Well, this is my first post, but quickly scanning the boards i know that this is the place to get sound advice so i wont be about the bush...

Well, finally after a year after planning I decided to start work on a script of a horror. However, I very much wrote the film through the 'minds eye', writing as if the film was already made. I have included the important directions - I have to admit I would love to direct a film as much as write it - but know that in doing so I'm not writing a script to industry standards.

I decided to myself to write a Shooting Script and then afterwards go back and edit it into a Spec-Script. Could this be a really bad idea?

Spec scripts are easier to read that shooting scripts and the story flows easier.  You should switch it over.


Phil

I agree. spec scripts are easier to read. I would also recommend in the future just writing the spec first, and getting that out there, and then doing the shooting script after if you want and put whatever camera directions and things you want in. To ME, that would be easier since the spec is just the raw form, and adding things to me is easier than deleting a whole bunch of stuff out.

Whichever is easier for you to write is completely fine because it is for you. If it is easier to write out all the camera directions and write the film as you see it being made, then no one will complain as long as no one sees it. The important step will be when you want to send that work out; then you'll need to convert it to a spec script format for readers. The same goes for posting it here. Granted, no one will stop the posting of a shooting script, but since we write spec on here, that's what we prefer to read. What you write for you in the first draft is for you.

Well said.

Just write your script how you write your script.  Pretty it up in the next draft(s) -- that's what rewriting is for, after all.  

If you feel compelled to write it like a shooting script first, that's all on you.  But if you want people to read it with minimal distractions from the story, you'll eventually have to omit technical directions and just simply tell us the story.  That's what spec scripts are for, and as George pointed out, it's the format most people prefer to read.

Thanks for all the feedback.

As I am intending to rework it into a Spec Script, is it frowned upon on this board for Shooting Scripts to be uploaded, as I would love for a critique and ffedback on it so that i can ammend other concerns while i adapt it.

Again like I said on the Review Exchange thread - I will more than happily do the same for anyone else wanting to get their script out to someone.

Spec scripts are the more popular format, over shooting scripts, though there are no rules against the latter.

When submitting a script to Hollywood, you don't want to submit a shooting script.  It's less likely it will be read.


Phil