When you first begin doing this, you think writing a script is fairly easy. One is blissfully unaware of how hard it is to truly craft a good script.

As you read more scripts, both amateur and pro, and as you struggle to create an entertaining story that fits right into the feature length, you realize just how freaking hard it is. And you wonder if you have what it takes.

Well, that's a hard question to answer. But I think it helps to know this is really hard for just about everyone, even the pros. There's always debate about why so many movies are not very good. I think one thing that is under recognized is the simple fact that this is really, really hard.

So don't give up. And if you get some harsh criticism on a script, please remember that even scripts that get sold for big bucks, ones crafted by pros, often are loaded with issues. Keep your chin up, keep working. All of our scripts have problems. But all scripts do, even pro, or almost all of them.

Rewrites are just killers...

The four states of knowledge:

Unconciously incompetent: Not aware that you lack knowledge on a subject

Conciously incompetent: Now aware that you lack knowledge

conciously competent: Working at getting your knowledge up to speed

unconciously competent: Effortlessly applying the new knowledge you have learned

Too true.

However.....and this seems a bit weird to say.....but it actually it gives me hope. Maybe that is naive, ok very naive, but I do have this feeling when I get a decent idea and if i can get the structure and characters right, you never know.

Man, that last stage must be rare in this field. The gods of screen writing.

Keep at it Bill! If this is easy for anyone, I haven't met them. Ryan makes it look easy, but he's working.

It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

When you are used to WINNING and suddenly you feel like you uh either losing or struggling so hard you are possibly losing....like pushing a giant rock up a hill over and over until one day ...maybe you are strong enough to push it over the hump

Quoted from Pale Yellow maybe you are strong enough to push it over the hump

And remember, that will only get you a meeting. At best.

Too true Kevin. When I first got here I thought that I had a great script, then BOOM... error with the first sentence. I think what's hard for a lot of writers is accepting that their script isn't perfect; the 'consciously incompetent...'

It IS hard. Great words of inspiration, Kevin.

I find, for me, its the concentration part thats the worse. I think I have ADD, I seem to lose focus easily lol.

But aside from that I agree 100%, it IS tough. And that goes for Pro's from what I have gathered. They seem to struggle as much as we do. And very often they actually have help for those killers such as spelling, grammar ect.

Tough, yes, but so many folks just willy nilly do things that make their screenwriting life tougher for no reason. Everybody knows that comedies and horrors are two genres where the page count should hover around 100 pages. We are told repeatedly that anything over 110 pages by an unsold screenwriter will not be read. Yet, while I was browsing for a screenplay to review, all 10 screenplays that I opened were 127 pages or more. One was even over 160.  Now, not only am I not going to waste my time reading those, but when the reviewer gets feedback, it will most likely be negative. Screenwriters could do themselves a favor by avoiding grief in the first place. Take the commonly known rules - then apply them. Screenwriting should only be hard when you have a good script on your hands that follows the rules. It's easy to go from bad to good. It's hard to go from good to great.

The hardest thing about screenwriting for me is time. Or lack of time, more accurately. I work full time, long hours. My way of relaxing is writing. Actually my real way of relaxing is kicking back with a beer and watching sport or a movie or TV. But I feel that I should dedicate some of my free time to doing something create that makes me feel worthwhile and stops me being a slob. So I push myself. I make time when I should be sleeping.  

What I feel guilty about is I have a family, a house to maintain, responsibilities etc etc. Same as everyone else.  I sometimes put my writing before that, and It makes me feel like a massive dick. Is it worth it? I ask myself this occasionally.

But I love it. And I'm selfish.

BTW, screenwriting isn't 'hard'. Having leprosy is hard. Grow a pair! Just kidding...

I had a pair. They fell off when I contracted leprosy!

Still better than being a procrastinating perfectionist with zero imagination and David Koepp-like dialogue...

Quoted from leitskev I had a pair. They fell off when I contracted leprosy!

Ha! I used the wrong disease that time.

I said I feel like a massive dick...just waiting for someone to do one of those word-quote manipulations!

Anyhoo, it's a cool thread.  Perspective and all that.  As long as writing makes the writer happy is the main thing. You never know, a gold strike might happen.

Tales From the Script really pi$$ed me off first time I saw it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YWbo_0Vcz_U#!

Quoted from B.C. I like a massive dick...

You were right, BC...

Well, when I wrote my first script I was giving myself a huge pat on the back. Shoot, I was already practicing my academy award acceptance speech in front of the mirror. Let me tell you it was a moving speech that would have brought Spielberg to his feet.

So, I handed the thing over to someone who knew their stuff and he sent it back to me with some good constructive criticism. He basically said the premise had very good potential, but my dialogue was weak. The plot worked fairly well, but his main concern was for my lead character. She was borderline sociopath. He had a good list of suggestions for improvement.

The problem was me. I thought he had ripped my academy award winning script to shreds. At the time, I couldn't separate myself enough from the script to recognize the good advice I was being given.

I didn't look at what he said again for some time and when I did, I saw all the good things he said and how helpful his suggestions were. Of course, I'm much better about that now. I can share other writings more easily and listen objectively to what I'm being told.

I've learned a lot on how to improve my writing since then.  

I have no problem with ideas for scripts, they pop into my head every few days but the problem is turning them into something decent.  Time is short and when I get it I spend an age writing a few pages.  I've accepted this now though and simply wont write unless I'm in the mood.  Trying to force the story out is a waste of time for me.  I write a messy outline and jump in.

I think just having an idea isn't the be all and end all.  Fleshing it out with characters and a believable story takes time and effort.  Leaving an idea to stew is also something I do a lot of.

I'm getting better at finishing projects before moving to the next though.

Very hard indeed. I actually find myself going back over previous work I’ve written because of new ideas and the like I’ve read which I believe could improve my work. With so much information at our disposable, it’s easy to look too much into certain things which in turn, leads to affecting how you write if that makes sense.

I write a scene, love it. Then go and read a script, see what the author did and think “Oh, that’s a lot better” I’m going to change that scene. In essence I get nothing done because I keep repeating the same scene over and over again until it becomes a jumbled mess.

I also think that after reading screenwriting books, SS reviews and lots of scripts that I’ve began to over think things which makes it even more difficult to hold onto a single idea and truly believe in it.

I ask myself questions:

Is this a good idea?

Do the characters act believable? Are they likeable?

When is the inciting incident?

How has my protag changed over the piece?

Have I given enough/not enough info/exposition?

Does it read clear or confusing?

And the list of questions could go on…

Like I say, I over think when I should just get down and write but like Basket…

It’s easy to feel like a dick when you have commitments and family to think of, but all you want to do is write.

So no, screenwriting isn’t hard! It’s easy peasy.

Screenwriting is easy. Crafting a script that really works...that would really make a good film, and which reads easy...that's what's hard.

Scriptshadow goes over 3 or 4 pro scripts a week, and I generally give them at least a partial read. The big difference between those pro scripts and the ones found here is readability. It's so easy to read a pro script. Even the better written ones here can be a chore to get through. But that's why we practice.

The hardest thing about screenwriting for me is time. Or lack of time, more accurately. I work full time, long hours. My way of relaxing is writing. Actually my real way of relaxing is kicking back with a beer and watching sport or a movie or TV. But I feel that I should dedicate some of my free time to doing something create that makes me feel worthwhile and stops me being a slob. So I push myself. I make time when I should be sleeping.  

What I feel guilty about is I have a family, a house to maintain, responsibilities etc etc. Same as everyone else.  I sometimes put my writing before that, and It makes me feel like a massive dick. Is it worth it? I ask myself this occasionally.

But I love it. And I'm selfish.


Screenwriting is hard.... BUT COPY AND PASTE IS REALLY EASY  


Thanks Basket Case apparently we share the same lives

Mark

I found the first draft writing is a breeze once you've got a solid treatment. Unfortunately, a good treatment can take weeks or even months. I've got what I think are solid premises but I've been stuck on the treatment stage for two months now.

I used to just shoot from the hip. No outline. No BS just write. But I found that you tend to meander and often get stuck somewhere around page 63. So it's better to get the idea first, bang out a solid 60 point outline and then write. Easier said than done.