All screenplays on the simplyscripts.com and simplyscripts.net domain are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. This screenplaymay not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
I'm new to the site and writing in general but I 'm keen to improve my knowledge and skills. I've noticed from the boards that the general advice is to read loads and scripts and watch loads of movies, take from them and apply to my writing. Good advice.
But, I find myself needing motivation and a goal to achieve. I don't have a particular story to tell but what's the best way to practice writing so that when I do have something concrete to write, I'll have the basic skills to get started. The OWC was a great start, but is there anything else I should be doing?
I have an idea for a writing exercise but I don't know if it's been done before and I'm not sure where I should post for feedback.
Forgive my naivety, all advice gratefully received.
If at first you don't succeed........bribe someone.
I'm new to the site and writing in general but I 'm keen to improve my knowledge and skills. I've noticed from the boards that the general advice is to read loads and scripts and watch loads of movies, take from them and apply to my writing. Good advice.
But, I find myself needing motivation and a goal to achieve. I don't have a particular story to tell but what's the best way to practice writing so that when I do have something concrete to write, I'll have the basic skills to get started. The OWC was a great start, but is there anything else I should be doing?
I have an idea for a writing exercise but I don't know if it's been done before and I'm not sure where I should post for feedback.
Forgive my naivety, all advice gratefully received.
Write a single scene. Let's say a Father and son fighting about a car. Post it and I'll give you a detail review
I come from a novel-reading background rather than a movie-watching. I feel that writers without a background reading novels are weaker as their vocabulary is often smaller. You don't really need to watch movies at all. You just need to understand how stories work.
I get regular work writing audio plays. I hate audio plays, I find them boring. But I can write them easy enough because I've read hundreds, possibly over a thousand, novels. So I understand how stories work and can make them work within any discipline. I've also written video scripts for large corporations. I'm currently working on a musical short for some Californian rappers.
My advice to you would be to become well-read. This way, you can use your talent within any discipline and not limit yourself to screenwriting. However, even if you just want to write screenplays, then being well-read will serve you better than watching lots of movies.
I come from a novel-reading background rather than a movie-watching. I feel that writers without a background reading novels are weaker as their vocabulary is often smaller. You don't really need to watch movies at all. You just need to understand how stories work.
I get regular work writing audio plays. I hate audio plays, I find them boring. But I can write them easy enough because I've read hundreds, possibly over a thousand, novels. So I understand how stories work and can make them work within any discipline. I've also written video scripts for large corporations. I'm currently working on a musical short for some Californian rappers.
My advice to you would be to become well-read. This way, you can use your talent within any discipline and not limit yourself to screenwriting. However, even if you just want to write screenplays, then being well-read will serve you better than watching lots of movies.
Thanks for that Dustin. Never thought about using books to help improve my dialogue. Thinking on it now, it makes perfect sense.
Cheers
If at first you don't succeed........bribe someone.
The past couple of scripts/scenes I've posted on here have been I've written very quickly and made many many many mistakes but with all the pointers and feedback I've received I should improve (hopefully). For my next exercise I've decided that I'll pick a movie that hasn't had a sequel and write the first ten pages of the sequel. Criteria is the original characters must be included, the sequel MUST take place within the next 24 hours following the end of the original movie and MUST continue the genre. With this in mind, I'll attempt to write the first ten pages sequel to John Carpenters "The Thing". It's very ambitious I know but nothing ventured nothing gained. Wish me luck.
If at first you don't succeed........bribe someone.
The past couple of scripts/scenes I've posted on here have been I've written very quickly and made many many many mistakes but with all the pointers and feedback I've received I should improve (hopefully). For my next exercise I've decided that I'll pick a movie that hasn't had a sequel and write the first ten pages of the sequel. Criteria is the original characters must be included, the sequel MUST take place within the next 24 hours following the end of the original movie and MUST continue the genre. With this in mind, I'll attempt to write the first ten pages sequel to John Carpenters "The Thing". It's very ambitious I know but nothing ventured nothing gained. Wish me luck.
Not in the least bit relevant to anything but a quick update on my exercise. Four days and I've wrote four pages. It may seem I'm being lazy but I'm fitting in writing between work and family duties. This is harder than it seems, formatting, scene setting, characterisation, dialogue, grammar. It's hard freeking work
If at first you don't succeed........bribe someone.
Pages: 
Author
Screenwriting exercises for beginners? 
Logged
Locked Board