Screenwriting is Fun - Start Now!

I wrote my first script about 10 years ago after winning a book called "Screenwriting - Tricks of the Trade" for a short story competition entry. I'd never thought about screenwriting before but the book was so motivating I thought I'd have a go. Three months later I had a finished telemovie screenplay. I'd found the process so exhilarating, I knew screenwriting would be my writing focus in the future.

Since then I've written several feature length scipts (none produced yet!) and had two short film scripts and two sitcom pilots produced by students.

1. Read books about screenwriting and read scripts - as many as you can.

2. Most importantly, actually write a script and work on it until you think it's good.

3. Join the Writers' Guild or equivalent association in your country. You'll get access to information and events of interest.

4. Go to events - whether they're little screenwriting seminars or student film screenings. Get involved (says she who almost never goes anywhere...)

5. Online or offline, make contact with film students looking for short scripts for their student projects. Submit your scripts.

Dave's House Poster by Bob.

Well into my adult life I decided to return to Uni and finish an Arts degree started many years before. I focussed on screenwriting and film and wrote several short scripts during my time at Uni.

I wrote a short film script - 'Dave's House'. Here is the premise -

Mick, penniless larrikan, breaks into Dave's House. During his visit he befriends Dave's dog and helps himself to breakfast. When Dave's ever-borrowing neighbour interrupts him, mistaking him for Dave's new boarder, and begins helping himself in Dave's kitchen, Mick gives him a piece of his mind and sends him packing. Mick isn't quick enough in his get away and he gets to meet Dave - Senior Constable Dave! But when Dave realises that his nuisance neighbour has taken a dislike to his 'new boarder' a creative punishment comes to mind!

I submitten the 'Dave's House' script to the local TAFE College. They were seeking short scripts for their students to produce. It was selected and produced.

All the TAFE films were screen at a local cinema. What a fabulous experience - seeing something you've written on a big screen and hearing people laugh (it was a comedy!).

Another fabulous experience followed - I was nominated for our state Screenwriting Award for the 'Dave's House' script.

Photo by BigTallGuy. Courtesy of Flickr.

A couple of years later Curtin University students asked me to write a short film for their Uni project and 'Flowers for Emily' was made. The story was about a homicide detective's hunt for his daughter's 'killer' after a hit and run accident on their suburban street.

It too was screened at a cinema and even better, won a 'best drama' award at a film festival.

Photo by Madaise. Courtesy of Flickr.

As a writer, all you want to do is write. You don't want to think about film budgets or how much a particular scene in your fabulously well written script will cost the producer. Unless you have personal connections to Hollywood producers with loads of money, you have to think about the film budget. Why? Because if you write a script that will cost $100 million to produce, there are a limited number of producers who would read it - and even then, probably only if they knew, or had at least heard of you. We all hear about exceptions - but they are just that, and vary rare.

Writing a low budget script means you can look for producers who are relatively new to the game themselves, and more likely to consider your screenplay.

How can you tell if your screenplay is high or low budget? Easy, the harder something is to achieve, the more it costs. For example, a car chase containing 6 vehicles or a crowd scene requiring 5000 people, will be expensive. Sometimes you can think of a clever way around things - if you want a car accident, you don't have to see the accident on screen. You can close a scene with a car driving out of view and then the sound of a crash, and open the next with the vehicle wreck, or your driver in hospital.

There's a bit of 'synchronicity' - as I'm writing this there are about 10 sirens buzzing their way towards my local intersection...

When you start out and you don't have any industry contacts, getting a producer to look at your script can be difficult. Finding an agent is likely to be even harder (a word of warning about that later). It's not impossible to get a producer to read your script - just a bit of hard work.

Here's my approach:

1. First, you have to have a good screenplay. Make your screenplay as good as it can be. Get a friend or another writer or two to read it, or have it assessed by a professional script editor.

2. Don't send or give your screenplay directly to a producer. It's considered polite to ask them first if they would be interested in reading it. You can do this by sending them a letter, very briefly (a couple of sentences) outlining the story. This gives them an idea whether it's the type of story they'd be interested in anyway. You might send out 10 of these letter and get only one reply, but that's life for a new screenwriter.

3. If you're invited to send your screenplay, make sure it's presented well and bound nicely, and that your contact details are on the cover. Don't be too disappointed if you don't get any further response. Again, that's life. Prior to sending your screenplay you might be asked to sign a document indicating that you understand the producer may see other similar ideas etc. This is quite normal. I don't have a problem signing it but I know some writers do. Generally, if you don't sign it they won't accept your screenplay.

4. Beward of people calling themselves agents who expect you to pay for being their client. Agents charge a commission not upfront fees and they're generally very fussy about who they take on. You've usually got to have some runs on the board (or know someone) to get on their books.

5. There's something to be said for going straight to the top but if you're targeting big name producers, the chances they'll read your script are relatively small. If you target newer producers you're more likely to get a hearing and you might even receive some quality feedback on your script.

6. When it comes to short films, you're really looking for student level producers. There are plenty of those. Hit the Internet and ring up the local colleges that run film courses to find out how you can let their students know you have short scripts for them to consider.

There's nothing like seeing your first script on the big screen - even if it's a short film and a student screening at the local cinema.

If you're into screenwriting, you're possibly going to come up against this issue at some time. I just love the debate about smoking in movies. Nobody would argue that smoking isn't bad for health or that smoking advertisements shouldn't be kept as far away from children as possible. Characters smoking on the big screen often draws criticism from those who say that it can influence young audience members in favor of smoking.

Now if you've watched my short film Dave's House or read the screenplay on my writing website you'll know that cigarettes are not only present, but lack of cigarettes is the catalyst for the burglary, and the dispute with Dave's neighbor. Nobody lights up on screen, but that's not really relevant. When the film was going into production, naturally someone raised the issue of smoking.

I laughed - because nobody raised the issue of committing a burglary on screen or the twisted ending in which the house owner, a police officer, makes the burglar move into his house to keep his ever-borrowing neighbor at bay - relegating burglary to a lesser crime that being a nuisance neighbor.

I laugh every time someone raises the subject of smoking on screen because it's clearly okay to kill people, blow up buildings and commit all manner of horrible acts - as long as you don't smoke while you're doing it. Quite simply, there's no logic to the argument that characters should not smoke on screen in movies for adults. If you're going to advance the argument that some audience members are likely to go out and do something just because an actor is doing it on screen, then there would seem to be many more serious acts you'd have to remove from our screens before you even begin to worry about the smoking issue.

In my opinion, if you want to write in a character who smokes, go ahead. If your film goes into production, the director or producer might have it written out and that's their business - your business is screenwriting so all you have to do is write the best screenplay that you can.

This can be a tricky subject for screenwriters and as my screenplays tend to contain a variety of people, I've come up against the objection that one shouldn't write in a substantial character with a culturally different background to your own. Is there any validity to the argument that if you're not of a particular race or culture, you can't accurately deipict a character from that race or culture? Personally, I think it's an area where caution is required. To write an entire screenplay about a culture other than the one you are familiar with would perhaps be unwise, unless of course, you have a good knowledge of the culture concerned and a consultant willing to assist ensure you don't get anything wrong. To write a single character is a different matter entirely.

I also believe that when you live in a multi-cultural society, to write a screenplay representing only people from your own cultural and/or educational background is to ignore the presence of others in your society. I find it's quite natural to write in a variety of characters because I experience that variety in everyday life. And people are people the world over. They share many concerns, motivations, attitudes, likes and dislikes.

If you believe that creating characters from a different cultural backgroud should be avoided at all costs, then if would follow that you cannot represent others with significantly different experiences to your own - like the disabled or the mentally ill, or even whose educational and social circumstances are different to your own. Yet all of these people are part of everyday society and have more similarities than they have differences. To me, character is about personality - so while you should take care to avoid negative stereotyping, the outer packaging of the character is secondary to the personality when you're writing a screenplay.

When you feel inspired to write a particular story, don't let anything put you off - write the best screenplay you can and if you need assistance or advice on particular characters, go in search of it.

I've now realized my dream to write full time and work at home. I operate a web content writing business Article Writers Australia. Of course, I'm so busy doing that at the moment I haven't much time for screenwriting - but I'm about to make time!