Screenwriting : What advice would you give your younger self starting off as a Writer? by Steven Kalocinski

Write a short and make it. This will show you what is actually needed on the page. It can be terrible, you are doing it for the education.

Write a lot. This will desensitised you to culling your work. If you only write one thing, every word is gold. After ten features you can forget and entire script and not lose sleep.

Tell everyone everything. Keeping all your things secret makes it impossible to have real conversations with other writers.

Don’t listen to the gurus. They are looking at great work and analysing it and selling you their analysis. So you are learning what they believe, not the writers intent. Read this yourself and do your own analysis.

For me I listen to podcasts. That keeps me connected to the writer side of my brain. Find something that keeps you in the game, mind wise.

Go do somethin' else if you want to earn a living - I took that advice & it worked pretty well.

Don't worry so much about learning EVERY rule from every screenwriting book about story structure/characters/plot/etc.. some of the best movies/TV shows subvert the rules and that's what makes them unique. Understand the rules and then break them :)

Network, network, and network some more! Build relationships. Brand your name. Fill out a W2 as a writer under the banner of an established productuon company that produces the genre you love.

Invest in getting your stuff read by credible industry script readers like what's available at Stage 32. For the longest I would just get feedback from friends (who weren't in the industry). Didn't work out well. Made most progress getting professional critiques. I would also say to write everyday. The more you write then the better you will get. It's like exercising.

Learn the difference between shooting scripts, spec scripts, etc.. Grew up reading shooting scripts and started writing that way. Found out then which was which.

Write. And don't wait until you feel "old enough" or "experienced enough". You can't feel "experienced" without actually EXPERIENCING stuff. Do, don't hold back and wait.

Write and continue writing, every first draft of a writer is rubbish that actually transform to a good projects...

Self 2004 - Stop hanging out with unemployed writers at coffee shops and take the Netflix office job. "Stocks at $5 per share and falling? Nah, they'll be bankrupt soon."

Write.

Do your due diligence. A lot of the advice out there, particularly the most dogmatic, comes from people who are failing and have been failing for a long time. At best they want to knock you down to build themselves up and at worst they want to instil enough fear that you'll hand them your money. The further you are down the ladder, the worse it is.

Follow the path of those who can openly prove their mindset and methodology has worked for them. Not only will you find it's the most powerful advice out there, it will most likely be some of the kindest and most liberating advice you get. It only takes a quick search on Google or IMDb to look someone up as this is an industry where people's resumes are mostly public record. Do not accept fake names and vague claims.

Learn to write low budget scripts. And don't think your first few scripts are God's gift to the world. Humbly accept feedback from others.

Don't write scripts that cost hundreds of millions to make.

Even when you're starving, continue writing and backup up everything!!! You'll thank yourself in 10 years.

If I could go to my 20’s I’d say “Start writing”.

If I could go back in time I'd probably tell myself don't do it.

Volume.

Something I learned midway through things while at a conference. Average screenwriter breaks in around script 20. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later.

Instead of fretting over 1-2 scripts to make them perfect, concentrate on generate more scripts per year to get better at craft. No matter how good a writer's ideas and skills might be in the beginning, you don't get very good at concept creation, selection and execution without knocking out a few scripts.

Just do it! If starting out it may help to learn from masters, this does not necessarily mean any cost to yourself. Not all best sellers are mystical unicorns with forbidden fruit to show unless you pay bucks. EG Scott Myers, Jurgen Wolf, Linda Aronson and others have free downloadable info/blogs etc. I’m on Whatsapp chat discussions with other leaders in the craft who live for their art 24/7. Equally as @CJ mentions there are also many scaremongering so called gurus. Dive in, navigate the tank and choose the diamonds from dirt fish. Don’t procrastinate, my favourite saying (from Scott) is “The biggest hurdle to starting writing is depositing one’s ass on ones chair”. I say this from memory but he may have said butt instead.

Get rid of the negatives. There are plenty of them. Recognize them and just cut them out.

Use your imagination more. Never listen to the negativity, keep believing in yourself and moving forward

A lot of folk really do want to help - listen to your gut, but reach out to others

Thanks for sharing this question during the Industry Insider IG Live this week! Some great answers here. My answer hasn't changed - "Do the work!" Man I hate how lazy I remember myself being as a young person.

Do the work is certainly the way Jason Mirch . Proven time and time again. Took me awhile to learn.

don't ask for so much FEEDBACK. trust yourself and your story!

Embrace difficult and challenging circumstances. They make for good raw material.

Plan your premise as clearly as possible - plot it out in bullet points. If writing a novel, then make it at least 5 pages per chapter (my record is about 30 pages in a single chapter, as I tend to get VERY descriptive on the technical nuances). Make sure the story and main character have a natural logical (and narrative) progression.

Don't just try to follow a formula when writing. Have confidence that your own unique voice will shine through.

Write even more.

Just Keep Writing. Just Keep Writing. Keep learning. Take the webinars and join the Writer's Room on Stage32. Learn how to polish your scripts early. Make a bible first, before the pilot. invest in big paper and coloured pens and use them. Always do the Artitist's Way morning pages and artisits dates. Just Keep Writing

Read more screenplays, learn everything about structure, and create a beat sheet/deck/bible/character descriptions before even thinking about beginning a story