

“What's the most important part of a screenplay?” he asked at the beginning of nearly every class. In college, I took a class with John Wilder, a veteran Hollywood film and TV writer, who began the class by writing, “STRUCTURE! STRUCTURE! STRUCTURE!” on the chalkboard. And, like always, practice is always good for your writing process.Īre you thinking of writing a screenplay? Check out Oscar winner and TV hitmaker ( The West Wing) Aaron Sorkin's masterclass.

In my experience, most writing projects like this don't work out, but when they show up, it's important to give them your best.Īfter all, at the very least, it's good writing practice. “Maybe this isn't a complete waste of time.” It's getting someone to fund the process of bringing the story to life (do you have a hundred million dollars lying around to fund a movie?).įortunately, said the lawyer, he's friends with several people at a major Hollywood studio.
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The hardest part of making a movie isn't writing a good movie script. But then he told me the story, and it was awesome-a family's search for the American dream, drug dealers under the scrutiny of the law, police corruption, an adrenaline powered shooting, everything you could want in a major motion picture.

Screenplays are like books: everyone thinks they have one in them. He was closing a tragic but fascinating case, and he thought it had potential to be a major film.
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Learn how to write a movie script that filmmakers-and an audience-loves!įADE IN: Why I'm Thinking About Writing a ScreenplayĮarlier this week, a friend who's a lawyer approached me about a writing opportunity. In this post we're going to look at the five step process professional screenwriters use to write a screenplay. In a visual age, with the decline of traditional publishing, you might look to script writing as a way to create the “literature of the future.”īut what is the process of writing a screenplay? How do you even begin? And why is it important to know how writing films are different, but also can be similar, to writing a novel? Have you ever wondered how to write a screenplay? Have you fantasized about writing a Hollywood movie or, with a bit of luck, creating the next great TV series?
