How to be a better screenplay writer

Let's be frank. There are more people *wanting* to be great screenwriters, than actual great screenwriters. In fact, the majority of the spec pile is full of shoddy work. If you *truly* want to be a great screenwriter, then you need to understand How To Elevate Your Writing.

Elevated screenwriters know that:

• Central concept is the foundation of all great stories
• Character & structure are paramount
• Dialogue is an OVERrated resource
• Scene description is UNDERrated
• Career strategy is key
• Networking is important
• Collaboration is not exploitation
• Genorosity is crucial

Elevating your writing is about realising WHO you are; WHAT your personal remit is and HOW you're going to get there (in terms of strategy). It means understanding not just the craft of writing, but the fact you are learning all the time ... There is no "destination", the journey is the point.

If you intend writing for Movies, TV, or the internet commercially you need to bear in mind that you are not given the freedom to write what you want.

• You commonly write as part of a team
• Whatever you write will be changed by the director, and probably the producer
• You will be constricted by budget, screen slot, and deadline
• You will be given a brief on the target audience
• You will be given a list of what you can and can't include in your script
• You will certainly need to join The Writers' Guild or equivilant of your country to make sure your contract is clear
• You will need to find out about copyright to make sure you own what you write, or are not plagiarising someone else
• You will need to know if characters, locations, etc. have been decided before you start
• You need to know what the stages are of submitting your ideas from Outline, Draft, through to Final script
• You will need to know about storyboards and previs presentations of your script
• You will need to know about basic production needs on camera shots, transitions, special effects, pre and post production stages, sound (voice on/voice over/music/sound FX/ sounds off screen)
• You will need to know who will be checking your script
• You will need to know if you should be available at shooting
• You will need to consider alternative scenes for those that may be difficult to shoot
• You will need to know who will be in the movie so you can exploit their talents to the full
• You will need to know what can be done with words and what can be done with actions
• You will need to know how to pace the story and what allows for editing
• You will need to know that whatever you do, something will go wrong, and it could be your job to put it right
• You will need to know that whoever you work with there will be someone who will make life difficult for you
• You will need to know that as the writer you may well not be credited for what you do
• You will need to know that  on most box office movies you will not be writing the screenplay, but merely called in to write sequences for ideas the Director or Producer have
• You will need to know that as a writer you can be  replaced whereas the Director, Producer, and Stars are unlikely to be replaced
• You will need to know that you are only as good as your last film
• You will need to know unless you can do something other than writing on filmscripts your career will be very short
• You will need a program like
• Final Draft United Kingdom | Final Draft
• You should watch movies with the sound off to study the isolated action
• You should watch movies with the subtitles on to see how the dialogue contributes, and how actors reinforce the action
• You should act out scenes so you get the timing right. New writers find timing the most difficult thing to master