Hello ... I'm new to writing.

[mediamaven]

If your looking for ways to strenghten your story technique and build a community of writing friends this might be a cool place to start.  I've gotten so much guidance from them.

www.writersbootcamp.com

Their coordinator's name is Katie - email address is kcovell@writersbootcamp.com

[uncle_al]

Cellotape?  We don' need no steenkin' cellotape...

My suggestion:  Blue-tack.  "Woiks like a chom", as they say...

Al Bouchard

[widget]

 Brilliant idea - the one wee thing that worries me however, is how often do you need to paint the walls, cellotape or whatever can shorten the life of paint. I know I would get a rocket if I did that. By the way, if you have XP, you could save yourselves all of that by using the frames, that is if you do not have appropriate software then you can print it off and have it all in front of you on a piece of paper, landscape fashion, pin it to a noticeboard. Regards Widget

[uncle_al]

The "index cards on the wall" approach is very workable.  I first read about it in David Gerrold's book, "The Trouble With Tribbles", about his learning to write an episode of Star Trek back in 1967.  He got it from Professor irwin Blacker at USC.
You could also outline what happens on a sheet of paper, or just write out brief descriptions of your twenty scenes (a "beat sheet"), or just write them up in a word processor, and rearrange them as you go...
A good way to find out about your characters is to have them fill out job applications.  Most office supply stores have pads of the blank ones, and you can use them as a basis to type in the information.

A few thoughts...
Al Bouchard

[ScriptNurse]

Originally posted by furiouz on 6-22-2005 3:31 PM:  Hello

I am new to writing. I'm an average guy: work as a cashier,  I am not college-educated, heck I received a GED instead of a high school diploma. One of my 7 major life goals is to write 3 scripts, if they get made into a film, good, if not, that is ok as well.

Quote: Originally posted by ScriptNurse

LETS GET STARTED. Fill in the blanks:

This is a story about ___1___  who  ___2___  ___3___.

1. It's a ... man / woman / boy / girl / group / country / planet ...
2. Who ... wants to / needs to / is compelled to / is helpless to ...
3. Do what ... change the world / fight evil / be a better person ...

Think like this ... a logline ... FUNDAMENTALLY ... what is the story here?

"Die Hard on a bus." (Speed)

The above info is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I will have a script or two to share.

Cheers.
Posted by ScriptNurse on 6-26-2005 7:51 AM:

You're bound to have questions along the way. That's an area we've had practice at here at Script Nurse. So, if you have questions, want to just "think out loud" or try out ideas ... post those ideas and we'll do our best to provide you with suggestions and comments.

Remember ... "Write before you write" ... that is, the work of screenwriting comes before a single scene is put on paper.

Make a large title/logline card. We use a manila file folder for this. Put the tentative title and logline in big, easy-to-read letters to always remind you what the story is fundamentally about.

Characters must be developed. My writing partner and I use 4x6 cards, put the character's name at the top of the card and then create snapshots of about them, including their backgrounds, age and mini-backstory. Give every character a quirk or two that's inconsistent with their normal behavior to make them more interesting (i.e. a wealthy man who obsessively clips coupons, etc.). Identify each character as a "good guy" or "bad guy."

Sketch out the major scenes. There are approximately 20 MAJOR, pivotal scenes (2-3 pages long) in a feature script. What are the scenes? Who is in the each scene? Where do the scenes take place? What happens to the principal character as a result? What is revealed to the viewer?

Tape them to a wall. We arrange characters in a grid, starting with the lead character at the top with "good guys" on the left and "bad guys" opposite them on the right. We can plainly see who has the conflict in our developing story — they're opposite each other. We can see at a glance the snapshot of each character. Revise and edit the snapshots as needed for more interest and impact.

Next, we tape up the major scenes. Rearrange and discard as needed. Make incidental or transitional scenes if you like.

WARNING ... This is the hard part and takes the most amount of time. Resist the urge to sit down and write before you're ready.

When you can see your entire story mapped out on the wall and can't seem to make any more improvements, start putting it all down on paper.

At this point, writing scenes will become fun. You've already done the hardest part of creating the story and now you get to put it all down on paper. You can also clearly focus on writing concise and colorful action description and crisp dialogue that supports what's on your cards. Writing the screenplay can also go remarkably fast — it might just pour out of you.

Most of all ... try and have fun!