SCREENWRITING: A Few Basic Suggestions For Those Starting Out

Hey, guys.

Over the past year or so, some of you have written me with questions about screenwriting.  I’ve done my best to respond to most of you, but I know there are a lot of people to whom I still owe responses and I sincerely apologize for the delay.  It’s just that I’ve been so busy with my own writing endeavors that I simply haven’t had the opportunity to help you with yours yet.  Judging by most of your queries, many of you already have an idea as to what story you would like to tell, but you aren’t exactly sure how to go about it – where the scrīpt should begin, how it should look on the page, etc.  If you haven’t the means to attend a screenwriting course at your local college or university, then I strongly suggest that you read the following books, particularly if you’re preparing to write your first feature and wish to verse yourself in Hollywood conventions:

“Screenplay” by Syd Field

“Making A Good scrīpt Great” by Linda Seger

The first book is referred to by many as the “screenwriter’s bible.”  It’s required reading in a lot of introductory screenwriting courses and has been for almost thirty years.  It also happens to be the first book I read on the subject and remains on my shelf to this day.  

I’m not sure how popular the second book is, but I find that it complements Field’s quite nicely.  Although Seger’s primary focus is on the rewriting process, she also covers the fundamentals while, at the same time, stressing specific points (e.g. the importance of your opening image, etc.).  Anyway, between the two books, you should glean a rather comprehensive overview of screenwriting.  

Most importantly, and I really can’t stress this enough, you need to read a lot of scrīpts.  You should read the great scrīpts (e.g. "Chinatown," "Three Days of the Condor," anything by Steven Zaillian, etc.)  But, perhaps even more importantly, you should read the BAD scrīpts.  In fact, in my opinion, you learn much more from reading a bad scrīpt that you do from reading a great scrīpt.  Copies of scrīpts can be purchased from Scrīpt City (www.scrīptcity.net) for about USD $15.  (Make sure you request single-sided rather than double-sided.)  Or, if that’s not in your budget, you can download them from websites like The Daily Scrīpt (www.dailyscrīpt.com).  Personally, I highly recommend reading PDF copies of scrīpts rather than HTMLs, since they preserve the words on the page as originally intended by the writers themselves.  

Anyway, since I hate people who pontificate, I think it’s probably best that I close by saying that I’m hardly an expert when it comes to this stuff.  In fact, to quote Dr. Frank Byrant from Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, “The only thing I know is that I know absolutely nothing.”

Best of luck in your endeavors,

-Dax

P.S. For those of you who’ve asked to read some of my own work (cough, cough, Mabelicious, cough), I regret to say that the producers have specifically requested that I not post the scrīpts in their entirety.  However, I have received permission to post the first 10-15 pages of several for reference purposes and they are available at the following links.  I hope they're helpful.

http://www.uploading.com/files/GS22J0GI/THE_KEEP.FIRST_FIFTEEN.pdf.html

http://www.uploading.com/files/3D053AJY/THE_KEY_TO_REBECCA.FIRST_FIFTEEN.pdf.html

http://www.uploading.com/files/E8CTOEVQ/TROTW.FIRST_TEN.pdf.html

http://www.uploading.com/files/TFYX8UPR/CTS.FIRST_FIFTEEN.pdf.html