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Post by desmond22 on Oct 7, 2010 19:27:24 GMT
I've wanted to write screenplays for a few years I've made a few half arsed attempts but I was wondering if anyone here could suggest any good reading material, sites, forums etc that I might find useful. Where would be a good place to start? Any help would be greatly appreciated  thank you |
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Post by PatrickCoyle on Oct 7, 2010 20:22:23 GMT
Hello mate. My two-pence, rambled and nonsensical probably but alas... I'm not sure where exactly to advise you to start, because 99% of screenwriting advice is all about writing the traditional Hollywood "hero goes on a quest" story. You don't necessarily have to follow that kind of story, but if you are writing that sort of thing, there are millions of books out there that all essentially say the same thing. But you can't skimp on character and conflict, in my opinion. If you've got your characters and your conflict right, the rest comes a lot easier. Community-wise, there's messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/index.php and www.triggerstreet.com . Keep in mind they're both populated by other struggling writers so if you put your work up there for people to review, the critiques can be pretty harsh. I've not much experience of Triggerstreet, but on Done Deal they tend to attack every bit of a script that doesn't follow the generic screenwriting books advice. But there are topics on there on all sorts of writing methods and so on that should prove helpful. My advice is read as much screenwriting advice as you can, but don't think any of it is gospel. Stick with the stuff that makes sense for what you're trying to write. I would say more than anything keep writing, and read as many screenplays as you can. If you need a source for screenplays, send me a PM and I'll point you in the right direction. From a personal perspective, I think a "vomit draft" where you just pound the screenplay out to the end in about a week (for a feature) without stressing/editing as you go, is very helpful to keep motivated. It usually turns out a bit shit but at least you've got something to work from then and you can always go in and make as many changes as you want later, to shape it just right. A newspaper last week had a filmmaking guide in it, that included a section on screenwriting: www.scribd.com/doc/38162313/How-to-film-GUARDIAN-specail-booklet-25-Sept-2010I'd also recommend: Blake Snyder's book/website/philosophy "Save the Cat!" And the Raindance Writer's Lab book: www.amazon.co.uk/Raindance-Writers-Lab-Write-Screenplay/dp/0240516362/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5 |
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Post by Gareth on Oct 7, 2010 20:57:41 GMT
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Post by sugarbeat on Oct 7, 2010 23:36:59 GMT
First of all, ask yourself what you want to write the script for. Is it just for yourself, or to show a few friends, or maybe an idea you'd like to film yourself? If it's for any of those reasons, you don't need to do a lot of reading. Just learn how to format a screenplay and write.
However, if you want to write professionally, especially in the spec script market, then you're going to have to have impeccible craft. And that will take time and considerable effort.
The books mentioned will all help; to which I'd add Writing the Charactered Centered Screenplay, How NOT to Write a Screenplay, and further down the road The Writer's Journey.
I think the most accessible (and no less well informed) book to start with is Save the Cat!; mentioned previously.
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Post by desmond22 on Oct 7, 2010 23:58:14 GMT
Thankyou very much, the pair of you. It's really good of you to put those links up for me and I'll definately use the refrences you both suggest
The "vomit draft" is a good idea, I've been writing parts of dialogue mainly and I have been meaning to just sit down and mercilessly write and see where it takes me. As we are on Meadows' forum you could probably guess I'm not a fan of the generic format in the Hollywood sense. I'm more into independant films so that method of writing might prove beneficial
Thanks again
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