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Comment by vogt | Hacker News Reader

I am not a writer, but I am a long-time movie fanatic, and I have a screenplay I want so badly to write but don't know where to begin. Any tips on that?

I wrote, I think, ten pages just going in blindly and think they probably suck, but wouldn't even know who to ask if that was true.

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They say the writing isn't in the first draft it's in the last draft. Writing is re-writing.

Francis Ford Coppola's advice to George Lucas was "Write the first draft really quickly, in 2 weeks, don't read what you wrote, just finish it, then keep re-reading it and fix stuff as you go."

Also Stephen King's book "On Writing" might be helpful

You might want to read "Save the Cat!" which gives a lot of practical tips for structuring your screenplay so people won't automatically nix it. A friend from a top film school (for whatever that's worth) had it as part of his curriculum.

Robert McKee wrote an incredibly famous book called, Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting [1]. I've had multiple people stop me on the street as I was carrying it and remark of how great a book it was. It should answer most of your questions.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-...

Seconding Save the Cat, my favorite book on Screenwriting (and I've read most of them). Terry Rossio's columns at Wordplayer[1] are also fantastic. Rossio is half the team that wrote Zorro, Shrek and Pirates of the Carribean.

[1] http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/welcome.html

Yes, read Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon's "Writing Movies for Fun and Profit" a couple times. There will be chapters that don't matter, and there will be incredibly important chapters (ex: "Every studio blockbuster should follow the structure of 'Die Hard'") but all of them will be fun to read.

One of the hardest parts is understanding the formatting expectations of screenplays. Read a couple (pilots for TV shows like "Breaking Bad" are great) and then use some software to help you get the hang of the format. You don't need to have blank page syndrome - in fact, I think the formatting of scripts is kind of liberating.

You don't have to be a writer to craft great scripts. You have to be a storyteller. The mechanics might overlap, but don't be afraid to try.

Try the "writing excuses" podcast. Is not screenwriting, but many many of the same elements apply. Also, screenwriting is ultimately meant for the screen, so that intently means a collaboration with someone visual. Talk to people who will be honest with you, but only once you've finished at least a scene. Your idea, the thing you want to write, can get lost if you listen to too many people before getting it down and out at least once.

If you like podcasts, give Scriptnotes a try. It's John August and Craig Mazin and they cover a lot of material.

https://johnaugust.com/podcast

One thing that comes up again and again is location. If you are in the US and are writing for film, you pretty much have to be in Los Angeles if you want screenwriting to be your career.

Interesting. I wonder if Las Vegas would cut it, since it's so close (reasonably speaking).

IMHO, yes, as would any other city within a few hours. You just need to be close enough to pound the pavement and take meetings. Of course it is marginally better to be able to list a Los Angeles phone number and address on your contact info.

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