Screenwriting : Decisions. Decisions. Advise? by Shara Mayo

Do not allow your script to be read BEFORE it's ready. Definitely if you feel that you have not mastered the craft and have at least two SOLID screenplays that can compete professionally. If you allow sub-standard material out it will harm the view of you as a professional writer and the project will be hurt. You never get a second chance for a great first impression. "Your foot in the door?" There are 50,000 scripts bouncing around Hollywood every year and only about 100 specs a year get purchased at the studio level. In fact this year was down from most - Scoggins report said only 46 specs have sold as of August 2015. Horrible odds. Your screenplay should be thought of as CALLING CARDS of your talent. It's very hard to sell a spec and the better odds are if your spec gets you assignment jobs (the bread and butter of working screenwriters). You really need to write five scripts to learn and start to master the craft and to find your style. If you tackle anything too early it will be wasting time. Read my article about only releasing a script when it's totally ready and at a professional level: https://scriptcat.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/do-not-allow-your-script-to-b...

Kenshara: I wouldn't be too anxious to submit screenplays to anyone unless you believe they represent a reasonably professional level of writing. And if you want to test your ability, you may want to consider entering a short screenplay contest like Screencraft, New York City Midnight Script challenge or review Film Freeway for short script contests; and enter a few of those to get feedback and see how you do. When you're ready, I'd be happy to read the first 15 pages of one of your scripts and offer you some feedback.

Thank you all for the wonderful advise you gave me. It has definitely given me a lot to consider.

Kid, no one wants your scripts. Don't waste your time. Instead, write something you can shoot with your friends and put on YouTube. Or self publish a novel and give it away or sell it as cheaply as you can (99 cents) and try to develop a fan base for it like The Martian or Twilight. Once you prove you can grab eyeballs with something, then Hollywood will come looking for you. I wasted 25 years trying to sell that million dollar script. The best I could do was get a few agents, meetings and small time options. Create your own content and get it on the Internet. Use your creative energy to tell a story via Twitter. Don't wait for some development executive to say yes to you, say yes to yourself. Now it is always good to know how to write a great script and develop your talents as a writer, so if you ever do earn yourself a chance with something small you've produced on a small scale, you'll have what it takes to have a career. But go and show you can produce compelling entertainment on a small scale. Have your larger budget feature scripts you believe in ready to go incase you do get interest, so if someone asks you, "What else are you working on?" You will have your stack of scripts ready to go. The other thing I would say is start sending our your scripts now. Either you well sell one or make a good contact or you will get rejected. Rejection is a great teacher. At a certain point your script is what it is. One more polish or rewrite isn't going to be the difference between someone willing to invest millions of dollars in it or not. It is like buying a house. No one would pass on a house they really want to buy because the grass in the front yard needs to be cut or they don't like the paint in the bathroom room. If they want the house they will look past those flaws and fix them later.