'thejon93' Gives You Tips on "How to Write a Screenplay"

[thejon93]

Okay, let's kick this bad boy off right away...

Lesson #1:
Refrain from letting your obsession with a certain something get to you! For if you plan on writing a screenplay off of that fandom... you may not feel like completing the screenplay afterall.

Lesson #2:
Think your story and characters through first! Never just jump right away into making a screenplay with just one simple idea for an action sequence, or a speech, etc. Wonder where that will get you?... Nowhere.

Lesson #3:
Read and review other people's screenplays and works while/before/after making your own! Serious writers always appreciate the praise or criticisms you give them, it's even better if you expand your thoughts and feelings on the piece (bad or good, it'll help).

Lesson #4:
Make sure you're enjoying the whole process! There's nothing worse to writing than to have a chip on your shoulder. And sometimes that chip may be there for your frustrations over writing all together. Try and fit your writing neatly into your daily life, and you may find it coming along easier.

Lesson #5:
Study people! Now, this doesn't mean to "stalk" people. This simply means for you to observe the actions of people you know, or people you don't. How do they act when they're bored? How do they speak? Are they comfortable in groups? And a whole variety of other questions can be answered by simply observing people through their daily lives.

Lesson #6:
Don't steal ideas from other works/movies! The one thing you should never do if you look to take your screenplay out of the generic territory is base it off of other writer's works or movies. You know what you want to see, you just have to find a way to...

Lesson #7:
Format your writing! Proper grammar, neat organization, etc, is essential if you want others to read your screenplay. If your writing's as bad as this: "tha dUnki w4N# 2 h0U$e 4 d!nmur", or worse... you should probably either A) Pay closer attention to your writing courses in school, B) Stay off of 'Twitter' or 'MSN' or whichever places may provoke should writing or C) Simply begin to write properly; if you don't know how to spell a particular word, look it up! The internet can be a wonderful place sometimes too, you know.

Lesson #8:
Don't rush your writing! Afterall, you're not working for Hollywood yet (or are you?). If you're ready to go on vacation for a month or two and you're caught frantic about whether or not to finish writing... Don't. Have fun on your vacation and quit worrying. Live like a human, not like a robot.

Lesson #9:
Read a book! You may consider this to be the equivalent to watching a movie, but it's not. Reading can expand your imagination even further to picture what you'd like to see up on the big-screen... Which, in reality, is what your screenplay could eventually be translated into.

Lesson #10:
If you have any questions... ask somebody! Or, better yet, ask in this thread. Where I, or somebody visiting this thread, could happily help answer your important question.

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Anyhow, I hope this thread comes as a help to all of you writers visiting this thread. And, thank you for reading.

 

[YoungE808]

It helped!

 

[thejon93]

Good to know, youngster

Lesson #11:
Keep it relatively short! One of the most annoying things about reading screenplays online is generally how awkward you can sometimes feel when doing so. This especially occurs, however, when the writer writes in one post for (seemingly) decades. If you want to catch the reader's attention (online, at least), try to throw gaps in-between selected sequences. When you finally reach the maximum, write the remainder in another post. If you have more to post, repeat. It's a relatively easy process that will help others (actually) enjoy reading your hardwork, rather than have the hardwork itself suffer by hyper-extended page lengths typed in ever so small print (as seen through some of the reader's eyes).

 

[thejon93]

Lesson #12:
If you're not feeling it, don't write it! Let's say that you're midway through the scriptwriting process and you end up really bored with what you're working on. If so, give it up or come back to it later. I know that personally when I jumped onto this 'Spider-Man 4' fan-fic I had some good ideas and stuff, but right now... I'm just not feeling it (don't be surprised if it disappears for a while and a new fan-fic appears in later days by yours truly). If you're bored by writing something, simply stop there and either give it a break or leave it alone; for (like I said before) we're only writers, not robots.

 

[Arcturus]

*Subscribes*

Very informative. I think it'll help me for sure.

Thanks for posting it up!

 

[thejon93]

*Subscribes*

Very informative. I think it'll help me for sure.

Thanks for posting it up!

No problem, mate. I find that it's helping myself out quite a bit with writing. Thanks again, Arcturus.

 

[thejon93]

Lesson #13:
Keep things original! So much of what we read and see, or even hear, nowadays has become so "inspired by the past" that it actually makes us wish that we were back in the past to view some original content. You look at the large percentage of films nowadays, and when you go back to view the classics, and you'll realize how uninspired the movies these days have become. The only thing that we can rely on today is to try and imagine something that hasn't been uncovered. Whether it be in style, character, story, action, etc. Anything new would be nice to view, and imagination can never wear thin (only in Hollywood).

 

[Malone]

Great thread, man; I love writing and I am always looking to improve my work. Your tips were pretty good.

 

[thejon93]

Great thread, man; I love writing and I am always looking to improve my work. Your tips were pretty good.

Thanks, mate. Always nice to help out a fellow writer. Hope you can help keep the art alive

Lesson #14:
Plan ahead of writing! If you have a simple idea that you want to write about, great. But if you really wish to make it "great", be sure to plan ahead of writing. Start by writing down you're idea. Then, try and expand it by adding characters, settings and other such elements into the mix to make it appear complete. Think your characters through. How do they act? How do they move? How do they communicate? Ask yourself. If you're writing a drama, or something simular, try and keep their characteristics subtle. And not over-the-top; which is only good for the comedy genre.

 

[Milu]

Entertaining and informative .

 

[thejon93]

Entertaining and informative .

Thanks, Milu. Really appreciate it

Lesson #15:
Know your locations! More often then ever, writers taking part in the screenwriting process have to set-up not only characters and storylines. But they must also set-up interior and exterior locations for the action to take place. If you're no good with geography, no problem. Find an in-depth map of the location where the story is taking place (if not more). If it's all in your imagination, draw a fictional map to help you sort things out. Interiors and exteriors are extremely crucial for action/adventure movies. Never has a movie of one of those genres taken place in one location, so that's why it should be best to know your locations.

 

[MadVillainy]

I have a question. How do writers like Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland (writers for the Wonder WOman movie) copyright a script thats based on a character thats owned by somebody else?

 

[thejon93]

I have a question. How do writers like Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland (writers for the Wonder WOman movie) copyright a script thats based on a character thats owned by somebody else?

Hmm... I'm not really sure about that, but I'm certain that it has something to do with whether or not the studios themselves co-exist. I suppose Warner's making the upcoming movie, so I'd assume that it'd be fine for any writer (hired by the company) to develop the screenplay with/without agreement from DC.

 

[devil dinosaur]

Nice thread, not much of a writer myself, but it's on my to do list

Enjoyed reading these lessons, keep em coming!

 

[thejon93]

Nice thread, not much of a writer myself, but it's on my to do list

Enjoyed reading these lessons, keep em coming!

Haha. Thanks for stopping by, mate.

 

[thejon93]

Bumpity... Bump, Bump. Bumpity... Bump, Bump. This Thread, Will Not Go...

 

[Doctor Jones]

Ah, very imformative. This really helps.

Matter of fact I was reading a Terry Rossio tip on some website about writing screenplays as well.

I can write in long periods, the most is 50 pages a day. The least is one. SOmetimes I'll just get tired typing.

 

[thejon93]

Ah, very imformative. This really helps.

Matter of fact I was reading a Terry Rossio tip on some website about writing screenplays as well.

I can write in long periods, the most is 50 pages a day. The least is one. SOmetimes I'll just get tired typing.

50 pages? Darn, you're quick. When writing my 'Amazing Spider-Man' script, I could write about 10-25 pages in a day. Mainly, I prefer to focus on the plot I want to go with. Then, go in and decide which characters to use. Then, start writing down some ideas I've had envisioned earlier. Writing screenplays really is something that I would love to become involved with later-on. Hell, I even plan on becoming a director at some point in my future. It's never too soon, or late, to start.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I want to become a director as well. So my script features alot of camera angles. Regular screenwriters can't really do that. If they do I think it's called over directing.

When you talk about originality, since I'm writing Left 4 Dead, a survival zombie movie, there are alot of instances where you could fall into the trap of doing homages. Which is something I don't want to do at all.

I'm going for horror survival with some comedic elements to it. Like what Raimi does minus the slapstick. Just to give the movie a sense of humor. There are some parts of the script where Zoey acknowledges cliches of zombie movies or horror movies. I don't know if I should leave that in or not.

And characters with dialogue. How far can you go to get characters bickering or a character being the funnier one where he or they don't become annoying?

 

[The Squirrel]

Good tips. I like. I currently only have one full Short movie script that runs 16 pages.

 

[The Squirrel]

I want to become a director as well. So my script features alot of camera angles. Regular screenwriters can't really do that. If they do I think it's called over directing.

I want to direct my own scripts as well. But I don't think I put angles in. Except for maybe a few key camera movements that are important to the story. Angles are something I can work out with my DP.

 

[thejon93]

I want to become a director as well. So my script features alot of camera angles. Regular screenwriters can't really do that. If they do I think it's called over directing.

When you talk about originality, since I'm writing Left 4 Dead, a survival zombie movie, there are alot of instances where you could fall into the trap of doing homages. Which is something I don't want to do at all.

I'm going for horror survival with some comedic elements to it. Like what Raimi does minus the slapstick. Just to give the movie a sense of humor. There are some parts of the script where Zoey acknowledges cliches of zombie movies or horror movies. I don't know if I should leave that in or not.

And characters with dialogue. How far can you go to get characters bickering or a character being the funnier one where he or they don't become annoying?

Just make it subtle to yourself and the audience. Don't try and force your point, or you'll end up simply forcing it down your audience's throats without having them really care about it. Make everything seem subtle. From characters, to the story, etc. It's best to keep everything flowing.

Good tips. I like. I currently only have one full Short movie script that runs 16 pages.

Sweet. What's it about?

I want to direct my own scripts as well. But I don't think I put angles in. Except for maybe a few key camera movements that are important to the story. Angles are something I can work out with my DP.

Editorial moments are really the only technical things I like to worry about. I don't like to bring in cameras and what-not because that should be discussed with yourself, the cast and the crew either during post-production or principal photography. Basically, I just like to add in little moments like "CUT TO" or "FADE TO" to remind the audience that we're switching our perspectives. Whether it be a new area or character we're focusing on, just give the audience some reminder.

 

[The Squirrel]

Sweet. What's it about?

Editorial moments are really the only technical things I like to worry about. I don't like to bring in cameras and what-not because that should be discussed with yourself, the cast and the crew either during post-production or principal photography. Basically, I just like to add in little moments like "CUT TO" or "FADE TO" to remind the audience that we're switching our perspectives. Whether it be a new area or character we're focusing on, just give the audience some reminder.

1. It's nothing to original in all honesty. It's about a kid who tries to become a vigilante to avenge his friend's murder.

2. The only mention of the camera I make is how the script ends. It ends with a car driving into the camera and everything going white into the credits. So I just described it as the car driving into the camera and enveloping it in white.

 

[thejon93]

1. It's nothing to original in all honesty. It's about a kid who tries to become a vigilante to avenge his friends murder.

2. The only mention of the camera I make is how the script ends. It ends with a car driving into the camera and everything going white into the credits. So I just described it as the car driving into the camera and enveloping it in white.

Haha. You know what, I actually had a story I wrote that was very simular to that concept. It was kind of a rip-off of 'Batman', only it was about a kid fighting bullies past midnight. It was a pretty dumb concept, overall. And, it was pretty much just coming off of the success of 'The Dark Knight'.

Oh, I see. It's fine to tell an opening or beginning like that. Some people like to write in their screenplays how the story opens and/or ends. It's mainly there to tell the producer if there's any footage that's going to be playing during the credits that's worth capturing.

 

[The Squirrel]

Haha. You know what, I actually had a story I wrote that was very simular to that concept. It was kind of a rip-off of 'Batman', only it was about a kid fighting bullies past midnight. It was a pretty dumb concept, overall. And, it was pretty much just coming off of the success of 'The Dark Knight'.

There's a joke in the script that I like, where a gang member makes fun of the kid by making reference to batman. It really is a "just-for-fun" script that I hope to shoot myself some day.