Learn How to Write a Screenplay

We've all thought it. I could write a better movie than that. With all the garbage filling theaters every year, it's natural to wonder who makes those movies and how much did they get for it.

All movies begin life as a screenplay written by a screenwriter. They write all the plot, characters, action and dialogue you see when you watch a movie. Well there's nothing stopping you from learning how to write a movie and if you're good enough, getting paid for it.

Format

The first thing you need to know is proper format. Some may feel format is just a chore that doesn't really matter like plot and characters do but nothing will point you out as a novice as quickly as a screenplay that's not formatted right. The best way to learn how is by taking a look at real screenplays. You can buy them online from sites like Ebay or see them for free from the library or online. Check with your local library if they have any you can look at. This is much more likely if you live in Southern California. Otherwise, just go to websites like pdfscreenplays.com or simplyscripts.com. They have a lot of scripts you can download and read on your computer for free. Try to stick with the pdf formatted scripts because they look the same to everyone no matter what computer you're using.

When you get serious about writing, you should consider investing in Final Draft. It's a word processing program like Microsoft Word but it specializes in screenplay format. It places the scene headings, dialogue, character names and action all in their proper places. It automatically formats for you so you can focus on the more important aspects of writing.

Content

Once you got the format down, start focusing on content. No guide will do this right for you and you need to do what works for you best. There are resources that you can turn to for screenwriting advice and to answer questions. There are a few professional writers out there who write blogs to answer questions about screenwriting and talk about their craft. A popular one is johnaugust.com , maintained by the writer of the same name. He's the writer of Big Fish, Go and many more successful movies. With the well organized archive he maintains of past questions and answers, you'll be able to find the answer to many of your questions and some questions you didn't have.

Other writer blogs include Jane Espenson's, who wrote for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Gilmore Girls and currently Battlestar Galactica. You can find her at janeespenson.com.

Reading those two blogs should give you a good background on the specifics to writing screenplays, from formatting to scene and dialogue construction.

Editing

You should have a good idea of what a screenplay is by now. After you finish writing one, you'll soon discover you aren't finished yet. You should let others you trust read it and give you notes. Better yet would be to join a writing group. A group will help keep you focused and working toward deadlines. They'll also provide support and criticism for you're writing. Ideally, you'd want a group in similar stages of writing as you. This keeps you all on the same page and gives you a group of people you can ask for advice and help who are all in similar situations and dealing with the same issues. Studying not only your writing but the writing of others in this setting can help you become better and avoid mistakes common to beginning writers. If you can learn from the mistakes and the other people in your writing group, you can avoid making them yourself.

After you let others read your work and give you notes, it's up to you what to change and what notes to listen to. Keep in mind not everyone is gonna enjoy your writing but there are some things you should keep in mind when looking for people to give you notes. First, your friends and family may be reluctant to criticize your writing. They may just say generic nice things. While this spares you some hurt feelings, you should let them know this doesn't help you get any better and they should point out any parts they didn't like or didn't understand. You need to remember criticism of the work is not criticism of yourself. If a lot of people don't like a certain part or have trouble following the action, it's probably a good idea to change some things around so it's clearer. Ultimately, it's your screenplay so the final decision on what to change and what to keep is up to you and remember that reading one and giving notes can take a lot of time so be sure you thank the people who help you out and understand if it takes them a while to get it done.

What to do when you're finished

Once you're done, the hard part isn't over. Selling a screenplay isn't easy. There are a lot of different routes to selling one and virtually everyone who has sold one got there a different way. The most basic way and probably most unlikely to succeed is sending query letters to producers. Check the credits of films similar to the one you've written and send out letters to the producers describing your script and asking if they'd like to read it. While unlikely, it's not unheard of for this to succeed.

Another way is to enter your screenplay in different screenwriting contests. There are a lot of scams out there who just make money off the entry fee so do research on which ones are legitimate. Some of the more prestigious ones are the Nicholl Fellowship, which is run by the people who do the Academy Awards, and the ABC Fellowship which is run by the network. Only a handful win these each year and a win is no guarantee of selling your script but it'll get you noticed and meeting with people who can buy it.

Probably the most common way of selling scripts is by knowing friends or colleagues of people who can buy them. This isn't cronyism or anything, it's just that the market is flooded with scripts, most of which aren't good enough to become movies so the producers just have to put up as much walls around them as they can or else they'll drown in screenplays. The best way if you're serious about it is to move out to Southern California and take whatever job you can in the Industry. You'll meet people who know people who can buy your screenplay or give you notes on it.

This is a long process and no get rich quick scheme. If you're treating a screenplay as a lottery ticket, you should just give up. It's hard work and takes a long time to succeed.

Last of all, the most important thing you can do to improve your chances of selling a screenplay is to keep writing. After going through all this, you'll just get better. Keep writing more and more screenplays and improving your craft. That's the best thing you can do for yourself and at the very least, by this point, you'll have a screenplay you're proud of.