Category: Screenwriters
1. Before I sold my first screenplay I was like you — I thought there was no reason to get script feedback from produced writers. Either the scripts were good or not.
2. Besides it was my great original idea that was going to impress producers. Not the quality of the writing. Not the craftsmanship? Not the structure? Not the dialogue? Isn’t that how it works? The idea sells the script?
3. And I was frankly afraid to get script feedback from a real writer about my work. Nobody likes to get judged.
4. And it cost money.
5. The money. $300.
Funny, I was wrong about all of that.
Screenwriting is a business, you invest in that business like many others. Writers invest money in film school, or writing courses.
So many writers tell me “I can’t afford” $300 to get professional feedback on their scripts. Their career –and the next 5 years of their lives can really suck without good advice.
A lot of screenwriters don’t realize they can be too close to their script to notice problems, or they just may not be aware of problems. There are problems you don’t even know about.
Some writers work so hard on their script — and they even know their work isn’t great, but can’t think of the fixes. Frustrated, they send their scripts out anyway. Big mistake.
Theses writers send scripts out without feedback –then they don’t place highly in the contest and wonder why. Then they write another script, having learned nothing. And so on.
If you can invest a year of your life – why can’t you can afford to invest $300 for professional feedback? If that’s the case, how serious are you about success?
If you’re afraid to get script feedback, that’s an issue, nobody likes to being judged –but that’s what happens in the contest. You do have to get used to that if you want to sell scripts.
However, I’m aware of how it feels to get feedback and I go out of my way to offer constructive script feedback only. I’m your mentor, I’m there to help, only. If I see a problem, I’ll help with the answer.
When I finally asked real writers for feedback, it changed my career. The ceator/showrunner from the show Rhoda –Lorenzo Music –gave me feedback…and I really started learning fast. I’ve been selling scripts for 20 years now.
Call me at 310-850-4707. Ask for David
Check my website; hollywoodscriptwriting.com
Check out David Silverman’s IMDB Page.
Email me your script at [email protected] –and get great feedback and fixes. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Don’t blow it.
Image credit: Creative Commons, Typewriter, 2012,by Laine Pearman, licensed by creative commons CC BY 2.0
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One thing that can really help rookie, or working screenwriters, trying to sell features, is to read the spec scripts that the studios bought recently.
While I was researching where to find those scripts, I found this article by Eric Bork, a screenwriter and a blogger. He breaks down what the specs that sold had in common.
This blog was written back in 2012, but it’s still very relevant. In one respect the prospect of selling your spec script is worse today in 2016. (Sorry) So far (in April 2016) only 11 screenplays have been purchased by the studios or production companies.
Extrapolating, there will only be 33 screenplays bought this year. I want to re-iterate, spec scripts rarely get sold and produced.
Ninety percent of the time, the best outcome for a spec script is that it becomes a “calling card” script. It’s the script that gets you into meetings with producers, studio executives, agents or managers. You should be thinking along those lines. If you get those meetings, you’ve succeeded.
Back to 2012. 132 spec scripts sold. One thing all the spec scripts that sold had in common was they fit nicely into Save the Cat’s 10 Genres.
Here’s the list and the Save the Cat genres they represent.
We screenwriters want to sell our work, naturally. This, of course, is very rare. How rare? Well, in 2012, according to The Scoggins Report’s “Year-End Spec Market Scorecard”, there were 132 “spec sales” – or scripts that sold — in the entire year. And this matched a 15-year record HIGH from 2011. And this is not just studio sales – this includes all buyers who were known to have bought a spec screenplay from a writer, according to my friend Jason Scoggins’ research. (He’s been compiling this information – and making it available for free – for many years.)
But the point of this post is not to discourage you – as you consider how many tens of thousands of scripts did not sell, so that these 132 could. My point is to offer a few observations about those scripts that sold, and especially about their content – as evidenced by the logline and genre information the “Scorecard” includes.
I think reading these loglines can be incredibly helpful for aspiring professional screenwriters, to get a sense of what makes a marketable concept. It’s one thing to hear that “a great logline is important, and the first thing to focus on.” Which is true. It’s another to read the actual loglines of scripts that actually sold, in the last year.
Below are 10 examples, out of the 132. A few things jump out at me about these (and the larger list), besides the fact that they all have premises that are clear from the logline, and sound fresh, compelling and entertaining – like big challenges for a relatable main character.
1. The writers generally had both an agent and manager. These days, that seems typical. A manager might be easier to get, and can eventually lead you to an agent. Who is more directly involved in brokering a sale.
2. There aren’t a lot of straight dramas – only 8% of the 132. To sell, it’s important to have a very strong entertainment component, and dramas tend to feel more “flat” – even if they are well executed. So the sales included 27% thrillers, 22% action/adventure, and 21% comedies. Plus 11% sci-fi and 10% horror. Drama comes in dead last.
3. The concepts clearly read like a fresh twist on an established genre – not only the traditional definition of “genre” (comedy, thriller, etc.), but also the ten “genres” or types of stories that Blake Snyder identified in his Save the Cat books. These are my single favorite tool for screenwriters, and I strongly recommend writers know these types, and seek to write squarely within one of them, with every script.
When I watch movie trailers, it’s almost always very obvious that each film fits one of these genres. And I think it’s hard to find successful movies which don’t. On my website, I’ve recently added a modified PDF chart of the ten genres and fifty subgenres from the Save the Cat website, where I added additional recent and classic titles that I think fit each genre. I really believe every good and successful movie fits one of them.
Without further ado, here are the ten examples of 2012 spec sales, with my comments on their apparent Save the Cat genres, under each entry:
Dear Satan
Writer: Dan Ewen
Reps: APA (Chris Ridenhour, Will Lowery) and Elements Entertainment (Christopher Pratt)
Genre: Comedy
Buyer: Fox
Logline: Follows a young girl who accidentally misspells Santa and instead invites Satan to bring her a toy for Christmas.
Save the Cat genre: “OUT OF THE BOTTLE”: Where a “wish” leads to a magic “spell” that will complicate life greatly, and lead ultimately to an important “lesson”. As in Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor or The Change-Up.
2
Writer: Barry Levy
Reps: UTA (Charlie Ferraro, Keya Khayatian, David Park) and Evolution (Stephen Gates, Stephan Marks)
Buyer: Universal
Genre: Thriller
Logline: A New York detective must figure out which twin brother actually robbed a bank and stole sensitive counterfeiting information, when both confess to the crime.
Save the Cat genre: “WHYDUNIT”, which focuses on a “detective” of some sort, figuring out not just who did it, but why, which generally involves a “secret”, and a “dark turn”. As in L.A. Confidential, Chinatown or Mystic River.
52 Percent
Writer: Zina Zaflow
Reps: Chad Snopek Management (Chad Snopek)
Buyer: QED International
Genre: Romantic comedy
Logline: When a longtime married couple contemplates divorce, a clash develops between their daughter, who hopes for reconciliation, and a jaded young divorce attorney, who’s unwilling to lose a client without a fight.
Save the Cat genre: “BUDDY LOVE”: A romantic comedy about the attorney and daughter’s relationship (I presume), in which an “incomplete hero” meets their perfect “counterpart” (who we think they should end up with), but there’s a “complication” –something big that’s in the way of the relationship, which the movie mainly focuses on. As in Wedding Crashers, Pretty Woman or Brokeback Mountain.
Blood Mountain
Writer: Jonathan Stokes
Reps: UTA (Ramses Ishak, Michael Sheresky, Scott Carr, Geoff Morely) and Energy Entertainment (Brooklyn Weaver)
Buyer: Derby Street Films
Genre: Thriller
Logline: After his team is ambushed and killed in Pakistan, a young army ranger must escort the world’s most wanted terrorist over dangerous terrain in order to bring him to justice. While being hunted by both of their enemies, they must find a way to work together in order to survive.
Save the Cat genre: “GOLDEN FLEECE” (“Epic” subgenre): Where a “team” goes down a long “road”, toward an important “prize” – which will make their lives much better if they reach it, and much worse if they don’t. As in Saving Private Ryan, Star Wars or The Rock.
Cherries
Writers: Brian & Jim Kehoe
Reps: DMG Entertainment (Chris Fenton)
Buyer: Good Universe
Genre: Action comedy
Logline: Three naive dads band together to stop their high school sophomore daughters from making good on a prom night sex pact. “The Hangover” meets “Taken.”
Save the Cat genre: Also a “GOLDEN FLEECE” (“Buddy” subgenre): with a clear team, road, and prize – akin to The Hangover, Finding Nemo or The Wizard of Oz.
Lights Out
Writer: Jay Frasco
Reps: APA (Ryan Saul) and Festa Entertainment (Dannie Festa)
Buyer: Universal Pictures, SyFy Films
Genre: Sci-fi thriller
Logline: The story focuses on a teenage boy trapped in his house with his sister when a deadly intruder enters the home and “mysterious events” start to occur.
Save the Cat genre: “MONSTER IN THE HOUSE”: Where there is a constant life-and-death threat from a “monster” that our main characters are trapped in something akin to a “house” with — and it all began with some real or perceived “sin”. As in Alien, Fatal Attraction or Psycho.
The Counselor
Writer: Cormac McCarthy
Reps: ICM (Amanda “Binky” Urban, Ron Bernstein)
Buyer: Nick Wechsler Productions and Chockstone
Genre: Drama
Logline: Follows a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip a toe into the drug business without getting sucked in.
“Save the Cat genre: INSTITUTIONALIZED”: Where an individual gets mixed up with a “group” of some sort, with its own challenging and morally questionable culture, which leads them ultimately to have to make a “choice” and “sacrifice” around the question of staying with it, or turning against it. As in The Godfather, The Devil Wears Prada or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Acolyte
Writer: Derek Kolstad
Reps: UTA (Charlie Ferraro) and New Wave Entertainment (Mike Goldberg, Josh Adler)
Buyer: Voltage Pictures
Genre: Thriller
Logline: Centers on a rogue government agency that blackmails ordinary citizens into committing acts of terror. The agency comes under attack when the wife of a retired operative is mistakenly kidnapped and the former operative sets out to take the agency down.
Save the Cat genre: “SUPERHERO”: Where a hero with a “special power” but also a “curse” of some kind (the former operative, in this case, it would seem) takes on a “nemesis”, in order to protect or help innocent others. As in Erin Brockovich, The Matrix or Harry Potter.
Son of a Bitch
Writer: Kelly Oxford
Reps: WME (Cliff Roberts, Lisa Harrison) and Anonymous Content (Steve Golin, Kelly Kohansky Roberts)
Buyer: Warner Bros.
Genre: Comedy
Logline: A popular party girl tries to maintain her image despite recently becoming pregnant.
Save the Cat genre: “RITE OF PASSAGE”: Where a relatable “life problem” inspires the main character to react in a “wrong way” – chasing an ill-advised goal, where complications ensue, until finally they fail and reach some level of “acceptance” of life as it is. As in Superbad, The War of the Roses or My Best Friend’s Wedding.
Not Safe For Work aka NSFW
Writers: Simon Boyes & Adam Mason
Reps: WME (Daniel Cohan) and Brucks Entertainment (Bryan Brucks)
Buyer: Universal
Genre: Thriller
Logline: A young paralegal is trapped in an office with a killer on a secret mission to destroy files and anyone who stands in his path.
Save the Cat genre: “DUDE WITH A PROBLEM”: Where an “innocent hero” finds that a “sudden event” turns into an adrenalized “life or death battle” that powers the rest of the movie. As in Die Hard, Misery or Apollo 13.
Just for completeness sake, the one Save the Cat genre not represented on this list is the “Fool Triumphant” – where a seeming naïve “fool” gets involved with a more worldly “establishment,” and goes through a “transmutation” that results in them triumphing over all – as in Legally Blonde, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Forrest Gump.
– See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/scripts-that-sold-in-2012-what-are-the-common-elements#sthash.QWxb9YF3.dpuf
Check out my website, HollywoodScriptWriting.Com. Find out why you absolutely need a professional Screenwriter/Producer’s feedback on your project. I’ve sold screenplays, rewritten scripts Steven Speilberg, created 5 TV series, and worked as a Story Analyst for the studios.
1. Opening Image (pg 1 – 3): The audience is first engaged with something compelling that sets the tone – and we begin to see how things as they are today.
While Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his wife, Julia drive his BMW Sportster through Manhattan, she talks about a leak she’s noticed in their refrigerator. Davis has no idea about this, in fact he comes off as an uncaring, self-absorbed husband who is oblivious to his wife’s needs.
2. Catalyst (pg 3): An event rocks the main character’s world completely, and sets in motion the central problem of the story. It’s an external problem (not just internal, about thoughts and emotions) — it has clear and present stakes we can identify with and feel.
Davis and Julia are the victims of a violent crash, which kills Julia. Davis is in shock, he feels lost. What was his life about? What was his marriage about? What kind of person is he? He realizes never loved Julia.
This catalyst prompts him to explore who he is. He begins to grieve, in his own strange way.
3. Theme Stated (pg 14): Usually spoken to the main character in a snippet of dialogue, this gives a sense of the deeper issues that this story is “about.”
Phil, Davis’ father-in-law comforts him, saying “repairing the human heart is like repairing an automobile. You have to take everything apart. The anger, the love, the loss.”
4. Set-Up Section (pgs 1-11): We get to know the main character, who is living a compromised life in some way, while dealing with problems – and has something about them we can respect or like.
After a vending machine malfunctions, and he doesn’t get the M & Ms he paid for, Davis begins by writing intensely personal autobiographical letters to the customer service representative at the vending machine company. He is reaching out.
Through his letters to the vending machine company, we learn more about Davis’ life. He has an everyday routine, working for his father-in -law (Phil, played by Chris Cooper) at an investment company. He’s been on autopilot the whole time.
Davis shows up at work, and appears to be in denial about his wife’s death. His secretary is surprised he came to work at all. Davis declines to talk about his loss, and goes about his day at work.
Davis appears to be thoroughly dislikeable, yet funny in a dark sense. They closest thing to a “Save the Cat” moment, for him, is the sympathy we feel for him after his wife dies. As we watch him suffer in his own weird non-empathic way, we can’t help hoping that he can grow and cope.
5. Debate Section (pgs 12-25): The main character questions what has happened, tries to figure out what to do, and often seeks to avoid the true “call to adventure.”
The writer sets up a subplot between Phil and Davis on pages 14-15. Phil wants to take the 1.7 million dollars in life insurance due to Davis, to set up a scholarship in Julia’s name.
Unable to process much of anything yet, Davis agrees at first.
Davis begins to start grieving in his own way. He doesn’t know how. He opens up to a guy on the train who he’s talked to before.
He admits that everything he’s told this man is a lie – he doesn’t sell mattresses, he doesn’t like the Sox, in fact he hates baseball.
He admits that he didn’t love his wife, and he doesn’t feel sad that she’s died.
While on the train, he doesn’t notice that the customer service representative Karen (Naomi Watts) is following him for some reason.
He begins having daydreams about unpacking, and dismantling things.
At the airport, he pictures people’s baggage dumped into a pile on the floor. He pictures himself shooting a terrorist, defending his country.
He’s trying to figure out how to grieve, and how to unpack and understand his relationship with Julia. The debate is over on pgs 23-26.
6. Break into Two (pg 23- 26): Act 2. The main character becomes pulled into a world completely out of his element. He’s overmatched as the attempts to confront his story problem.
After weighing the advice from his father-in-law “you have to take everything apart,” Davis commits to a new course of action, he crosses the point of no return — he decides his course of grieving and processing will involve dismantling things, starting with the leaky refrigerator.
7. B Story (pg 27): A second story begins, which will run parallel to the “A Story”, and interweave with it throughout the rest of the movie. The theme and the character’s inner journey tends to be explored here.
Davis gets a phone call at two in the morning from Karen. (Romantic subplot). She was moved by his letters, they were so honest, and they made her cry. He feels a connection to her.
Davis decides they should meet. He’s moving into a new world, of action, of proactive grieving, and he decides to get closer to Karen.
8. Fun and Games Section (pg 29- 49): The entertaining aspects of the story’s premise are explored – which are fun to watch, but NOT fun for the main character, who is essentially in HELL until the end of the story.
Davis and Karen have a date, but do not actually meet. Davis goes into the diner they were supposed to meet at, while Karen stays parked outside, smoking pot, observing.
She calls him on his cell, and they talk. She appears to have problems with connecting with people, too. She doesn’t join his in the diner, but drives off.
Davis continues his search for answers, and tries a social experiment, handcuffing his briefcase to his own wrist, and walks around Manhattan. He seems to enjoy messing with people’s heads.
He dismantles and demolishes a cappuccino machine his wife had delivered to his home before she died.
He shows up at the vending machine company looking for Karen, but runs into a Carl, man (we’ll learn later) who’s her fiancé.
We meet Karen’s son Chris, who presents a science experiment at school, in which he blows up toy soldiers with an M 80, and sprays hair spray on it, so it goes up in flames. He explains to his class, that it’s a metaphor for war.
Karen isn’t sure what to make of her son’s sadistic streak.
We find out that Karen considers herself a loser, and a pothead. She is not really in love with Carl, but still rooms with him, but can’t bring herself to agree to marriage.
At work, Davis finds a squeaky stall door in the men’s room. Following his new commitment to demolish things, he tears it apart. Phil wants to know what’s going on?
Davis tells Phil, “I think I quit.” Phil tells him to take a couple months off, instead.
9. Midpoint (pg 49): The stakes are raised: the problem becomes more focused, more serious, more important and urgent.
After trying to quit, and getting time off instead, Davis tells himself, “From now on, it’s me and my tools.”
He drives by a construction site where the workers are demolishing a home, and joins in, taking a sledgehammer to the walls. He’s doubling down on finding answers by demolishing things.
10. Bad Guys Close In Section (pg 49- 87/90): Problems get worse and worse – the hero to be failing in their approach, and/or is facing more and more seemingly impossible obstacles.
Davis finds Karen’s address and visits her. She asks, “Are you going to disappoint me? Can you promise not to?”
Davis gets involved in the demolition of an amusement park.
Davis notices a station wagon following him. The audience wonders, is it Carl? Is it dangerous? Later we learn that Carl has a gun.
Davis goes to a doctor, claiming he can’t feel anything. He has a daydream about his heart being eaten by gypsy moths.
He goes back to the construction site and continues with the demolition of the house. He steps on a three inch nail and discovers that he can feel something. Pain.
Davis and Karen discuss “when was the last time you felt something?” He thinks about it and decides, in school, when he was running.
Davis runs into Chris at Karen’s house, where the boy is struggling with his “homosexual panic.” He pulls out a gun.
Davis stops him from hurting himself, and instead invites Chris to shoot him while wearing a bullet-proof vest, so he can feel it.
Davis has a daydream in which Julia asks him if he’s “taken me apart yet?”
Davis connects with Chris further, encouraging him to pretend to be interested in girls, then move to a gay-friendly city like San Francisco.
Davis gets hold of a bulldozer, and trashes his house. While tearing the house apart, he finds a sonogram, and realized that Julia was pregnant when she died. It’s a shock, and it saddens him.
11. All Is Lost (pg 87 -91): The story seems to be over, and the hero appears to have no hope. Everything the hero’s trying has failed, and they have no other options.
When he finds his wife’s sonogram (on page 87) Davis feels shocked, devastated and saddened very deeply.
For Chris; the boy gets brutally beat up by homophobic kids at school.
For the romantic subplot; Karen talks about Carl returning, on the phone, she tells him, “I miss you.” Is she deciding on Carl over Davis?
Karen kisses Davis, but there’s no reaction. Karen says, “it’s not fair that “you feel everything and I feel nothing.”
12. Dark Night of the Soul: (pg 87-91) The main character reels from the “all is lost” – and there’s often a “whiff of death.”
The “whiff of death” is apparent in this general area, including the discovery of the sonogram, and the reveal that not only Julia, but Davis’ baby has died, and with Chris taking Carl’s gun, driving off to get revenge.
13. Break into Three (pg 91): Act 3. A new idea, a new plan for solving the problem emerges (often the A Story and B Story “cross” – the B Story should also be unresolved and at its worst).
Davis invites Karen to a party at his father-in-law’s place. He’s formulated a plan that may resolve his relationship with Karen, and put an end to Phil’s scholarship idea, for Julia’s legacy.
He laughs out loud, as Phil introduces the first scholarship contenders. He stands up to Phil.
14. Finale Section (pg 91- 112): Solving the problem. The hero fails at first, and is pressed to his limit – confronts his own demons, and possibly changes his life – before the story problem is finally resolved.
Karen is embarrassed by Davis’ behavior at the party, and they argue. Karen sneaks out to smoke some pot. She tells Davis “I’m broken, too. I don’t know how to help you.”
Davis learns that the baby in the sonogram wasn’t his. Julia had an affair, when you weren’t paying attention to her. Meg (Phil’s wife) tells Davis, “you don’t matter.” Phil kicks Davis and Karen out of his party.
Page 99, Carl returns home to find Davis there with Karen. Davis stands up to Carl, but gets a brutal beating. Carl continues beating Davis, then tells him to fight back. Davis can’t.
Davis attempts to repair his relationship with Karen. He tries to meet her at the diner, the site of their first awkward “date.”
Karen tells Davis, “Carl’s forgiven me. I left him anyway.” She gives Davis a letter from Chris that tells Davis to meet him at a park on Saturday at 11 am.
Davis at the park – he witnesses the total demolition of three buildings. It’s a powerful image. Davis breaks down and cries, mourning all he’s lost. He can’t stop crying. This feels like the catharsis he’s been struggling to feel.
Davis meets with Phil at Jason’s pub. He wants to know what made Julia happy. Phil remembers, she was happiest riding the horses.
Davis then argues that the scholarship fund is not a fitting legacy for Julia. “It isn’t a legacy, it’s a bank account.”
David takes Phil to the amusement park he once demolished. The carousel has been completely restored. The place is full of life. A sign reads, “Julia’s Carousel.”
Davis walks around the amusement park, then begins to run, finally feeling some release.
Voice Over from his final letter says, “I didn’t learn to be a better person. I guess I just feel a little bit better. I feel like myself…”
15. Final Image (pg 113): Reflecting the new status quo now that this story is over.
Davis goes home to the rubble that’s left of his house, after he took the bulldozer to it. The mailman comes by and asks if Davis is doing some renovations. Davis says, “I’m thinking about it.”
It’s as if he’s done with demolition and is considering rebuilding. This hints at a new normal for Davis.
The mailman hands him a letter. Inside is a check from the vending machine company, along with a refund, for the M & Ms, a check for 75 cents.
Image credit: Creative Commons, detail from zodiac, 2007 by Anthony Easton, is licensed under CC By 2.0
Screenwriter Michael Elliot built a career on sending his screenplays — not to studios or producers — but to Hollywood professionals on their way up. This is a smart and radical play, but it worked for him. He sent his scripts to people in town who were dying to read a good script, so they could star in it, direct it, represent it, or produce it themselves.
- “Older” Academy Award winning actors, they’re still looking for great parts, and they still have the contacts and are bankable.
- Cinematographers, or Directors of Photography, who are dying to direct. They have the contacts, and need a great screenplay to make their move.
- First AD’s (Assistant Directors), for the same reason. No first AD wants to stay in that position the rest of their careers. Your script can make their dreams come true.
- Music Video Directors. Elliot gives examples, David Fincher, Spike Jonze, Brett Ratner. Again, they’re talented, connected, and they need your script.
- Commercial Directors. Examples; Ridley Scott, Michael Bay. Studios like them because they can create an emotional connection in 30 seconds.
- Production Managers. They all want to be producers. Take advantage of other people’s ambitions. They’re hungry.
- Casting Directors. Like everyone in town, they want to produce. They work with stars, they have access. They need your material to change their careers.
- Produced Screenwriters. They want to produce or direct, too — and obviously have the contacts at the studios. They have credibility. Studios know they’ll get the script in shape.
- Tomorrow’s Agents and Managers. The Assistants are always looking for their own clients to represent when they get their break, and move up. If they love your script, it may make the difference for them.
The tricky part then, is how to get your script to these people? You need their address, or office address. Google Oscar winning actors by name. Especially if they seem right for your part. It better be one hell of a part, too.
Same with many of these other categories. Google Casting Directors. There are Hollywood Directories for many of these people, too. Check Amazon. Buy the directories. Go to bookstores and copy the pages if you can’t afford them. Get the addresses, be creative. You know someone who knows someone. And make sure your scripts are awesome.
Screenwriter and blogger Scott Myers created a simple formula for success that involves completing 4 goals per week.
Scott Myers 4 magic numbers for you to remember:
1, 2, 7, 14.
- 1: Read 1 screenplay per week.
- 2: Watch 2 movies a week.
- 7: Write 7 pages per week.
- 14: Work 14 hours per week prepping a story.
Regarding goal #1. Pick from these 70 screenplays,– 12 Years A Slave, Argo, Flight, Gravity, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Mud, Prisoners, Promised Land, The Social Network, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Zero Dark Thirty – and more — Many of them have won Academy Awards, many have been nominated. Try to read one great screenplay a week. Download them here for FREE.
Download 70 Great Screenplays here, legally, for FREE.
Join LA Creative Professionals (Facebook Group) with veteran writer/David Silverman
How do you come up with your screenplay story ideas? For me, some of the best ideas have come from reading non-fiction. For example, I was reading a psychology text about agoraphobia, which is a fear of open spaces, crowds, and it often keeps people housebound, afraid to go outside.
I was thinking about some films I’d seen in which a police officer teams up with an unlikely partner to solve a crime. For example in 48 Hours, an officer is allowed to free a prisoner (played by Eddie Murphy) for 48 hours to help him solve a crime. The script make for a suspenseful, yet comic thriller.
I was looking for something in that genre, when I hit on the idea of a highly anxious agoraphobic who finally works up the courage to cross the street and take a walk in the park. He has a breakthrough, and makes it to the park only to witness a mob hit.
The hitman gets a good look at him before escaping. I decided to pair him up with a fearless, and freewheeling female cop to solve this murder. The big twist then, was that now the mobsters knew where he lived, he was no longer safe at home.
Together, he and this fearless female cop have to run around town, together, she protecting him, while solving the crime. The whole time they are just one step ahead of the killers. The agoraphobic (picture a young Woody Allen) has to overcome his fears in the process.
So there’s an example, reading about this psychological condition. I was able to sell the story to a big production company.
Where else to writers turn for help in crafting their stories? Here are some quotes from some very famous writers:
Write in recollection and amazement for yourself. ~ Jack Kerouac
I write out of my intellectual experience. ~ Tom Stoppard
You write about what you know. ~ Larry David
And if you don’t live, you have nothing to write about. ~ James Maynard Keenan
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it. ~ Anais Nin
Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader. ~ Joseph Joubert
I write books to find out about things. ~ Rebecca West
Writing a story … is simply an exploration of the nature of behavior: why people do what they do, how it affects others, how we change and grow, and what decisions we make along the way. ~ Lois Lowry
I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. ~ Joan Didion
If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. ~ Toni Morrison
Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come the most unsought for are commonly the most valuable. ~ Francis Bacon
The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. ~ Neil Gaiman
I dare you all to write one more thing that you won’t say to my face. ~ Marilyn Manson
Write books only if you are going to say in them the things you would never dare confide to anyone. ~ Emile M. Cioran
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. ~ Cyril Connolly
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it. ~ Anais Nin
Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader. ~ Joseph Joubert
Write in recollection and amazement for yourself. ~ Jack Kerouac
Usually, I walk and think about things. When I come across a thought that makes me laugh, I write it down. ~Demetri Martin
I like to write when I feel spiteful. It is like having a good sneeze. ~ D. H. Lawrence
Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for. ~ Ray Bradbury
And by the way, everything in life is writable about, if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~ Sylvia Plath