Hello All, I am Danny, a big movie fan and have been wanting to write movies from a long time. I am new to screenwriting and just getting started here so any help, tips would be appreciated. I do not have any contacts in Movie/TV industry and this is my first shot at writing as I have never wrote anything before. Trying to learn and grow and see where it takes me. I would love to get connected to people who are in same boat as me and maybe we could start our screenwriting journey together.
Introduce Yourself : New to screenwriting.. by Dushyant Mehta
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Good to meet you, Dushyant Mehta, and welcome to the community! You've definitely come to the right place to learn more about screenwriting! You could start by asking for advice in the Screenwriting Lounge: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting The more specific the question, the better the answers will be.
My two cents, consider writing every day, even if it's just 10 minutes at a time. There is a book I would recommend that can help guide your 10 minutes a day called The Coffee Break Screenwriter:https://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Break-Screenwriter-Writing-Minutes/dp/1615932429/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=1615932429&psc=1
I was looking over your profile, but you don't have much there. Tell me about yourself! I would highly recommend adding your profile picture and bio (where you can expand on what you've done in the past or what you'd like to do in the future) to your profile for other members to better know how to interact with you. Feel free to reference my blog post on "Polishing Your Profile" to help guide you: https://www.stage32.com/blog/Shape-Up-Your-Calling-Card-The-Importance-o...
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Thank you Kay. I will get that book you recommended. Well, for starters I am not from any film/TV background nor have any official education in Arts or Filmwriting business. I wanted to write from a very long time just about making a movie that I think should be filmed and presented. I am mostly adventure/thriller/horror movie watcher and would like to learn the art of screenwriting and how to be successful without having any formal education. I am currently working as an IT professional and would really like to get out of 9-5 job and do something on my own. This is the first thing that came in my find and figured I can give this a shot. I would love to network with you and would appreciate your help in my journey of screenwriting and moving ahead in this direction.
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Dushyant Mehta cheers and welcome!
In my opinion, to have IT experience and mentality is wonderfully helpful in Screenwriting.
Your Screenplay is a database, in fact Final Draft has some nice database functionality, the application recognizes script elements including Scene Headings (Interior or Exterior - Location - Time Of Day or other indicator) as normalized data types and sub-fields, like a relational database table, also Description / Action, Character Names, Dialogue and other elements.
Final Draft includes some Reports that provide summaries and Statistics analysis of your script, so if you approach it this way it is kind of like an IT approach to a Literary Art.
Not saying the form cannot be literary as well as technical, just that it's not the kind of lengthy prose you would write for a novel. You are basically filling in data fields and records to "sketch" your story as it would appear in a fast-paced film, one page equals one minute on screen.
The screenplay is much more spare and lean, minimal and concise than novels or even short stories in many ways.
I recommend to search and read the screenplay for "BADLANDS" by Terrence Malick, a fine example of an industry-quality script that is 75 pages and captures the cinematic expression of the form with no unnecessary bells and whistles.
Outline your story in its most elemental and general parts, that will be helpful.
Imagine your timelines, you have page time, story time, movie time, time in the lives of different characters, keep it simple but plan it out as you are the authority and you will choose, decide and know everything about your story.
Write as if it were a silent film and add dialogue later. This is brilliant and essential advice from Hitchcock.
This is controversial but in my opinion you would do well to read Save The Cat and Save The Cat Goes To The Movies, some writers find them too formulaic but many industry people still love to see the structure recommended in these books by Blake Snyder, and they are also highly informative on Genre and many other elements of the Craft. And really fun to read.
If you really want to jump on a giant trampoline and vault into accelerated learning mode, I can certainly recommend subscribing to the WRITERS' ROOM here on Stage 32, as it is immersive and timely with targeted content, live webinars and limitless enthusiasm for this thing of ours.
See you there!
Thank you Daniel. Appreciate your comments and suggestions and would definitely try to get those done.