How To Write A Screenplay:
Features Old Gold - Classic Newsletters How Do You Write a Screenplay? How Do You Write a Screenplay? |
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OK. How do you write a screenplay? Here's ten headlines. Ten rules of
thumb. Ten stepping stones I follow religiously. Follow them conscientiously
in order and you WILL see results. I promise.
1. Make your audience
care. Get a person at the heart of your story who is deeply loved. Make
terrible, awful things happen to them. 2. Make sure you are writing in a genre. 3. Happy Ending. You need one. Not because they are better (though personally I think a truly joyful ending that doesn't feel cheesy is many times more difficult to write than a tragic slice of gloom) but because producers like to see them, because the feeling in the industry is that Happy Ending = Bigger Box Office 4. Love your hero, and force them to choose between two equally powerful alternatives at the end. 5. Design your villain so they can attack your hero in the most personal, damaging, agonising way. Love your villain as much as your hero. 6. Get your story right before you write a word of dialogue. Write a prose treatment of this story, describing what happens to your beloved lead character. 7. Think about getting a gang of your friends to read the treatment. If three or more of them pick up on a point independently, you might have a problem there. If enough people say something it is probably true. 8. Pick the first paragraph in your treatment. Think about it over and over again, visualise it in the bath, when you wake up, when you are walking along the street. Visualise what happens until you can run it through like a little movie in your mind, seeing what happens, almost hearing the dialogue. This will be your first sequence. 9. Get out your word processor, or your script writing software, whatever, doesn't matter. You can format it later. Get that little movie down on paper now. Write the scenes. Make the characters move, and talk, and feel. 10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 over and over again, until you have got to the end of your treatment. You have just finished your first draft. Format it. Print it. Weigh it in your hand. Admire it. You should be proud. Few people get this far. And if you followed these steps, it's going to be far more readable than anything else you have written.
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Since 1995 Phil Gladwin has written or edited screenplays for all of these people:
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"Nothing I write about my journey with Phil can adequately describe his patience, diligence and the wonderful way he has coached and counselled me in all aspects of screenwriting. Phil is an amazing person to work with because if he thinks your work good he tells you so and if not, well he tells you that too, but then immediately goes about working with you to improve. I've learned so much. Thanks Phil." Bev McMullen, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada "As senior media executive in the states with over 20 years experience producing TV and running a major TV/Recording Studio I've recently dedicated myself to writing full time... I'm incorporating Phil's work into my original feature projects, and already can see and feel an improvement. And this is just the start for me... I'm thrilled I found Phil... You will be too! Best to all of you..." Andy Kadison, New York, NY "Phil Gladwin shares to the point technical tips. He joins these with even more valuable insights into how to "tap into" your heart and soul writing. Proven & tested real time exercises get you jump started WHENEVER you need it. Thanks Phil" John Harrison, Castle Rock, Colorado "The screenwriting goldmine newsletter from Phil Gladwin is the single most useful tool for a screenwriter to have for its straightforward and clear attention to the details of screenwriting that I haven't found in any other workshop or book on the subject. " Keith Tracy, Punta Gorda, FL, USA
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