Like many people, I’ve always wanted to write a screenplay and see my story get turned into a movie. That’s when I started learning about screenwriting and rushed right out to buy a special screenplay formatting word processor so I could get started right away.
That was my first mistake.
That’s because writing a screenplay and formatting a screenplay are two entirely different skills. Until you know how to write a screenplay, knowing how to format a screenplay is trivial and pointless.
A screenplay formatting word processor is necessary only after you’ve created something worth writing in the first place. When you’re stumbling along as a beginner, trying to figure out the structure of stories, using the best software in the world won’t make a bit of difference.
The first step to mastering the art of screenwriting lies in learning how stories work. Study movies, the good and the bad, and figure out what makes good movies work, what makes bad movies fail, and what separates great movies from the rest.
All types of movies can teach you something about storytelling. When you’re just getting started learning, you need to soak up every bit of information that can help you on your way.
Read screenwriting books. There is no “best” book to read because everyone starts with different strengths and weaknesses. The “best” book for one person might be the worst book for someone else and the worst book you read today might become the best book for you tomorrow as you gain new skills and need new information.
To save money, check out screenwriting books from the library and only buy those that you find most valuable. Buy used books and spend as little money as possible while learning as much as possible. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, so keep improving your strengths and shoring up your weaknesses.
Of course, there’s only so much you can learn from reading books. Ultimately, you have to learn by teaching yourself and the only way you can do that is by writing.
Here’s where most people go wrong. If you want to write screenplays, it only makes sense to write full-length screenplays, but for a beginner, that’s a nearly impossible task. Rather than trying to write full-length, 120-page screenplays, practice writing much shorter 5-10 page screenplays that tell a single story.
Not only will writing short scripts give you more practice, but it’s far easier to write short scripts than trying to tackle a 120-page screenplay, especially as a beginner. If you can write a great short script, you’ll eventually be able to combine a lot of short scripts to make a much longer full-length screenplay.
Writing short scripts can give you practice playing with different ideas, genres, and formatting limitations. More importantly than just writing lots of short scripts, you also need to get feedback from others on your writing. Trying to improve on your own is fine, but feedback gives you crucial information for how others react to your writing.
Get feedback from other writers because they’ll understand what you’re trying to do and can offer tips for how to improve. Getting feedback from non-writers can be fine just to get people’s reactions to your writing, but don’t expect a non-writer to help you with a writing problem. You need as much feedback from other writers as possible because their feedback is what’s going to help you improve.
When you consistently get honest and constructive feedback from writing multiple short scripts, that’s the time to start focusing on writing longer screenplays. Just keep in mind that the first screenplay you write will likely be awful, but the goal isn’t to write a masterpiece right away. The goal of your first screenplay is to help you realize you can write a full-length screenplay. Then start on your second and third full-length screenplay.
By the time you’ve written five or more different full-length screenplays, you might finally be ready to start submitting your next screenplay to the market. Just remember your first full-length screenplays will likely be flawed and not worth showing to anyone except as an example of what not to do. Don’t fool yourself into thinking your first full-length screenplay has a chance of selling. It might, but it probably won’t.
Far too many people skip this step and rush right away into submitting their first screenplays to the market. Inevitably, this leaves them vulnerable to the entire seedy market in Hollywood that preys on novice writers and exploits their dreams.
This is the time you’ll run into “script doctors” who will charge you outrageous amounts to fix your story, and wind up giving you mostly useless advice and opinions. The first script doctor I hired simply changed all my characters into Chinese even though the story had nothing to do with any characters being Chinese. That was $200 down the drain.
Also watch out for “agents” who will take you on as a client and then charge you reading fees or other expenses to make money from you without actually selling your screenplay. Such unscrupulous agents know that the odds of selling any screenplay is low, so they need to exploit people as quickly as possible by giving them hope while taking their money for doing nothing in return.
Also be wary of screenwriting contests. There are lots of valid contests, but also lots of meaningless contests that make money by charging entry fees and choosing “winners” that mean little beyond a little prize money.
Entering screenwriting contests can let you know if your writing can compete with others. If you consistently fail to place well in any screenwriting contest, that’s a big clue your writing still needs to improve. So save money, stop entering more contests, and focus on becoming a better screenwriter.
With enough feedback from other writers and lots of practice writing short scripts and combining multiple short scripts into full-length screenplays, you can never stop learning. The best way to learn is through writing. The second best way to learn is through books and classes, but make sure you practice when you learned by writing some more. The only way you’ll ever improve is by writing. No book or class can ever substitute for that.
It was at this point that I began entering screenwriting contests and getting into the quarter finals. Then I made the sudden leap to winning first place in Scriptapalooza’s 2023 screenwriting competition.
Winning first place in a major screenwriting contest made me feel like I was on the verge of success in Hollywood. Then I started coughing and this persistent cough never went away. A chest x-ray showed something abnormal in my lungs and a CT scan confirmed multiple abnormal growths in my lungs and chest.
That’s when I got diagnosed with lung cancer, the one type that non-smokers get. The cancer cells generated excessive fluid in my chest that crushed a major artery and nearly gave me a heart attack. The doctors rushed me to the emergency room, drained the fluid from around my heart, and when my heart continued beating at an abnormally high and dangerous rate, they decided to restart my heart to bring it back down to normal.
That meant injecting something in my arm that literally stopped my heart for a few seconds. Then the doctors injected another drug in my arm to start my heart again, and this finally reduced my heart rate to a normal pace.
Yet the cancer continued to generate fluid in my chest and collapsed my lung. Doctors had to continuously drain the excessive fluid from my heart and lung, which meant living with multiple tubes in my chest. Eventually the doctors were able to start chemotherapy treatment to tackle the cancer cells.
In the meantime, I read everything I could learn about cancer and found multiple doctors recommending a plant-based diet and avoiding meat. That’s because meat seemed to help cancer cells grow while fruits and vegetables seemed to inhibit cancer cell growth. That’s when I started taking super green supplements, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoiding meat except for seafood.
The cancer cells stopped growing and the tumor even shrank a bit. More importantly, the cancer cells stopped generating excessive fluid in my chest, allowing me to focus on my health. Having put my screenwriting dreams temporarily on hold and focus on living with cancer, I had to make a decision.
The doctors told me that when diagnosed with cancer, many people simply give up, get angry, or become indifferent to what happens to them for the rest of their life. The people who seemed to survive and thrive were the ones who had a strong purpose to continue living.
That’s when I decided to make my purpose in helping others master the art of screenwriting.
I had already written this blog and collected my best blog posts into several self-published books, but now that I’m facing a life dealing with cancer, I’ve decided the strongest purpose I can embrace would be giving others the help and guidance I wish I had when I first started learning about screenwriting.
Not everyone may find my writing useful and that’s okay. Many others will likely find my writing helpful and that’s all that matters. If I can’t pursue my dreams of success in Hollywood, perhaps I can help someone else reach their dreams instead.
So helping others has always been the purpose of this blog and this renewed focus should provide more people with a chance to avoid the mistakes I made and learn faster than I did.
Ultimately, success as a screenwriter depends less on monetary rewards and more on simply enjoying the journey. If you enjoy learning, enjoy writing, and enjoy meeting new people while overcoming your fears and doubts as a writer, you’ve already succeeded.
Success is about making your life better, even just a little bit. As long as you feel good about the progress you’re making, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Keep learning, keep practicing, keep writing, and keep enjoying life. The moment you’re no longer having fun is the moment you should stop and re-evaluate your life.
Some people want to become screenwriters because they think it’s a quick way to make money. If that’s the way you think, stop right now and find something else to do. Money should never be the primary goal because you can make money doing practically anything and making money as a screenwriter will be much harder than making money doing a regular job.
Pursue screenwriting because it’s something you enjoy and because doing so makes your life better. Then if you become a success in Hollywood, that’s simply a bonus on top of the life you’ve already created for yourself anyway.
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