How to write a screen play....

no offense,
but I couldnt read your last few posts, for all the smoke you just blew up my ass.

__________________
it's better to have loved and lost
than to live with the psycho
for the rest of your life

No offense taken. The tongue-in-cheek-deliberately-pricky nature of my post was just that.



I'm sure Chris got it.
And in the end, that's all that matters.


Sorta, yeah.

I believe that you can become a good writer and develop talent, but I believe it's very hard for a good writer to become a great writer. It can be done, but it's darned rare. I don't consider myself to be a great writer, but I'm working on it. It's a hard step to take. I believe you ultimately need talent in order to write well, yes. Don't you?

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www.esotericrabbit.com

I'll agree completely, in fact, wayyyyyyy back on the 2nd page, I said just that. These people were asking him to make them great writers, and he plainly told them the truth, in order to become a fantastic writer, it will require some natural talent.

I too am working my ass off to make that step, but, it's hard. Really hard.

__________________
"We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm."
--Winston Churchill

To be perfectly blunt, I think I have the potential.

I just don't have the life experience, which brings us back to the first square of the agrument where people were arguing that you don't require said life experience...

But, me shying away from a pointless argument in which I am sure to deliberately annoy, that being my 99.9% evil streak, have a new topic to discuss:

Screenplay wise, what have people written and what are people writing?

Whoa. I have to point this out, Mattly...you said you don't consider yourself to be a great writer, but then you go on to say you're working on it. By your own standards you've set for writing...you'll never be great; unless you're that damned "rare occasion" you speak of.

And of course it takes talent to write. Some people are born writers; naturals...and some work at it; like you for instance. You said so yourself...you're learning.
Quite a contradiction to some of your earlier statements, doll-face.

All of the following posted by me:

And via Sadie:

I might be, I might not be. I don't recall ever saying that I'm going to be a great writer. In fact, I didn't say that. I said that it's a very hard step for someone to be able to take and it israre. As you said, some people are born great writers. That's right. Most of the great writers were born great writers. A few of them were good writers who became great writers, but those people are rare. I don't recall saying I am to become a great writer, but yes, I'm working on it, I may as well try. I know I have the talent of a good writer, I may as well keep working. But no, I don't recall every saying that I would be a great writer. Hm.

Didn't say that either.

Don't talk to me about contradictions...

...doll-face.

hmmm....
seems strange to me that you were born with the ability to put noun to verb. Everyone else I have ever met in real life had to be shown how to do this task. Much less. Born with the knowlegde of how to put several lines of related noun to verb sequances together for something that would make since.

Wow. Now that it dawns on me, you are the ONLY person I have ever heard of this with, well you and the prick that wrote that letter. Makes me want to meet you even more.

ummm why waste your time right, you said yourself you either have it or you dont.

--------------------------------

arghhh all sarcasm asside: (well almost all)

See, I think anyone can LEARN to write. Yes, it will come easier to some then others, just like math is easier for some, and baseball to others. Anyone, can even learn to be a good writer. Just as the kid that never hits the ball in tee-ball CAN become the next Babe Ruth. Hell even Tiger Woods child prodigy was TAUGHT how to play golf by his pappy. Yes he had was BORN to do it, BUT he had to be TAUGHT how to use his talent. There is no-one on this planet that everytime they sit down and put pen to paper it turns out some msterpiece.There are howerver some good writers out there that have a few INCREDIBLE pieces of work. Case and Point=Good Will Hunting. The original screenplay is awesome. Ben & Matt are good writers And they sure as hell produced a GREAT screenplay. Does this mean every time they sit down what flows from with in is Great. hmmm... no.

See...
I started this thread because I have been going to write a book for now on 3 years. I have the idea for the book, and I think it will be a good one. Now, that --being a true story-- has some elements to it that would make one hell of a movie ( I think anyways.) So now I would not only like to make my book. Which is all fact. But would also like to produce a work of fiction from it.

[Chris, if you are thinking to our converstion of why I was upset the other day, yes you are correct that would be the event.]

My book is coming along fine. I figure maybe another year before complete.

But when I sit down at look at my notes for what I want to go on in my work of fiction all I get is ....BLAH.... I am having a blockage of some sort on getting my notes into a story like form, to make the screenplay.

The timeline thing was a great idea and it helped but something is still not clicking. I am not sure what it is.


I think somewheres in this heated little thread, someone put to the effect of dont write a screenplay because you saw a movie and thought you could write one like that. Write one if you have a story to tell....

Thats what I would like to do. Thats why I am all
I didint post this thread thinking someone would post back saying basically "bugger off, you suck." hehehe. I expected "when I have writers block I.... " or "I read somewhere that so&so does this....." definatley NOT "well if your struggling then you weren't born with it, so you might as well forget it."

BLAH... that guy that wrote that little letter sux ass IMO.


and true to my philosophy on life I say "FU** 'im!"

Firstly, the technical act of writing was not in question, and you know that.




Secondly, I'm glad you have a story to tell. I like that.
I'm also going to point out, I gave encouragement and tips, and then posted an opinionative little thing, which I enjoyed reading. I never said don't do it. And for that. I am glad.

My arguments to the mis-quoting Sadie still stand.

There's no need to get testy. I'm just pointing out the fact that you make it sound like it's so damned difficult for anyone to become a great writer, unless they're born with a gift. Then you go on to say you're working on being great. I just think you're coming off a little cocky, that's all.

Besides, I didn't mis-quote you. I might have misunderstood...

I know I am the one that started this thread, but I have found some interesting things surfing the net I found USEFUL, and thought I would post some of 'em here incase anyone else was interested.

Tips from FilmJerk
* Write what we see, not the internal thoughts of the character.
* Story is the backbone of the script, even in a comedy.
* Develop your characters, and stay true to them. Don't force them into actions that seem out of place.
* Don't write you and your friends. Write characters that are actually interesting. Characters which people would want to watch for two hours.
* Don't write about mundane everyday life. Most people get enough of that in reality and will not be willing to pay to see that on screen.
* Excessive foul language or sexuality will not make your story better or cooler.
* Continual references to other movies are not cool, and will more often than not take the viewer out of your story.
* The first five pages of your script should not be voice over narration.
* Avoid sudden changes in character as explained through some radical event. People don't just change that drastically even under extreme circumstances. There has to be hints of it earlier. Hook endings also need to have a basis within the story.
* Know where to end your movie. Find that point and stick to it.



sites of interest:
http://www.wordplayer.com/
http://www.scriptmag.com/

MovieBytes list of contests: http://www.moviebytes.com/partners/script.cfm

Also there are several Programs out there that will help write a screenplay. Personally, I have Final Draft. It seems user friendly though I have not to date completed a screenplay using it.
A friend of mine has Movie Magic and it is no-where near as USER-FRIENDLY as Final Draft.

I think these rules are just as obnoxious as the ones that Matt found, even more so, because this guy tries to tell you how to make your movie. Thats ridiculous, unless this guy has won some very prestigious awards, and even if he has won awards, he is in no place to tell anyone how to make movies. No one should, or could, ever do that.

well I didnt find this stuff offensive. atleast this guy isnt saying you CANT do it. he is just offering his opinion on how to best go about it. nothing pompous over arogant bout that.

I dont mind advice and/or critique. But dont tell me I CANT.

I think that some of the people who seem to know everything about everything are way to young to know everything.

I started writing poetry and short stories about twenty years ago just for amusement. I even had one published in the paper at 13. Big deal right? Too me it was. I thought that my main purpose in life was to write. I've tried to write a novel, but I lack patience. Which, I believe, is a virtue every writer should possess. I've never come close to finishing it.

About 8 years ago I thought I would take a crack at writing screenplays. My problem was I had no idea how. So I bought a handful of books, some I liked, some I didn't, and started to learn the format. Now if I was born a writer, I guess I should have known already the format for a Hollywood screenplay, but alas I was only human, to my dismay.

I never paid attention to what the author's of the books I had boughten had to say on what I should write. I did however, pay attention to what reasons screeners would automatically throw my screenplay into the garbage. I did pay attention to what type of paper, pins, cover letter, length of story, etc, I should use. I had to learn how to write my screenplay.

I moved to West Hollywood and stayed in a hostile behind Manns Chinese Theater, on Orange Blvd and Vine. I have to say this, that city can eat you up like a Black Widow with PMS and a hangnail. Everything I had thought I learned in the books was NOTHING compared to what I learned in the 3 months I spent down there. It was some of the hardest days of my life, and I lived on the streets in my youth and been involved in a war. I was told that my screenplay had potential. That my ideas were exceptional and the feelings I portrayed through the characters was riviting. My biggest problem was the FORMAT!!!!

I had to come home because I had no money left and the job I had at the W had come to an end. I was hungry and tired, and back on the streets. When I got back I stayed with my Brother and fell in love with his wife's sister. Eventually we got married and along came Jessica, my youngest daughter. During my seperation and subsequent divorce six years later, I lost my play. Someday I will try again.

I think writing a great screenplay takes guts, determination, doggedness, and heart. The talent is in your imagination, and writing can can be learned. As long as you have talent.

__________________
"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

This is so very exactly what we were trying to say. I have never maintaned that good writing can't be learned, but I have agreed that, to succeed in the business, and to write a great screenplay, talent is a neccessity.

As far as you're comment that talent is imaginary, and then your comment that writing can be learned. I'm confused, the two comments seem to be contradictory, I don't know, so in the above statement, I've used my interpretation.

I meant that the talent is in the imagination, not the writing skill. The writing skill can be learned if you have the determination to learn it. I just wanted to post my experience on the subject.

Maybe so, but I never said that I was born with a gift.
Working on something is different from learning something. There's a difference between the format of a piece of work and the story etc. of a piece of work. I don't think you can learn how to write a good story, you can only work on making it better. You can learn format, and I've never disputed that. I don't think you can learn to write a good story, you can work on writing good stories, but that's different. You can learn the technical aspects of an art form, but the creative part really can't be learnt. I honestly believe that. So call me ignorant and cocky, not that you all haven't already.

I assume you're talking about me.
I don't know everything about everything and never said I did. I'm entitled to my opinions on writing, as are all of you fine people. I might argue, but please. You're basically saying young people can't know stuff. Well, shucks.

And Sades, I wasn't be testy.
That's not my bag, baby.

I apologize to myself for starting this thread

You got what you wanted out of it though, no?
I trust the timeline thing helped in some way?

Well, kind of Bullet. But not really. I'm generalizing, I was younger once, and still young by some peoples standards, and I thought I had all the answers. You seem fairly confident that you have it all figured out at your age of...16? You know how often I have looked back on my life and thought, "what an idiot"? Only every year. Life is a never ending journey of discovery, the learning literally never ends. I was really just trying to share my experience, to prove that there are no easy answers. Also, that my opinion that talent is imagination, and that writing is skill. Talent cannot be learned, yet skill can. I went out to discover what I could do, and I believe that I still can, someday, become a good storyteller. My imagination is immense, I literally have eight movies in my mind and on tape(dialouge on tape, because I think of that mostly at night in bed). My biggest problem is that I had a miserable childhood. Between the ages of 12-17, I lived on the streets and spent time in jail, then I joined the army and went to the Gulf. I never had the benifit of a formal education past the 7th grade. But I believed in my talent enough, and my mind enough, to try and learn the skill of writing so I could use my talent. Because the main way to never become a great writer, is to never try.

I'm not knockin' ya, no worries

That's exactly right.
But I don't think literary greatness can be learnt, but developed. As I've said, it's a hard step to take, and I'm trying to take it and others are trying to take it, just through constantly writing. And that's a good thing.

My major argument with the entire process is the word learn.

But I understand.
I'm planning on thinking myself an idiot once a month.