to. When applied as rules, stuff like this can really strip writers of their confidence."

But Alex, please do what you feel is in your best interests! Duh, as if I needed to say that.

To William Martell's point, Jeff Goldsmith's podcasts are very useful tools. He offers lengthy interviews with writers who share their experiences and tools of the trade. Thank you, William, for your post!

Something has just occurred to me... If you're paying a coverage service, and if their primary critiques are focused on writing mechanics rather than on STORY and your script's specific marketplace viability, then that reader has missed the forest for the trees. Go get your money back!! You aren't paying for a copywriter or proofreader, you're paying for professional-level story analysis - the key word being STORY. In rare cases, it is possible that a writer has written what is truly a poor or incomprehensible script, and in those cases, the reader may have no choice but to focus on mechanics. However, I would hope that most scripts have some kind of baseline of achievement present. If execs were so focused on "screenplay mechanics," why would they acquire books, articles, short stories, video games, comic books, etc.? Those have little or no screenplay mechanics present at all. Execs are buying those materials for STORY and AUDIENCE. If the STORY and AUDIENCE are viable, the mechanics can be figured out later. Same way with your script. It the story and the audience are viable - if the big picture is viable, the financier can commission rewrites to revise the little mechanical stuff later. The big picture is what's important. Focus on that.

I never like to bring semantics into a discussion, but I feel there's an important distinction between looking at something and studying something. The latter almost always requires a certain level of insight to be of any use. For example, studying photography while understanding the rule of thirds, architecture while appreciating the golden ratio, and graphic design while being able to recognise a baseline grid. So I fear copious reading without some initial schooling can easily become just that, reading. I feel this is a common fault as I see so much evidence of peer-feedback (or very poor paid feedback) which obsesses with the superficial and the subjective. Sadly, when we have little understanding or at least recognition of story then we are always going to easily become distracted by formatting, prose, grammar, style, etc... While I'm an avid book learner, I have no time for reading fiction. Perhaps that's an unfortunate flaw in my personality, but the motivation and thus interest just isn't there. That said, I do have a collection of scripts that I often revisit, and what's been interesting to see in myself is how, during those first uneducated reads, I only saw the words on the page. Then, after a -lot- of learning and failing, I started to see more and more through each re-read (or re-watch) that helped me see what really made the finished film appeal. It's only lately that I've been able to identify all the little beats and moments and deconstruction a scene, act, or story, down to a highly calculated game of chess on the writer's part - a game I never previously knew was even being played. It all comes back to this theory of deliberate practice, the process of taking something we struggle with, accepting our lack of understanding is the issue, educating ourselves, seeing the problem, and then being able to then analyse how others tackle it. This is particularly noticeable with the film Chinatown (or lately Clueless) where there was little appreciation and fandom for the movie(s) until decades later when notable writers started to break them down and demonstrate how they worked. So, before this thread becomes a competition to see who reads the most scripts, novels, comics, fortune cookies, or whatever, it's important to consider if what we are doing is a qualitative studying or quantitative experiencing process. But in conclusion, yes, I've always found reading professional scripts incredibly insightful and a subsequent huge benefit of being part of the online world.

Hey CJ, remember when you suggested that I post on Medium? I said that the quality of my posts is not strong enough to live on via a more permanent platform like Medium. I find it impossible to write about such complex topics efficiently, cover all the relevant angles, waste no one's time including my own, and be sure that my posts do more good than harm. Wall, meet head. It's impossible. I believe that "instruction" has to be a two-way conversation. (Yet another reason why I don't believe that simple script coverage is always helpful. Needs to be a conversation.)

I think what you wanted to say was all there and very concise, Regina. I just wanted to re-emphasise the point William supported about the vast majority of any professionally script adhering to fundamental story lessons we can all benefit from revisiting. However I do appreciate how easy it is for novice writers like me to become distracted by style, plot, formatting, camera direction, etc, since there tends to be a lot of obsessing and conjecture in these relatively superficial areas.

I just got my hands on a new batch. What I have recently started doing is reading the screenplay of a movie I purchase, then watch scene by scene and review. Of course I am writing and making. But even if I was just writing, it is enlightening to see how something has translated from paper to screen. Or at least from written format to film/video.

This is from Stephen King (source https://screencraft.org/2015/09/27/17-must-read-screenwriting-lessons-fr...) “You don’t need writing classes or seminars any more than you need this or any other book on writing. Faulkner learned his trade while working in the Oxford, Mississippi post office. Other writers have learned the basics while serving in the Navy, working in steel mills or doing time in America’s finer crossbar hotels. I learned the most valuable (and commercial) part of my life’s work while washing motel sheets and restaurant tablecloths at the New Franklin Laundry in Bangor. You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.” Look, knowledge is power. There’s nothing wrong with feeding the brain something great to chew on. But the fact is, no seminar, workshop, class, or guru book is going to teach you how to be a great screenwriter. Only you can decide that by reading, watching movies, and writing scripts. Plain and simple

"But the fact is, no seminar, workshop, class, or guru book is going to teach you how to be a great screenwriter. " How is that, in any way, a fact?

That I couldn't tell you. You would have to ask Stephen King that. I'm guessing he is saying that writing is a talent and talent can't be taught. You can take all the skating lessons and hockey classes in the world, if you don't have talent, you will never be a great hockey player. I could be off on that analogy but I'm also thinking he's say the best thing to do is just write.

You actually quoted Ken Miyamoto who wrote the article and interpreted a passage of Steven King's book.... which he then goes on to recommend... and his IMDB profile states he's running a mentorship program... while president of a writer's forum. Seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up.

Yes, I assume in that often used statement from Stephen King that he is referring to natural talent -- either you have it or you don't. However, I've always found his comment to be a bit "highbrow" and not exactly true. In other artistic fields, or athletics, it's often said that becoming great at whatever you are striving for is often 10% talent and 90% hard work. People often fail because they don't do the work. Talent isn't necessarily the issue -- although it certainly helps! Just food for thought... Years ago, in an interview with Sting he talked about how he has to practice every day; that he lacks natural talent. This statement blew my mind. Sting? He then talked about how Bonnie Raitt is unbelievably gifted; that he has to work twice as hard to be close to her level of musicianship. :)

Sorry, I was referring to the singled out quote; "But the fact is, no seminar, workshop, class, or guru book is going to teach you how to be a great screenwriter." I should add that everyone learns differently; develops differently; how they reach their goals, either by taking seminars, workshops, or whatever, is up to them. :)

Indeed, many studies can be cited which suggest deliberate practice and the subsequent improvement creates what we call talent. I'm not aware of any study that would support an argument that seminars, workshops, classes, or guru books cannot teach a screenwriter to be great at screenwriting. I am however very aware that King often makes some very pompous statements, sells his guidance to amateurs, revels in bashing others, and was full of excuses for how dire his film Maximum Overdrive turned out to be. I'm also aware that there are countless novice screenwriters out there who read and write like crazy but still see no objective improvement for their efforts.

I think I tend to agree with both of you. It's easy for someone who is wealthy to say making money is easy. the only point I got out of the comment is that sometimes 'some' people spend too much time learning and not enough time working. Which I believe was your point as well Beth. As stated by Regina and her new favorite quote: S32er William Martell who said, "There are no rules, only tools." You don't always need talent or even a good script to sell one. I've said it many times, it can often come down to right place, right time, with someone who wants to spend money.

Stephen King also says, in the book On Writing, that nothing can replace work. The actual doing. These are my words for what I read, not a quote. But I would take more of the Steven Pressfield view from The War of Art. He indicates that by actually overcoming the resistance to doing the work, you will be aided and the act of doing the work will be rewarded. This ties into what Einstein said, "Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work.." or at least he is credited with saying it. I agree with that as well.

Yes Erica, I think it does all come down to balance. Which I feel Regina was leaning toward with her original post. Many of us are learning, but are enough of us reading/studying pro-scripts to help hammer that learning home?

John, those read like sound words to live by. I guess it's just important that we keep in mind that taking part in a workshop, course, reading a book, etc, can be and often is a lot of work and doing.

Well said, CJ. :) Getting back to the topic of reading scripts... I wholeheartedly agree with your previous comment, CJ, about how one needs to have some insights about story and craft to be able to discern valuable lessons from what you are reading/studying. Personally, I find professional scripts to be incredibly helpful; a great resource. However, novice writers must understand that final shooting scripts have been through the system and have been influenced by many decision makers. Therefore they may not be the best examples of what it takes to "get in the door" as an unknown writer. Plus, some professional scripts may not have gone through an approval process because the writer was also the director/producer. The writer wrote the script for themselves -- like Tarantino. When I'm studying a professional shooting script I try to learn as much as I can about the production so as I'm reading I have this understanding. Sometimes I'm able to get a hold of an earlier copy of a script which is fantastic because you can see what was cut or changed before the final. For an aspiring writer like myself, I also find that reading unprofessional scripts that have just been optioned or perhaps have received high praise are also great examples to study. Studying poorly written scripts helps too. You stop focusing on surface issues and better recognize story problems. :) Read. Study. Repeat.

John, "The War of Art" is a great book. It really helps motivate you to get off your butt and get to work. :)

I read quite a bit of script, short story and novel writing. Watching movies also serves as a reminder of what translates to the screen and what fits a chapbook. Writing requires a passion for storytelling. If you don't love reading and watching stories, writing them won't come easily, if at all.

I do more novel reading than screenplay reading. I've ben negligent of my screenplay reading, but I don't want to read transcripts and proper scripts are hard to come by I feel. I must get back into it. it is a very important part of the learning process. I doubt people's real commitment to writing if they don't read. It makes no sense at all.

Regina, I've read professional scripts, and to be honest, I was surprised how many underwhelmed me - the first script that knocked my socks off was Chinatown by Robert Towne - while many will disagree, I didn't find the Birdman script was anything exceptional, it was okay, but so are another thousand scripts - I found I was able to learn most from reading/reviewing scripts by my peers - suddenly, all the rules became apparent, we could see when a script isn't working, we knew whether the structure was correct, whether the dramatic tension was working - ALSO, we knew good writing when we came across it, we would learn to discern the wheat from the chaff, we knew good storytelling on the page, when the work was compelling and a page turner - one of my biggest lemons was when a piece of writing was "poor" and required more work which I conveyed to the writer, only to be met with astonishing vitriol at my inability to recognise "genius", lol - I have acquired a thick skin, I have suffered some cruel reviews, but I wore it, pity a plethora of other writers couldn't do the same - you suggest you are not a scriptwriter, then that places you in a position to read a work and know whether that is good writing - I don't drink beer and apparently I would make a good judge because I can discern the different "tastes/flavours" if I knew what to look for - anyway, read that somewhere, made sense to me, lol, cheers.

Some good sources for professional scripts include; http://www.simplyscripts.com/movie.html http://www.imsdb.com http://scridx.com We had a member (Alle Segretti) who kept telling people that most scripts posted online are transcripts. This simply isn't true. You can pretty much type any movie name and the word screenplay and get a professional version of the script. When it comes to the R.U.L.E.S, it's worth just casting those thoughts aside and focusing on the fundamentals that matter such as story, character development, world building, theme etc. Most pro scripts are written in a world away from trying to compete in the screenplay competitions/exams so can sometimes have a more informal voice and unique style. The important thing is to reflect on yourself and where you feel you fit (or don't fit) in. In my case, I'm not chasing a Hollywood screenwriting career. I prefer to write shorts as a hobby and give them away, therefore I focus studying the scripts that suit my style/tone and don't have any concern about the R.U.L.E.S. However, those looking at the very top end of screenwriting and want to compete in the competitions and query big agencies, reps, and studios may want to focus on the more contemporary and commercial scripts out there. These are my five go to scripts that I often re-visit with reasons why that work for me; Mad Max: The Road Warrior - I grew up binge watching this movie and know it inside and out. It was written in an age when action movies had very strong drama and resounding themes. This was the sweet spot of blockbuster movies for me. The script is also a great example of showing over telling, and how every moment of a well written action scene can make it into the final production. Pulp Fiction - It's very easy to get lost in Tarantino's rebellious prose and flowery dialogue, but really he's a master of scene conflict. Everyone is constantly locked in some form of battle, be it with guns or words. It's also amazing how he gives every character a backstory and in someway makes them cool. There's also strong themes running behind the story from the superficiality of cultural differences to a person's entire role in life. Plus the short story of Butch's pocket watch written by David Avery works perfectly as a standalone story. Twilight - Yep. The first act is a masterclass in building character with seemingly minor moments and using contrast to keep things interesting. Melissa Rosenberg is a remarkable writer (head writer of Dexter, Nicholl winner, Peabody winner, Emmy & WGA Nominee). Not only has she written one of the most influential and gamechaning screenplays of this millennia, but the way Catherine Hardwicke worked so closely with her and Stephanie Meyer has to be admired as the way future. The Bourne Identity - Peter Gilroy is one of the best writers out there, and this script really demonstrates his ability to move a very complex plot forward at near lightspeed while keeping things compelling. His writing has a very dry wit and hurried pace leaving a lot to the imagination. His action scenes are also very well written in terms of having emotional beats throughout rather than simply having stuff happen. Planet Terror - Again my main draw with this screenplay is the fact it's within the same genre/tone that I like to write in. A bit like Road Warrior, Planet Terror actually runs a lot deeper than its Grindhouse appeal suggests with a few characters going through significant arcs throughout the script. What's also good is you can watch it alongside the movie and it plays out exactly as written. Generally I think it's worth reading the script for any movie you love rather than reading ones that are applauded. It's also really good to combine them with information about the script's development. For example, did you know in Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd originally envisaged their Ecto 1 ambulance to be a later model hearse (more inline with the current reboot) which could disappear when needed. However, this was changed when they realised black car would be completely lost in all the night time city shots. Or how the opening 6-page scene of Pulp Fiction ends with the extended line *"Any of you f**kin' pricks move and I'll execute every one of you motherf*****s! Got that?"* - So even Tarantino's dialogue isn't perfect on the page.

You should always read a healthy load if you're a filmmaker. Building yourself into something better always does wonders.

yeah C.J. I just watched Pulp Fiction" for the umpteenth time to other day... still classic. The "Butch's Watch" story is arguably one of the best monologue's in recent history.