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I'm new and haven't posted a script of my own yet. I've read many on SimplyScripts, though, and found something that irks me.
In Script of the Day, some writers (it seems to me) dash off a first draft and post it. Some of these are really bad -- muddy, under-developed, illogical, sloppy...I could go on.
If you are one of these people, make sure your script is ready to go public before asking people to spend time on it.
Script of the Day is I believe randomly generated. It's one of the wonderful things about SS.
Don enables anyone to register with SS and upload a script, regardless of whether they are regular contributors to the discussion board, and regardless of their level of screenwriting ability. It's a rare site is SS.
I get what you're saying, but a lot of people put their scripts up to find out what needs to be made better or just where they are in terms of script writing.
I agree that sometimes the writer themselves could spend a bit more time to make them the best they can be though. But at the same time you're under no obligation to read or review any of them. Many that aren't great will get panned and some people will learn the hard way.
And as far as I'm aware, very few actually ask to have their scripts read, it's a quid pro quo site. If you read scripts and are seen to be active, yours will get read in return.
I hope you bring your A game if/when you put a script now.
I'm pretty sure those scripts are picked randomly by some software somewhere. I doubt Don hand picks them. It is true though that if you post a less than stellar draft of your script at SS, it could end up being featured on the home page as Script Of The Day.
As far as posting first drafts goes, I'm one of those people myself. Why do I do it? Because it's great to find out where your script needs work before sitting down to do a rewrite. I assume that's why others do that as well.
Which reminds me I need to do a rewrite of my last short...
I hope you bring your A game if/when you put a script now.
Ha...those were my thoughts, but someone beat me to them.
It is true that Don’s generous approach yields a fair amount of dreck, and while many have railed against his non-elitist stance, it stands nevertheless. I (mostly) see his point.
This oft-overlooked thread may inspire you more than script of the day:
A lot of people on here (including me) are quite new to the art of scriptwriting. This place is fantastic as it gives your screenplay a chance to be reviewed by people who know what they're talking about. I have already been given some fantastic tips on how to further my writing and where I'm going wrong. Without SS it would be a lot tougher to get this information.
I hope Don doesn’t rip me a new one for rehashing an old post… but I think that his (admirable) declaration of why this site exists will give you a (somewhat) better insight as to why scripts of a questionable manner will show up on here…
I dug this up from the ‘Getting to know you’ section…
SimplyScripts.com started out six years ago as a personal bookmark of neat scripts on the 'net. It grew. Later I got requests from people who wanted their scripts posted on the net for others to read. I posted a few, though only those I thought were good.
Then I got a request from a young boy to post his script. The format was wrong, the stories were silly and he kept pestering me to post them. I did. He wrote more stories. I posted those, too. He wrote me a letter telling me that seeing his stories on the web inspired him to write more. And, the feedback he got inspired him to write better. He wrote better. He spell checked them before he sent them to me. I was relieved.
It was then I decided that no matter what I thought of the story. No matter how badly written or badly formatted the story was, everyone would get a chance on SimplyScripts.com.
So, that is why all the stories get an equal footing on the site, much to the consternation of some who ask me to separate out the wheat from the chaff. When it comes to an idea, what is wheat and what is chaff, is hard to tell. A great idea can come in bizarre forms. A stupid idea can be served up beautifully. (This doesn't mean that I don't appreciate a great idea served up in 'generally accepted screenplay format').
The site is meant to give everyone a chance. The unproduced section of this site gives everyone a chance to work through the bad spelling or strange formatting to focus on the story that they want to tell. When I got an email from someone asking me to take down their script, I was elated. Someone saw it and wanted to produce it. Six months later it happened again. Now it happens every month or so. None of the scripts 'discovered' on the site, to my knowledge have been "six figure block busters", but that isn't the point. If you are here with "how much can I make" on your mind. You are in the wrong place. If you are here with, "I have this crazy idea," Then, no matter who you are, you are in the right place. At one point, someone wrote a story from their heart and laid it out for others to read, warts and all. And someone read it. And it became a movie.
SS is here to lend a helping hand to amateurs. I myself, have received plenty of aid over the past 2-3 years. And I'm still learning the basics. Though with the help I've received, I've also reciprocated. Giving my own advice to people who are new to the craft.
I hope Don doesn�t rip me a new one for rehashing an old post� but I think that his (admirable) declaration of why this site exists will give you a (somewhat) better insight as to why scripts of a questionable manner will show up on here�
I dug this up from the �Getting to know you� section�
[quote=SimplyScripts]SimplyScripts.com started out six years ago as a personal bookmark of neat scripts on the 'net. It grew. Later I got requests from people who wanted their scripts posted on the net for others to read. I posted a few, though only those I thought were good.
Then I got a request from a young boy to post his script. The format was wrong, the stories were silly and he kept pestering me to post them. I did. He wrote more stories. I posted those, too. He wrote me a letter telling me that seeing his stories on the web inspired him to write more. And, the feedback he got inspired him to write better. He wrote better. He spell checked them before he sent them to me. I was relieved.
It was then I decided that no matter what I thought of the story. No matter how badly written or badly formatted the story was, everyone would get a chance on SimplyScripts.com.
So, that is why all the stories get an equal footing on the site, much to the consternation of some who ask me to separate out the wheat from the chaff. When it comes to an idea, what is wheat and what is chaff, is hard to tell. A great idea can come in bizarre forms. A stupid idea can be served up beautifully. (This doesn't mean that I don't appreciate a great idea served up in 'generally accepted screenplay format').
The site is meant to give everyone a chance. The unproduced section of this site gives everyone a chance to work through the bad spelling or strange formatting to focus on the story that they want to tell. When I got an email from someone asking me to take down their script, I was elated. Someone saw it and wanted to produce it. Six months later it happened again. Now it happens every month or so. None of the scripts 'discovered' on the site, to my knowledge have been "six figure block busters", but that isn't the point. If you are here with "how much can I make" on your mind. You are in the wrong place. If you are here with, "I have this crazy idea," Then, no matter who you are, you are in the right place. At one point, someone wrote a story from their heart and laid it out for others to read, warts and all. And someone read it. And it became a movie.
[/quote]
That is some seriously inspiring backstory.
Sites like SS are a rarity, providing exposure and a very effective chance to improve their writing in practice, for free, online to anyone living anywhere. Many might not realise just how unique this is. Because of that in my opinion, this site and Don deserve no less than respect.
Perhaps that slot in the front page could be worded so it's more easily understood. "Randomness by Cornetto" seems pretty clear to me, but for these questions to not arise in the future maybe "Randomly generated. Code by Cornetto" would work better?
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