FREE SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP - All Of It

A GOOD Screenplay In 4 Weeks!!!

[No gaurantee; you get what you pay for; buyer beware. ;P ]

Okay, I'm 37 pages into my first (decent) screenplay and I'm taking a break (it's my pay-the-bills job workweek, and I've scheduled writing weekends during the workweek, as I'm far less productive on these days) to revise my "free workshop".

You may safely disregaurd the first entries, as I have been given a professional processes from a an Anonymous Bennifactor in the biz, which I've already reprinted in the previous post.

However... I need things broken down into steps for easy consumption, and so I'm using my non-writing time to do that for you, in case it helps you the way it helps me.

If you've read this blog from the beginning you know that the whole point of the blog is to sift through 14 years of study and figure out how to actually WRITE on a professional level. I started out by listing what I believe are some bare essentials to comprehend the theory, and this year has been about finding a functional PROCESS. A month or 2 ago, frustrated, I created my own process, and was outlining it -- along with annotation observations and thoughts along the way -- when our Anonymous Bennefactor made a comment that has very significantly shifted the way I think about writing. The cat won me over, what can I say? He/she made relentless sense the more I thought about it.

Like I said, I posted his/her comments in the previous entry, so this info is redundant. I'm simply breaking it into steps (and will probably add a comment or two of my own, 'cause I'm like that).

So if it's helpful to you, here it is:


Step 1: Watch

Our Anonymous Bennifactor works in TV, so he/she recommends we watch 5 episodes of the show we want to write for, and get ahold of 2 teleplays from it. This is to familiarize ourselves with the elemnts that the show utilizes -- such as Girl A has a quite crush on Boy A, though Boy A is madly in love with Girl B, and there's always a monster that shows up in the Open, before the Act Two act break and is vanquished at the end of Act Three (you can tell what types of shows I watch, lol).

For screenplays, it's no different. You wanna write a horror script? Watch/rewatch 5 horror movies you really, really like and read 2 scripts from that genre. A great resource for screenplays is CS Web. They have both screenplays and teleplays, and their inventory has been growing quickly over the past couple of months! Another resource is JoBlo.com, though they have tons of pop-ups and adverising, and they don't offer teleplays.

Our Anonymous Bennifactor isn't fond of the term "sub-genres", but if you're writing a movie I recommend that you take them into account. If you're writing a horror movie and you're into ghost stories watching or reading FRIDAY THE 13TH or THE EXOCISM OF EMILY ROSE won't be as helpful to you, as one's a Slasher Flick and one's a Possession Flick. So the story elements you're soaking up may well confuse you a bit -- unless you're approach is to make a Ghost Story/Slasher Flick/Possession Flick. (However, unless you're Joss Whedon I wouldn't recommend combining more than 2 genres/sub-genres. Not on your first couple of scripts, anyway.)

Also, take notes while you're watching & reading. You're looking for all the elements that are the same in each flick, and all the elements that are different. The recurring elements are your genre/sub-genre requirements, and the elements that are different are all you: These are the infdividual writer's contributions, and that's where your unique perspective comes into play. (The element that McKee assures us make our choice/calling to write a valid and useful one, and the reason there will always be a need for good storytellers.)


Step 2: Sketch Out Your Story

Our Anonymous Bennifactor suggests using a legal pad. This isn't uncommon. I use NotePad, and I write in story beats, then I rewrite those beats onto my beloved 3x5 cards, because it helps me see the movie in scenes. Like with breaking down process information into steps, the cards help me organize and see the breaks in information.

How you sketch isn't important to anyone but you. What are you comfortable. At least 2 of my friends who write prefer long-hand. I've read than most writers work in long-hand first. What works for you?

THIS STEP SHOULD TAKE 2 OR 3 HOURS, TOPS.

I haven't applied this advice to a feature-length story yet, so see what works for you. But if you're just starting out, shoot for 2 or 3 hours.

"And I'm serious about these time limits, if you get bogged down any more than this you will never do what needs to be done and, unfortunately, you will never work."

Straight from our Anonymous Bennifactor's keyboard.

And my experience has backed this up. I have thought many a story to death. Spending too much time sketching out an idea allows insecurity to seep in, and that is CANDY for Writer's Block.

You have 2 things that you can take comfort from using this process: The rewrite and the fact that you'll move on to your next script IMMEDIATELY after sending off your first script.

If your current script doesn't end up living up to your expectations, that's really okay because you're already working on your next one, and the sheer volume of your work is going to impress SOMEONE. (Hell, I got someone's attention just by whining on a blog, lol. Though I don't recommend that method AT ALL! ;P ) The point is, you're not just thinking about THIS STORY, you're thinking about a career of telling stories. You write your first, then your second... And after you've written your thousandth story you're Ray Bradbury, lol.

Don't be nice with yourself on this step. Whip it out and get to work.

Also, you're not fleshing out your story here, you're just sctching it out. Fleshing it out is...


Step 3: Flesh Out Your Story

Your story sketch isn't going to give you enough information to write a screenplay. That's just getting the inspiration down. This is where you fill in holes and make sure you can sit down and fill 120 pages.

Previous entries in this blog talks about structure stuff that you may (or may not) find helpful. Our Anonymous Bennifactor reminds us to "keep it simple, stupid". Don't let what I or anyone else has written or told you bog you down. You need strong act breaks, followed by scenes/sequences that clean up the mess you made during those strong act breaks. Other than that, you're just stretching your sketch out to fill the allotted page count.

The way to stretch that material is to think of how real people would respond in the situations you're putting them in. At this stage you're not worried about too much detail, though. What you're concerned with is creating enough material that you feel secure sitting down and whipping out the pages. Any story gaps that you feel you can fill in during the page-writing, leave them. Only worry about making sure you are comfortable sitting down to the keyboard.

BUT... you got a time limit on this step, too.

You have 4 to 5 hours to create enough material to fill 120 pages.

Like with Step 2, I haven't personally tested this time limit, so you may have to adjust according to the way you work. But I don't suggest you allow yourself too much more time. You should be ready to sit down and write the pages after a single day's work. That's sketching the story and fleshing it out.

I say this because I know from experience -- loads of it -- that the 2 extremes simply don't work: You can't sit down at a typewriter and write a script you're proud of without preparation, and you can't allow yourself to develop a story for weeks and months.

Professional writers do neither of those things.

So try to force yourself to stick to the 4- or 5-hour deadline. Remember, this isn't the only script you're writing. You've got PLENTY more stories to tell. (Even if you don't realize it yet.)

Finally, make sure, during this step, that you have all the recurring elements included. If you took decent notes, this will create story beats that you might have missed during your sketching-your-story step.


Step 4: Write

The first 3 steps "should give you enough to sit down at a computer and start writing your script with dialog from start to finish. That should take approximately 1 to 2 days with plenty of time for breaks to clear your head, get a Pepsi, read a magazine, call a friend, then back to work."

Our Anonymous Bennifactor is talking about a 60-page script, but I can tell you that I EASILY -- comfortably and joyfully -- wrote 30 pages in two 9-hour days. If I didn't have a "day job" and something that loosely resembles a social life, I could have easily written 120 pages in 4 days.

I'm talking EASILY.

So take our Anonymous Bennifactor's numbers and my numbers (always taking into account that I'm the amateur here) and figure out for yourself what you can do. But don't be overly-easy on yourself, but also don't be overly harsh. You can kill your love of writing by creating impossible deadlines for yourself. But you can also create worlds of unexpected frustration by asking too little of yourself.


Step 5: Relax

"Put it away for a day or two..."

Endulge in your favorite distraction(s) for a day. Or two. You've earned it! You wrote a friggin' screenplay, dude!!! :D

DO NOT think about it! Particularly, don't wonder if it's good enough! You'll take care of that in a couple of days...


Step 6: Rewrite

"..come back to it and rewrite it from top to bottom, half a day tops."

Since we're talking about 120 pages, it may take a whole day.

But this step is where you make your screenplay better! Like our Anonymous Bennifactor says, "...the rest periods are just as important as actual writing time. You need to let your script sit for a day to give it a fresh read. You will see things you can't believe any human being would write, and you will fix them."

You will. You're not an idiot. If you're reading this blog, you know stuff about writing your friends don't. You've been disappointed by movies that promised something they couldn't deliver, and you've been pleasantly surprised by movies that delivered more than you expected.

You know how to tell a good story.

And if this is your first, or fifth, script your Bullshit Meter will tell you what sucks, what's really good, and what is the best you can do right now. Perform up to your Bullshit Meter's standards and you're very likely writing a better screenplay than 80% of what Hollywood is sifting through right now!

So take a day (no more) and fix what's not working.

Then...


Step 7: Relax Again

Okay, SURELY by now you can agree that you've earned another respite, yeah? Not only have you finished a screenplay, but you've FIXED IT as well! :D

Besides, by now you recognize how very valuable that down-time is to the creative process. Imagine if you had skipped Step 5 and jumped right into Step 6! What kind of a mess would THAT have made?!

So relax again. And tell any inquisitive friends that you're going through your "cool down" period on your story. Assure them that it's part of your process. ;P


Step 8: Polish

Our Anonymous Bennifactor says this should take "about 2 to 3 hours" (and I believe he/she is talking about 60-page scripts) so give yourself 5-6.

The point is that you want to correct spelling errors and make everything as shiny as possible, but you DO NOT want to let yourself get hung up on ANY single detail.

The point of all these time limits is fighting a writer's natural insecurities. For some reason, we tend to be perfectionists, to the point of paralysis often. (1) We know more than we often think we do, and (2) this isn't the last story we're going to tell ever, our legacy.

Our legacy will happen sometime during a myriad of deadlines and paychecks and personal dramas that make what we're writing seem like an actual job. Stephen King has commented on hos diconcerting it is to be told you're best work (in his case the novel THE STAND) is something you wrote 20 years ago.

A career is a collection of work, a library, and we can't plan it out. (Or script it, as it were.) We'll write stuff, we'll get attention; we'll write more stuff, we'll get less attention; we'll write more stuff, someone will notice how great our first stuff was... Life is quirky. It's much more creative than we'll ever be.

THIS SCRIPT -- your first or fifty-first -- IS NOT YOU CAREER. And it's not your life. It's a story you told.

So make sure it's good, to be sure! But don't lose sight of the very small portion of your life that it occupies. You had fun writing it for a week or for 4 weeks, now...


Step 9: "Read It Once More and..."


Step 10: "...Send It In"


Step 11: "The minute it is in the mail, start your next script."

This is a VERY IMPORANT step mentioned in MANY of the books I've read! This is not only how you keep your perspective and you sanity, but this is how you get better.

If you're reading this blog you don't have that instinct or security or obsession or whatever that Bradbury and Serling and Shaymalan and Whedon and our Anonymous Bennifactor have that FORCES us to write story after story.

Maybe you're like me, and you think about it too much. Enough to give you doubts about HOW good you are.

But writers WRITE.

You can do like I've been doing, and write about writing while you're trying to write, or you can -- as suggested by our Anonymous Bennifactor, and countless other professionals -- simply GET TO IT.

You ARE good enough. And if you're not now, you WILL be.

I laugh as I type these words, but JUST DO IT. In the words of our Anonymous Bennifactor:

"Writers write all the time, and we put out at least a script a week, one because we have to and two because that's all the time it takes to deliver a good script. If it's taking you longer you are definitely doing something wrong.

"By the time you get to your 5th script, you should be getting pretty good at the process. By 15 or 20 scripts you should have a decent agent on your side, and by 30 scripts or show you should have landed your first job, even if it's only an assignment."