Ever try to write a screenplay?

[gunhilltrain]

I'm sure some people here have.

I was fooling around with some about fifteen years ago. The upside: it was a good way to practice dialogue and characterization. The downside: I wasn't even close to following good screenwriting practices. The scenes were far too long. The one script I came closest to finishing would have had a running time of - I don't know, maybe five hours? Hey, it's a mini-series!

Even Terrance Malick had to cut the length of his movies.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've been working on one for a while. I'm still enthusiastic about the concept but the actual writing of it is going at a snail's pace. It's interesting, because it follows completely different guidelines from any other kind of writing.

 

[KeithD]

I'm sure some people here have.

I was fooling around with some about fifteen years ago. The upside: it was a good way to practice dialogue and characterization. The downside: I wasn't even close to following good screenwriting practices. The scenes were far too long. The one script I came closest to finishing would have had a running time of - I don't know, maybe five hours? Hey, it's a mini-series!

Even Terrance Malick had to cut the length of his movies.

I worked on daily scrubs of movie scripts during filming (folding in director changes overnight for the next day's filming) and have written a few one-act plays, but I didn't manage too well in trying to write screenplays from scratch. There were no templates for it when I was working with them.

 

[SamScribble]

Yes, I wrote screenplays for a few years. I was also hired to re-write several screenplays by other writers. Dialogue in particular.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

A couple of my stories I started to write as screenplays after I published them here. I even downloaded a tool for doing them. After a while I found that I really wasn't that interested in doing it anymore.

 

[visioneer]

I've read screenplays for a few classic movies, and doing so gave insight into writing tight dialogue and lean scenes. Writing one is on my bucket list, but rather than writing a standalone screenplay, I'm intrigued by the idea of incorporating pieces of one into a "movie within a movie" type of story.

 

[gunhilltrain]

A couple of my stories I started to write as screenplays after I published them here. I even downloaded a tool for doing them. After a while I found that I really wasn't that interested in doing it anymore.

I might go in the other direction of writing stories - actually series - from what remains of the screenplays I tried. Prose seems to offer more leeway because it doesn't have the tight time requirements of scripts. I still admire anyone who has the discipline of writing a tight, usable script that can be filmed.

 

[sweetandeasy]

A few years back I entered the NYC Screenwriting Challenge, which still runs every year. I'd never written a screenplay but it sounded like a fun challenge. At least back then, you'd get an "assignment" at midnight and then you and everyone else in your group has 24 (or maybe 48) hours to write a 5-page single-spaced screenplay based on a specific three-way prompt (setting, genre, object). Then you get scores and receive comments from the screenwriter judges, and the top two in each group move onto the next round with a new prompt.

Just checked and it's still around, though the latest contest just ran in July. It's fun and weird and worth trying if you just want to push yourself in a new direction.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've tried, on and off, to write a script for a TV drama. I need a bit more plot and to practise showing character solely by dialogue and action, when you can't just write down their thoughts - I know some series have voiceover but that's a bit if a cheat without good reason.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I've read screenplays for a few classic movies, and doing so gave insight into writing tight dialogue and lean scenes. Writing one is on my bucket list, but rather than writing a standalone screenplay, I'm intrigued by the idea of incorporating pieces of one into a "movie within a movie" type of story.

That could work - would it be a little like Barton Fink? Perhaps it could be written as prose; it could be about a screenwriter's struggle to write a script. Some of his or her script efforts could be incorporated into the story.

There's some of that in Sunset Boulevard too. I think bits of Joe Gillis's script - or at least his ideas about it - make it into the overall movie.

Then there could be interference from other people - the producers perhaps, maybe the star actor - and demands for rewrites. There is a lot that could be done with it.

 

[vanmyers86]

A few years back I entered the NYC Screenwriting Challenge, which still runs every year. I'd never written a screenplay but it sounded like a fun challenge. At least back then, you'd get an "assignment" at midnight and then you and everyone else in your group has 24 (or maybe 48) hours to write a 5-page single-spaced screenplay based on a specific three-way prompt (setting, genre, object). Then you get scores and receive comments from the screenwriter judges, and the top two in each group move onto the next round with a new prompt.

Just checked and it's still around, though the latest contest just ran in July. It's fun and weird and worth trying if you just want to push yourself in a new direction.

That sounds like something I would enjoy!

I've co-written one and started a couple of others. None went anywhere, but I enjoyed trying a different discipline.

 

[masterandmargarita]

I've been on literotica hiatus for years, focused on screenwriting. The hardest thing about screenwriting, assuming you haven't been hired to do it, is the lack of an audience to read it. You can join a writers group, pay to post it on a script site like blacklist, pay someone to review it, pay to submit it to contests and festivals. The costs add up quickly. This makes sense because the actual audience is waiting for the finished product: a movie or TV show that loosely resembles what you wrote. I'm not trying to be negative, it is still worth doing. It sharpens your brain and challenges you to learn a new way of writing. It also keeps the dream alive. If my mainstream work ever made it to the big/small screen, that would be my legacy. I'd be screenwriter of such-and-such movie instead of guy who writes about blowjobs. But for now, back to blowjobs.

 

[SamScribble]

The hardest thing about screenwriting, assuming you haven't been hired to do it, is the lack of an audience to read it.

I got lucky. My first attempt at a screenplay was an adaptation of a Dickens story. My then-agent thought that it was good enough to forward on to a producer. The producer rejected it but decided that I somehow had the chops and gave me the opportunity to work on a 'live' project. What's that old saying? Better to be born lucky than to be born rich? Something like that.

 

[masterandmargarita]

I got lucky. My first attempt at a screenplay was an adaptation of a Dickens story. My then-agent thought that it was good enough to forward on to a producer. The producer rejected it but decided that I somehow had the chops and gave me the opportunity to work on a 'live' project. What's that old saying? Better to be born lucky than to be born rich? Something like that.

It sounds like your screenplay was so good it won you a gig, no luck needed

 

[gunhilltrain]

Screenplays must be different again from stage plays. I imagine that the latter is much more dependent on dialogue. That was why my movie scenes ran so long; I'd get an interesting conversation going and I wouldn't want to cut it short.

I've seen a few European movies that seem to have far more dialogue - maybe even too much by our standards - compared to the average American one.

 

[KeithD]

Stage plays I've written. As much stage direction as dialogue. (although some--older ones, generally--don't.)

 

[Illanamaidment]

Yes, if you want to do it properly there is a format to follow, there are plenty of books etc on this. There is a lot of grant money around to have a screen writer turn your idea into a script, most of these do rely on the idea being picked up by a network though. Going rate to turn writing into a script around $15k+

Be careful who you pitch to, Ive seen and had story ideas blatantly stolen by reputable companies. Best to write a treatment and try to get a producer interested who will pitch for you.

If you are not locked into an idea you can contact networks and see what they are looking for and write to that.

Also you can have a look at grants for specialists topics, minority centric or location based.

Good luck!

 

[flytime]

I have never written a screenplay. However, back in 2003 I toyed around with wanting to create 3D porn star charters and write erotic stories around them. Something like an X rated Sci Fi drama similar to The Entity. Today I'm working with Poser 11, creating 3D charters who live out erotic dramas.

"The Entity is a 1983 American supernatural horror film directed by Sidney J. Furie, and written by Frank De Felitta, who adapted his 1978 novel of the same name. The film stars Barbara Hershey as a single mother in Los Angeles who is raped and tormented by an invisible assailant."

 

[shawnavinyltv]

I have written several screenplays and also a stage play, as well. As others have noted, it is a very different style of writing and very heavily relies on formatting. The formatting piece is the biggest pain. Some word processing programs will allow you to work in a format that looks a bit like a screenplay, but your best bet is to look at a program that actually does screenplay formatting. I use a program called 'Final Draft' that is pretty easy to use.

The rest follows basic writing techniques, except your main focus is on dialogue and anything essential to the scene, like props or sound effects, etc. In some ways its a much easier way to write since its mostly a scene set-up and then a bunch of dialogue. However, its a much bigger pain to edit and re-write things since your limited by the formatting.

The formatting plays a big role in the screenwriting process if you can't tell by how much I just talked about it!

As for selling, you should generally try to not give anyone your full screenplay. Its better to have a treatment, which a summary of the whole story in about three to five pages. Then if they steal your idea, they only have the basics, and none of the full details.

 

[SimonDoom]

I have written several screenplays and also a stage play, as well. As others have noted, it is a very different style of writing and very heavily relies on formatting. The formatting piece is the biggest pain. Some word processing programs will allow you to work in a format that looks a bit like a screenplay, but your best bet is to look at a program that actually does screenplay formatting. I use a program called 'Final Draft' that is pretty easy to use.

The rest follows basic writing techniques, except your main focus is on dialogue and anything essential to the scene, like props or sound effects, etc. In some ways its a much easier way to write since its mostly a scene set-up and then a bunch of dialogue. However, its a much bigger pain to edit and re-write things since your limited by the formatting.

The formatting plays a big role in the screenwriting process if you can't tell by how much I just talked about it!

As for selling, you should generally try to not give anyone your full screenplay. Its better to have a treatment, which a summary of the whole story in about three to five pages. Then if they steal your idea, they only have the basics, and none of the full details.

I am using Final Draft, and I'm finding it fairly easy to use, and all the automatic formatting is invaluable.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I have written several screenplays and also a stage play, as well. As others have noted, it is a very different style of writing and very heavily relies on formatting. The formatting piece is the biggest pain. Some word processing programs will allow you to work in a format that looks a bit like a screenplay, but your best bet is to look at a program that actually does screenplay formatting. I use a program called 'Final Draft' that is pretty easy to use.

The rest follows basic writing techniques, except your main focus is on dialogue and anything essential to the scene, like props or sound effects, etc. In some ways its a much easier way to write since its mostly a scene set-up and then a bunch of dialogue. However, its a much bigger pain to edit and re-write things since your limited by the formatting.

The formatting plays a big role in the screenwriting process if you can't tell by how much I just talked about it!

As for selling, you should generally try to not give anyone your full screenplay. Its better to have a treatment, which a summary of the whole story in about three to five pages. Then if they steal your idea, they only have the basics, and none of the full details.

The hardest thing I found was the time limitations, both on the overall length and the length of the scenes. And there is always the question of how the audience is going to perceive it.

You can see some older movies, or foreign ones, that are much wordier and have longer scenes than is the average American ones now. But these can be a bit of a chore to watch. If you have a movie like A Streetcar Named Desire, which is basically a filmed stage play, it is mostly pretty good but there are times when it does seem to drag more than a bit.

 

[shawnavinyltv]

Yes! Timing on scenes, and the whole script, are always a pain. You don't want a scene to drag on, but you want to make sure its telling some portion of the story, too. I still remember my second screenplay. The first write up was about 40 pages and it was supposed to be a comedy. The problem? At 40 minutes (screenplays generally average a minute per page, but that's an average) it was too long to be a short, and way too short to be a feature. Also, it wasn't funny.

So, I scraped most of it, came in with a new angle and wrote over 170 pages! Yes, for those doing the math that's close to three hours. And with the amount of dialogue in a comedy, it was probably well over three hours. So, I had to go in and gut all the secondary elements and sub-plots, just focus on the main story and the lead character and boom! Just under a 100 pages. Hopefully a good hour and a half of a R-rated comedy.

It does make me appreciate movies that manage to tell a story with very little dialogue. Not my style, but I can appreciate it.