Tips for Beginners
Hey, I’m Writing a Film Script for the First Time. Can You Help Me?
We got this message the other day, and it kind of made our head spin a bit. We decided to answer it in the most no-BS way possible.
That is such a broad question we could spend many hours answering it. But we’re going to try to do it in a page. Here are the 6 most important things for beginning screenwriters to know:
1. Screenwriting is a deceptively difficult thing to learn. You probably will not be successful on your first script or even your tenth. Like any other highly skilled and highly paid profession, it takes YEARS to learn to do properly in most cases – and lots and lots of practice. Commit to it and enjoy the journey.
2. Education is key. Enroll in a night school writing class or take online classes at places like USC or UCLA. But you don’t need to spend money. There are hundreds of hours of free screenwriting instruction and interviews online from many reputable places – including our own YouTube page and our TikTok. Just a few great YouTube channels include: Film Courage, Lee Jessup, Studio Binder, and Film Riot.
3. Hit the library and take out some of these books: Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. Story Maps – either TV Drama or How to Write a Great Screenplay – by Daniel Calvisi. Story by Robert McKee. There are SO many more. So much great info is out there for free. Avail yourself of it.
4. Become a student of the business. Movies and TV are big $$$, and you need to understand how it works. From agents and managers to development execs to spec scripts to writing assignments, you need to understand the rules of the game in order to play it. Don’t be the person who shows up at the basketball court in snowshoes.
This also includes knowing what to write – and what not to. Read the trades – Deadline, Variety, Hollywood Reporter. Watch YouTubers and TikTokkers who cover the biz. And again, check out the many free interviews with agents, producers, managers, and attorneys online. The more you know, the more seriously the biz will take you.
5. Workshop your material. Once you’ve got something you feel pretty good about, do NOT go blast it all over town. It is almost certainly not ready. Now is the time for feedback. We all think our script is great – until that door hits us in the butt on the way out. You need to get smart, constructive criticism, whether it’s through your writing class or a writing group, or through a company like Coverage Ink, so you can see what’s working in your script and what isn’t – before making those crucial industry submissions.
Because:
6. Writing is Rewriting. Understand: it may take ten or twenty drafts or more before that script is pronounced a “consider” -aka good to go. And if you’re still learning your craft, you might not even get there with this one or the next. Like we said: YEARS. Imagine if you were to perform surgery after a few weeks’ study, it probably wouldn’t go so well, right? You kinda want your doctor to have all the diplomas and stuff. Writing is no different. So embrace the process. Screenplays are never “done” until they’re filmed. Until then, expect to rewrite many times. Learn to love it, because rewriting is probably 80% of what pro writers do.
+++
Once you’ve done all this, congrats – hopefully you have an amazing, ready-to-shop spec script or pilot. What to do next? We’ll cover that… next time.