Being a script writing virgin, I'm feeing -- as most virgins do -- both excited and concerned about about how my first piece will go down.

So, while I'm crafting my cherry-popper, I thought I'd take a minute to ask you guys and gals about your first scripts.

What do you think of them now compared to when you first wrote them?

How well were they recieved?

ect, ect, ect.

It is quite intimidating walking into something like this with so much talent already exsisting around this place. It feels like there is a high standard expected from the get go, but I'm sure everybody had to start somewhere.

So, do you remember your first time?

Hey man, welcome to the boards.

I joined here about 6 months ago and that was when I wrote my first script for about 10 years.

The first one was more just a scene, badly formatted(word), badly structured and pretty much made no sense. I got around 15-20 comments from people on here. Suggesting software for formatting (celtx) and hints on the correct way of writing (present tense, avoiding camera directions etc).

Six months on and although I've still got loads to learn I feel I'm alot better and more able to put ideas into script form.

You're in the right place to learn so don't worry about your first script not being an oscar winner -- people are patient with you here as long as you read/comment on other people's scripts and also take people's opinions and advice into account in future scripts.

Good luck

Ste

Hello khaoz,

I did a lot of research before I wrote my first short. It still sits in limbo because I'm not sure if I want to extend it some and work with it more as a short or even turn it into a feature.

It had issues with format and definitely tightness. The pacing needed work and other details that I would change.

My work involves many written forms including novels and articles. Scripts are still a new  animal for me. I've only been working in this form for just over a year. It's extremely challenging.

In my opinion, the only way to become a good writer is to write a heck of a lot. Write, study, write, study. Also live, write, live, write, live, write.

If you feel writer's block coming on you can:

Try the method of locking yourself in a room and not coming out until you have something written, or:

Do something else!!! Anything that shakes your brain. Talk to people. Go out to your favorite coffee shop. Meditate. Eat a bunch of ice cream. Have a beer. Laugh. Travel.

It's important to compliment your writing with studying various elements of the craft. Don't just study. You can read all the writing books you want, but that by itself isn't going to help. You simply have to write your way through. You cannot learn to write by not writing and you have to write your way through a lot of garbage before you get to the good stuff-- unless you're exceptionally gifted, most of us aren't.

Don't worry about how good it is. Just do your best. Try and learn basic formatting before you post.

We are here for you. We are here for each other.

Sandra

I remember my first script. Hallow Knights. Took me damn near 8 years to complete from Fade In to a draft I was proud of.  Many obstacle got in the way (school, Navy, Act II). Always thought I should go back and tweak instead of charging forward. Although it's important to study your craft but I remember using it as a diversion. It happens. Try not to let it.

The best part had to be when I made it into Act III. You know for the most part what will happen but when you start racing towards the climax, your characters are writing themselves, new ideas come up and you are able to incorporate them seemlessly into the script.  You storylines get resolved, arcs complete, loose ends tied.Fade Out.

Then you fall in love until a couple of weeks later when you start hacking and chopping. But the first time you complete a feature length draft.  You look at the page count hovering about 120, the characters you've cared about for so long have a complete story. It's one of the best highs you can have.

Hey,

My first time was terrible. I was incredible nervous because I'd never done anything like it before even though I had wanted two for the longest time. My head and palms got really sweaty( I get sweaty when I'm nervous) and I had to periodically wipe myself down to keep from drowning. In retrospect I had a lot of insecurities about length so I tried really hard to compensate with ridiculous, overdrawn monologues and spectacular, exploitative visuals.

Even so, it went really poorly. I preformed incredibility below expectations and was dreadfully disappointed in myself. I tried to hold back but could do nothing less then cry. I wept, not only for my own shattered dreams but for disappointment and shame I brought to my family and Jesus.


sheepwalker            

I wrote my first script, Genesis Encore back in 1986 on my Commodore 128.  It was a story about people selected to go into space to survive World War III on a hastefully-built space station called the Genesis Encore.

I submitted it to a script doctor who gave me a few pages of comments.  One of the comments was that it was very similar to a book published in the 1950's, entitles One in Four Hundred.  I never did anything with it after that, saying I would eventually rewrite it.

Fortunately, I still have a hard copy of it.  It was printed on an eight-pin dot matrix printer.  I'll eventually get back to it.


Phil

Quoted from Soap Hands Hey, My first time was terrible. I was incredible nervous because I'd never done anything like it before even though I had wanted two for the longest time. My head and palms got really sweaty( I get sweaty when I'm nervous) and I had to periodically wipe myself down to keep from drowning. In retrospect I had a lot of insecurities about length so I tried really hard to compensate with ridiculous, overdrawn monologues and spectacular, exploitative visuals. Even so, it went really poorly. I preformed incredibility below expectations and was dreadfully disappointed in myself. I tried to hold back but could do nothing less then cry. I wept, not only for my own shattered dreams but for disappointment and shame I brought to my family and Jesus. sheepwalker

Hahaha. This is the kind of gold that should be in your scripts.

My first time, I was completely unaware what I was getting into! I think my first script was called Death Clock, I might've been hmm, twelve or thirteen and looking back I still like aspects of the script but my format was terrible and so was a majority of the grammar! I saw this site, thought it was great wanted people to read my scripts so I threw a bunch on here that I wrote up in one half an hour sitting, I was clueless, though Death Clock got somewhat positive critiques the other ones got slammed! Now, I understand completely, but this site taught me a lot, I learned how to completely format and write a script, as much as I hated the criticism at first (because at that age I thought I was the best writer in the world) it really helped me! But yeah, take the criticism, don't fight it, I know for my first scripts I actually made fake accounts and positively reviewed my own scripts hahaah i have no idea what I thought that would accomplish but oh well! Anyways, best of luck with your first script, I'm sure you'll learn a lot.

My first script is still on here, it's called 'A trip to Zoo' and I thought it was very clever but unfortunately nobody else got it...dented my confidence a bit but we all learn.

My first short script was called The Man in the Light, and I wrote it in 2004 at the age of fourteen. I still think it's a pretty good story, but it desperately needs a rewrite.

My first feature was posted earlier this year. It's a horror/slasher called Red Light, and I'm extremely proud to have written it.

It's interesting to compare the two now that I've matured as a writer. I can't believe how much this site has helped me, and I haven't spent a dime.

Yeah... Read Lew Hunter and Syd Field. I fired up my LCII  and endlessly annoyed my co-workers with a little number called Saucer Strike. A big action, mega money Hollywood Sci-fi blockbuster that Alien5writer could only dream about.

I sent out several letters to agencies trying to score with my genius...Uhm. No, and I can't say I blame them.

Started out again after getting Final Draft for Christmas. Found SS and entered the August 07 OWC (the boat one).  I'm very grateful to Don and the good folks here at Simply Scripts. I've gotten some excellent pointers and invaluable input, all without L.A. earthquakes and traffic.

So that being said, Mr. Khaoz, welcome!

Quoted from Blakkwolfe Yeah... Read Lew Hunter and Syd Field... Started out again after getting Final Draft for Christmas. Found SS and entered the August 07 OWC (the boat one).  I'm very grateful to Don and the good folks here at Simply Scripts. I've gotten some excellent pointers and invaluable input, all without L.A. earthquakes and traffic.

I started around the same time as Blakkwolfe here on "Simplyscripts". I too feel very grateful for the people working here. I've read and worked with a few people here that I have a great deal of faith in regarding their future success. As a matter of fact, unless fate throws total curve balls, I can't see why a couple of them won't succeed-- even if it's only on a low-key level.

I'll continue to contribute what I can for those who are serious about the craft.

Sandra

I started writing around he same time I found the "website" and then learned something called format when I found the boards. Luckily for sophocles and moviemagic screenwriter or I probably would have quit. Then again if I would have quit it would have saved me all the hassle.

My first script was a series about a family and led into me writing a script about a guy who goes to prison for life and the crazy thing is I never finished it for like 3 years and it went through so many rewrites when i was finally done I just dropped it and started something else never to go back to that script.

It is easier if you start when you're young and have time to put into it.

Before I found this website I was more in love with the idea of being a writer than someone who actually puts in the time and effort to become one. It was the "milk" themed one week challange that got me on the right path.
I had casually checked out this site for movie scripts, but had never ventured into the actual discussion board. I remember getting home around 8pm on a friday and seeing the one week challenge on the home page and signing up. I ended up pumping out a demented short script from start to finish in about three and a half hours called "drink your milk" that revolved around a drunk, cursing, and extremely violent Santa Claus.
Even though it was way, way out there I'm still proud of it for having a completed script and being ready and willing to take feedback/criticism while eventually realizing that all feedback, positive or negative will help you in the long run.

So true N7,

We are all in love with the dream of acquiring the magician's touch-- the skill held in our hands like a great sword gifted to us... and it's hard work. Many of us won't make it, but still... We must try.

We must continue to work with every bit of effort we own-- and if we don't own it, maybe we just pray for it and it descends. I don't know.

Maybe we need to think in terms of numbers and probability and odds...

If we write enough junk, finally, we might get to the level where we are writing gold.

Sandra

Welcome! I am in the process of my "cherry popper"!  How is it going, it is alot harder than I thought! Good luck and try hard to stay focused, when I first started I was ALLL OVER THE PLACE...but I seem to be on track now.  Have you hit any bumps yet?

I've hit a few bumps, but that is probably more down to insatiability than anything else. I wrote my first short but chucked it because it didn't come out on the page how I saw it in my mind.

Nevermind, I'm sure that how it goes when you start out.

I was 13. It was autumn and we had just raked up a huge pile of leaves.   We laid on the ground and covered ourselves with the pile until the rest of the world disappeared and it was just the two of us, then

Oh, wait a minute, this is about scripts.  Um...

I wrote a bunch of plays in college - they were mostly short none of them longer than about 30 minutes.  And then I had to make a living.  About 20 years later, due to the people surrounding me at the time,  my interest in film was reignited. Someone told me about Project Greenlight which was just kicking off here in Australia.  I had two weeks to write a feature so I figured what the hell and I decided to give it a try.  To my surprise I wrote a 90 pager in that time frame.  It was a piece of crap but once I knew I could do it, it opened the floodgates and I haven't been able to stop since.  

I wrote my first script - which was actually a 157-page feature - in may 2000. I had never written a script before at that time and needless to say, this script had all the mistakes known to man.

A couple of years later I decided to get back into writing, so I joined SS, bought The Screenwriter's Bible and I haven't looked back since.

Wrote my 1st script hmm let's see now... around 2003.  I'd never written a short story before, let alone a script, this one turned out to be 120 odd pages and formatted wrong in many ways.  I continued to write quite alot before I actually leart the correct way to format.  A couple of features but mostly short scripts, fan scripts etc

Eventually I bought some books, read some screenplays, and figured out what I was doing wrong in my writing, and since then I've been working on more features rather than random shorts and basically just trying to grow and develop my craft.

Huzzah!

First one I wrote was an adaptation of one of the "true stories" in Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide called The Devil's Dance, zombies attack a bomber crew who find themselves stranded in an abandoned Legionnaire fort decades after the same fort was attacked by the undead. I don't recall it being lynched or anything, but I quickly moved it aside. Cranked out about 3 scripts a month (generally a feature and a couple TV episodes) and I ended up with about 300 features, episodes, shorts, and treatments that I haven't looked at in a good three years now I guess. Haven't done anything major since, some projects for school, a couple freelance things, and I've cranked out a few treatments (and a couple sort films I'm working on) but my focus has moved primarily to graphic design and videography.

I'll never forget my first script, mostly because no matter how hard I try I can't forget it. "Directors Cut"... ooh, (shivers). I wrote it in one sitting and I thought it was a masterpiece. Ha ha...

Don't make the same mistakes I did(and still do), take your time!

~Zack~

My first time was a Family Guy script that lasted 33pages.  I haven't read it in a few years.  I just know a rewrite will drain me.

Kind of an odd question. My first "screenplay" was written after I'd written some plays and musicals, so my first screenplay wasn't my first script, but that doesn't mean it was gold either. But on the other hand, that screenplay (which is posted on here in its third full rewrite) isn't my first on-screen idea.

My first actually goes back to high school when I took a video camera and just made up a story as I went along in my backyard with my brother and friends (who played multiple roles). I had no microphone, so it was dialogue free and I added a soundtrack in "post" (meaning I used a cassette player hooked up to a VCR that I switched music on while it was recording from the camera to the VCR). That didn't turn out too shabby, really, but it was never written down.

But my first written script is a musical that I wrote music and script for called Amehr. It was never past that first draft as it was too large an idea for a stage musical and had too many holes that would take too much stage time to fill, so I split it into three parts, but that's a long story.

My first shot at screenwriting was actually a collaboration with a good friend of mine who has been writing screenplays for years; since he was thirteen. He was the one who introduced me to screenplays by saying ,"I know you like to write, so let's write something." I've been writing screenplays since then and we constantly bounce ideas off one another.

  My first independent script, however, I am still in the midst of writing. It's one part of a continuous story line that spans six separate screenplays and has been in "revision" mode for about a year now. There is still something about it that I can't quite put my finger on that makes it feel unfinished. When I first started writing it the idea was simple and I wanted it to be the most outrageous thing ever made, then I went back to it ,read it, and ended up throwing pretty much the entire thing out. When I look back at it, I still feel the need to tighten up a few things, especially dialogue, and the funny thing is that I kind of don't like any of my screenplays except for three of them (which I know is a large exception number for saying I don't like any of them) but i find myself continuously being pulled into the story.  Only two people have read my first independent screenplay and both reviews were well received with criticisms here and there  as well as suggestions in terms of story line.

I found this site while searching for a specific screenplay to read and I've read many of the screenplays off the site. I have a folder dedicated to unread screenplays on my laptop. So I was thinking of posting a few of my screenplays on here, but that thought makes me anxious. I don't feel as though any of them are complete, despite being "finished."

My first was a christmas school play i wrote for my class, i got the wondeful job of writing it and the wonderdul pain of sitting at home panicing wondering if it's good enough, but i was glad i didnt have to act in it =].

I dont got anyone here who will read it for me because they just dont really like reading or writing haha - so i'd read it outloud to myself - carry my hard back book every where jotting down my idea's.

But when i got it right it was alot of fun and when i got it wrong i'd wanna cry like  a baby.
But the play turned out very good and alot of fun for the class =], but my first cherry poppin movie writing ,i was 16 and it was called sci-hi fusion, about a group of aliens and a group of high school kids, it pulled out at 136 pages,my first draft of it was just awful.

I bought my self some software tools, and had to rewrite all of the dialogue and rewrite my ending  - id set myself a dead line of 4 pages a day and wouldnt leave my room till i had done those four pages

But my final test to see if it was any good was reading it myself, which ive done alot, and im loving it =].

I've done 2 since then, and im about 22 pages into my new one broken world =].