The First Steps to Screenwriting

I am often asked – by someone just starting out, or by a novelist or playwright who is contemplating switching disciplines – about the best way to begin pursuing a screenwriting career. So here are my ten steps to begin writing for movies or television. These initial activities won’t force you to mortgage your house, they’ll teach you a lot about both the art and craft of writing movies. And they will give you a good sense of whether screenwriting is truly your calling.

1. Get, and read, Writing Screenplays That Sell. It’s generally regarded as one of the essential books for learning the basic elements of story, structure, character, style and marketing, and it covers the entire process, from concept to sale. [In fairness, there are a number of other terrific books and DVDs for new screenwriters. But this is my web site and newsletter, so I’m just gonna plug my own….]

2. See AT LEAST two movies a week, and watch the good ones a second time, taking notes to see how they follow the principles you're reading about.

3. Go to www.dailyscript.com (plus other sites listed on the RESOURCES page of my web site) and begin downloading and reading screenplays for recent, successful movies. Read at least two scripts a week, and at least one of those should be in the genre of the story you want to write. Start with the screenplays for your favorite movies, then include scripts for movies you haven't seen before (renting the movie afterward to see you it matches what you’ve read), and scripts for recent movies that failed at the box office, to see where those went wrong.

4. Read whatever articles you can about both the business and craft of writing. Besides www.ScreenplayMastery.com, be sure to go to www.goasa.com, www.thewritersstore.com, www.wordplayer.com and www.creativescreenwriting.com. A little surfing will lead you to lots more sources of good information.

5. Subscribe to the Writers Store e-zine.

6. Pay attention to the film industry, particularly the box office performance of recent Hollywood films, and the current films or TV shows now in development at the studios and networks. Two outstanding web sites for getting this information are www.donedealpro.com, and www.boxofficemojo.com. You should also read the trade papers occasionally (Variety and The Hollywood Reporter).

7. Now that you’re flooding yourself with information, begin writing down all the possible story ideas you can (or have already) come up with.

8. After you have at least ten ideas for movies you think you’d have fun writing, pick the two or three you think have the greatest commercial potential, and write a brief outline of each.

9. If, at this point, you're still enjoying the whole process, watch my video with Chris Vogler, The Hero's 2 Journeys. This will give you a lot more skill at structuring your story and developing your characters.

10. Write the first draft of your screenplay.

         By the time you complete the first draft, you’ll know if this career path is for you – or at least if you’re passionate enough about it to continue through several rewrites, until it’s ready to get feedback from friends, contacts, your writers group, or a script consultant. Then you’ll be ready to start pitching it and marketing it to script competitions, at pitch fests, and to agents, production companies and financiers.

         If you do choose to go forward, pick up another book or two on the craft, begin looking for a lecture, conference or screenwriting seminar that matches your own screenwriting goals, and begin pursuing script competitions.

         Of course, it’s possible to hire a coach to guide you through this whole process from the beginning; I often work with clients from the very beginning stages of their story concepts. But if you’re not ready for that commitment of time and money yet, begin by going through these first ten steps on your own.

         One last word of advice: if you only have ONE idea you want to see made into a movie, but you know going into this that you don’t want to pursue screenwriting as a career, then just acquire the rights to the story and market it in treatment form to production companies, with yourself attached as a producer. Screenwriting is not a one-shot endeavor – it’s a career that requires passion, education and commitment.