Learn screenwriting on your own

 

Learn screenwriting on your own

I'm a champion of learning on your own.

I'm a high school graduate. And anything beyond that academically doesn't resonate with my experience beyond a single extended education class of screenwriting taken in 1996.

I've read every major screenwriting book of the booming era 90s and dabbled in others since. My bulls*** detector in that respect is highly evident.

And yes, in retrospect, it's been proven that you need to learn on your own as much as you can. While taking classes and reading the McKee and Snyder books is good food for the brain, overall my brother or sister, it falls on YOU and YOU ALONE.

I'm realistic though. I know you need a base platform to start from. First and foremost, I recommend...

This book gives you what you truly need. The basics. F*** theory that is offered by Mckee, Snyder, and others. Most of it, to me, is rhetoric to sell books. There exists a whole secondary industry to take advantage of the screenwriter and frankly, it pisses me off. Formulas, theories, and directives that exist only because of the fact that hindsight is 20/20 and all of their stuff can be applied to nearly any film.

You need the basics. The general guidelines and expectations. That's ALL you need. Read the other stuff. I'm not saying that they are worthless. I'm just saying that I've seen far too many screenwriters try to be THAT, as opposed to trying to be the best versions of themselves.

It's short, sweet, and to the point. It's written by a fellow former studio reader... a position that I feel is the best suited to truly offer the general guidelines and expectations of the film industry.

There are a few directives within the 101 that I feel are perhaps a bit too much, but overall, this book offer great guidelines and expectations that all writers should follow to better their odds.

This book gives you a peek into the REAL film industry of screenwriting for studio films. It's fun, true, and real.

Those are the three books that you should read RIGHT NOW.

Forget Robert McKee's Story and the late Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!

If anything, have them as keepsakes for a little food for the brain to consider, but don't fully drink the coolaid with those.

I'm a former script reader for Sony. I'm also currently embedded within the life and struggle of a working and produced screenwriter. I'm not someone that has just been "assigned" to write or rewrite indie flicks. I'm not someone that just does this as a hobby and has had a few people in the industry read their script. I don't say that out of ego at all... I'm just saying that I've lived (or am living) life on both sides of the table and have experienced first hand the REAL aspects of the screenwriter's journey. One that has been considered, met with, paid by, and produced by major studios, producers, representation, etc. And I say all of that for THIS reason...

Don't drink the Kool-aid.

People will tell you to "write what you know". They'll tell you to "just write frantically until you get to the end of a script". They'll preach about Robert McKee and Blake Snyder as required reading. They'll tell you to take X classes and pay for X seminars. They'll tell you that you need to pay for the services of a "script consultant".

Forget about it. All of that.

Here's what you REALLY need to do

• First and foremost, read some produced scripts. You can go to Welcome to eScriptsHub! for a good database. I created it and receive no kickbacks from views or anything. These selections offer you PDF versions (mostly) of actual scripts. They aren't transcripts, which are poison for learning. Keep in mind that you need to remember that earlier scripts (written in 60s and 70s) aren't really representative of contemporary scripts. But overall, read as many produced scripts as you can. Especially those of your favorite influential movies.
• Watch movies. If you have concepts that adhere to a certain genre, watch a lot of movies in that genre. It's not about stealing from them. It's about learning from them. What works and what doesn't. Generally speaking, 1 minute of screen time equals 1 script page. This isn't always true by any means, however, it'll give you an idea of pacing. See what happens in the first 10 minutes of a great movie and realize that great things need to happen within the first 10 pages of a script to engage a reader/audience.
• Buy Final Draft. Yeah, I know. There are cheaper options like Celtx, etc. Yada yada. The industry norm is Final Draft. Plain and simple. And when/if you get a chance to write for them as I and others have, you realize that yes, Final Draft is the industry norm. So just go buy it. Ask for it for Christmas. Save up for it. Put it on a credit card. Whatever it takes, just get it. Because why learn on another software program other than what a majority of Hollywood uses and relies on? If you REALLY want to be a professional screenwriter, why not write on the very software that you'll be asked to use in the long run?
• Write, write, write. And first off, don't write short movies. Writing a 10, 20, or 30 page script to "warm up" does you NO good! Short films are a dime a dozen and most of them suck because it takes a lot of money, time, and talent combined to create the likes that you see at the Oscars or at Sundance. Write feature length scripts (90-115 pages). And yes, you need to write more than one. Hey, I've been there. You finish your first script and you think you're the next Matt Damon/Ben Affleck with Good Will Hunting. I had those fantasies too. It's bulls*** and a waste of time. And those two actors had been in the business for years before that success. Your first script WILL BE your worst. Plain and simple. You need to write at least three before you really get a feel for things and attain that marquee script. And then you need to write more. Every meeting I had for my marquee script Doomsday Order (Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal, Dreamworks, and Sony) back in 2006 led to the same first follow-up question: "What else do you have?" You NEED to have a stacked deck. You'll burn bridges having no answer for that question. It screams amateur. You need at least three marquee, high concept scripts (in whatever genre... but just make sure it's not a Western or Fantasy) before you take anything out wide. Please, TRUST ME on that. I speak from experience.
• Choose wisely. If you think your little quirky comedy or drama is going to get you into the big leagues, "the show", you're kidding yourself. The stories you read about as far as "Little Miss Sunshine" garnering a six figure deal for the writer for their "first script" are bulls***. Yes, they made six figures for a quirky drama, however, that writer struggled in the industry for a number of years writing scripts before that. Michael Arndt was Matthew Broderick's assistant for years in the 90s before "Little Miss Sunshine" dropped in 2006. You MUST choose your projects wisely. You have to create a hybrid of what you want and like to write with what the powers that be are looking for. If you like small and quirky, and don't have the contacts and capital to make it yourself, then you need to inject "small and quirky" into an action thriller or high concept comedy. Or perhaps a high concept horror flick. Please, write for the big boys/girls. Indie cinema is f***ing hard. Unless you feel you HAVE to go that route and make your own films, shoot for something bigger. TRUST me. You'll have plenty of time for those personal projects once you get a couple of hits under your belt (if you defy the odds).
• Move to Los Angeles if you can. I'm sorry. It's true. Don't believe those stories of success for those that never resided in Hollywood. They are anomalies. Would you bet your life on lottery odds? No. So don't with your career aspirations and dreams. Sure, you can get noticed in this digital age through contests, film festivals, etc. But in the end, you need to be there. That may sound hypocritical from a screenwriter that has seen all of his success come after living in Wisconsin of all places, however, I lived in L.A. for seven years, many of which I worked at a major studio making major contacts, playing basketball with a major star, and learning the general guidelines and expectations of the film industry while working as a script reader, etc. Networking is key. It doesn't solve all problems, but it gives you validity in the end. Nab a job somewhere within the industry. I got a security job just to get behind the walls of a major studio. I worked my way up to a studio liaison position working with major productions. I then worked my way into a script reader/story analyst position in development at Sony, which became my true education for screenwriting. If you REALLY want this, move out there. Honestly. You can get noticed elsewhere, but not living in Los Angeles at one time or another with great experience within brings down your odds of succeeding tenfold.

This is a lot to intake. You've likely done your research and have been pulled in so many directions and perhaps been overwhelmed by all of the information out there.

Allow me to demystify the art and craft of screenwriting for you. Just do the above, learn your own way, and write some movies that you want to see, as well as others. Cinema is about engaging an audience. You want to make them laugh when they need to laugh, cry when they need to cry, cheer when they need to cheer, scream when they need to scream, and be thrilled when they need to be thrilled. That's it.

You can spend hours and hours and days and days and months and months and years and years trying to be the best copycat of others that you can be but you'll NEVER be that. You can only strive to be the best YOU that you can be.

There are guidelines. There are expectations. But the theories, formulas, and secrets to success that so many offer and dictate are bulls***. They sell books, that's it.

You likely love movies. That's enough. Beyond the general guidelines and expectations that you can learn from the above, that's all you need.

Think visually. Engage an audience early. Make sure you embrace the "less is more" approach by keeping scenes, dialogue, and scene descriptions short, sweet, and to the point. Study movies and you'll see that most successful ones adhere to that.

All in all, great screenwriting is about introducing some interesting characters, chasing them up a tree, setting it on fire, conjuring a lightning storm, and throwing rocks at them as they struggle to survive (or not). That's storytelling at its best. That's conflict. Tell me one film that DOESN'T have that beyond anomalies like My Dinner with Andre and overrated or unique films like that.

And now what I want you to do is go and do the above. And furthermore, understand that screenwriting is a f***ing grind. It's not easy. You'll know if it is for you or not down the road if you do the above.

And please, watch and listen to this over, and over, and over, and over.

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