Words on the page beats no words on the page every time. I'm with you, no more blank page 33 today!
Solid list. Luhrman was operating on another frequency for the time. Rewatched R+J a few weeks ago and it fully holds up.
Boogie Nights
Buffalo 66
Then bit it a cheat but reading Rebel Without a Crew basically rewired my brain and I haven’t been the same since.
Write your first drafts shaggy.
Let the dialogue ramble. Over explain the plot. Start scenes early and end them late.
Do whatever it takes to keep those fingers moving and those pages filling.
Rewriting comes later. In your first draft give yourself permission to just write.
#scriptsky #filmsky
If it’s getting finished, it’s going well. Nonsense can be improved. Blank pages can go on forever. You got this.
Write what you know gets a bad rap. It implies you can't write what you don't know, which is far too limiting.
I think of it more so as write what you care to know.
Because if you don't care about what you're writing, your reader/audience sure as heck won't either.
#scriptsky #filmsky
Huge!! Congrats and cheers!
Maybe my least favorite kind of note is the "I didn't understand this one aspect of what you were going for, so here's my pitch on how to do it all completely differently".
If you get this note, don't be deterred. There's a confusing thing that could be more clear. That's the takeaway.
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The solution is always conflict.
One character tells another something they already know. Yawn, right?
Ditch the “As you know” preface. Let the recipient object to being patronized.
Now the scene is more than just delivering information. It has stakes and a dynamic we can invest in.
#scriptsky
This is wrong the industry buys bad scripts and makes them into bad movies all the time so all you need to do is write one script and just be even slightly better than all the bad ones being bought and made and then you will win screenwriting and all your old teachers will agree they misjudged you
One thing leads to another has been replaced by cut to the chase.
That doesn’t mean you have to kill the first act of your screenplay. Far from it.
You just have to get good at delivering detail in shorthand. It’s all still there, just leaner (and maybe even a little bit meaner).
#scriptsky
POV is a powerful force that takes time for budding screenwriters to harness.
If you’ve ever gotten the note that it’s unclear who the protagonist or antagonist is, you’re not alone.
Muddy POV is common when starting out, but a must to clarify if you want to write a great screenplay.
#scriptsky
You can go overboard with outlining.
You barely know the characters, they're bound to shape the story in more interesting ways as you write them into the screenplay.
A rigid outline risks becoming a set of shackles, rather than a platform for diving into your story’s true potential.
#scriptsky
Indeed. I hear those things take… time.
If the plug is hard to reach you can just turn the cold dial all the way down rather than unplugging. And set reminders to turn it up again when your on break so your food doesn’t suffer from no cold all day.
I sometimes wonder how many danger-chasing inciting incidents could have be assuaged if the protagonist just took a beat and drank a glass of water to clear their mind.
See also, screenwriters suffering from writers block.
Dehydration: The silent killer.
Drink up!
#scriptsky
The takeaway for me is that accurately rating art is a tall task. With a 70% accuracy rate, you can get very close to certainty with just a few people rating your script. That’s an incredibly small (minuscule, really) sample size for that level of fidelity.
For what it’s worth, this level of accuracy is better than what Hollywood tends toward. Roughly 40-60% of tv series are cancelled after one season. 50-70% of movies don’t break even. Accurately assessing art is challenging. Being in alignment ~70% of the time is honestly impressive.
Best of luck with your screenwriting.
If I’ve misunderstood your message where you twice asked ~but are you as good as that writer~, I’m happy to be told what I missed. Not trying to start an argument at all. Telling others to stop doing something that you concede can work is just a tad on the confrontational side tho, don’t you think?
Sorry but if the reason to not do something that works on the screen is “but they’re better than me” then you might as well hang up your typing gloves. The whole point is to strive for that level of writing. I’m genuinely curious where you draw the line. What else do pros do that the aspiring can’t?
I hear you on that but would encourage any screenwriter serious about the craft to disavow this notion of it all being a lottery. The scripts that make it to the top of any comp worth their admission fee get there on merit and merit alone. Extraordinary writing, not random chance, is how you win.
If polish means you moved around some commas, then you’re basically buying another lottery ticket and hoping fortune favours you this time.
If you put meaningful work in and it’s a substantial improvement that you think has a honest to goodness chance, that’s what submitting again is there for.
Most screenwriters, most people, don’t want feedback. They want to be told they’re good and they’re bound for greatness.
For that reason alone, they never will be.
The best screenwriters crave constructive criticism. It’s what sets them apart, and gives them a real fighting chance.
#scriptsky
I hear you on that. Fortunately, all we have to do is focus on the work and everything else falls away.
Formatting and networking have a lot in common.
Necessary evils.
Norms and expectations.
Some find it easier than others.
But most of all, it’s that the work itself is a thousand times more important.
The work is what will get you there. Everything else is just formatting.
#scriptsky
You’re writing a script about a killer shark, reach Act 3 and need to figure out how to kill this unkillable monster. What if it chomps on an oxygen tank and blows itself up? That could work but must be set up earlier. So this week’s #Scriptsky #Screenwriting thread is on PLANTS AND PAYOFFS.
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This is sort of the opposite of how they do it in the Harry Potter movies, where early in the second act Harry is gifted a very nifty thing, that he demos using then puts in his back pocket to be taken out in the third act as the exact solution to his climactic problem.
Standalone joke is great because it gives the impression the payoff has already come so there’s no more expectation from that element of the story. The audience isn’t left thinking, oh that random thing is probably important, because they now believe its importance has already been served.
FYI amazing opportunity alert!
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