Seeking Script Writing Partner

[ScriptNurse]

Don ...

I'd like to know more about how it is you got "stuck" at page 15. I'd wager it's because this idea is in your head, not outlined or mapped out on paper or index cards. Did you write backstories for the principal characters? Often there's something in the backstory that you can use to to get around a story impasse.

[Katanasting]

Hey, HungrySoul. It just so happens I have an extremely controversial idea for a script that I've only gotten started on. (I got stuck at about page 15.) It definitely addresses some very important social issues, though the core issue is that of "sexual reprogramming." Please let me know if you're interested, and maybe we can help each other with our ideas.

Sincerely,
Don P. Normann
Arlington, VA.

[writeaway]

This type of story is what I write most. Blind women, seers, deaf children, etc..

I'll ber happy to send samples of my work.

alexwhitmer@yahoo.com

[ScriptNurse]

For links to sites where you can download scripts, go to the main Script Nurse site here:
http://scriptnurse.com/wcms/index.php?scripts_ko8

[widget]

I am very interested in collaborating in this medium as I am currently helping a young lady to write a Sci Fi script called Minor Society.  Proving quite fun to be honest. Can anyone tell me where I might get hold of more scripts however.  Thank you, regards Widget

[ScriptNurse]

Al is right. I have coached a published playright on adapting one of his plays to the screen. It was a gruelling six month process -- for him. He made every mistake imagineable -- and fixed them all eventually. I warned him at the beginning that it would be tough and that just because he was published, I would not treat him special. During the process, I sent many emails whose substance was "you can do better." He did. At last report, he acquired an agent and his screenplay had been optioned. We worked on several of his plays and he got the hang of it.

Al's advice to read screenplays is excellent. Spend a month reading 30-50 scripts. Development executives do that in one week on their own time, so there's no excuse for not being able to do it. Do not look at your material even once during this process. After you've read scripts until you can't take it any more, read yours. I can guarantee that you will find things about it you'll want to change. You'll have developed an objective "eye" to your work.

If you're married to your scripts -- get a divorce! Don't make the mistake of falling in love with your stories or you'll be a very unhappy writer. Every producer will change it. That's the way it is. Live with it.

Remember: Good scripts are those that get bought. Most are well-written, many are not. It's not called "show art" but show business. Writing for "art" is a fatal mistake. Your goal is to get it sold and move on to your next story.

[uncle_al]

My two drachmas worth...

Just because someone completed (and published) a novel is not necessarily a qualification for writing a screenplay.  (The examples, both in Hollywood of yore and the business of today, abound.)  It also doesn't mean it can't be done, either... but I felt the need to point this out from the get-go.

I have found, in my years of study and practice - no professional credits, but lots of spoiled paper insights - that it's much more difficult working with the restrictions of the screenplay - write only what an audience member will see and hear - than with the relative freedom afforded by the short story/novella/novel/serial/trilogy/tetralogy/whatever.

The best way to get the hang of writing this form... is to write this form.  Read good screenplays.  Read bad screenplays.  Read until your eyes drop from your head.  Then write.  Write till your fingers shrivel up and crumble.  Write until they carry your stiffening carcass from your lodgings.  Write.

Al Bouchard

[Rhetoric]

First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on writing six novels. I tried writing a novel once and after 40,000 words (that only took me to the midpoint change), I started smoking and have yet to quit. I admire anyone who can do that once and walk away from it.

I actually think you can pull off writing the screenplays yourself, and not just because you polished off the novels (although I'd be lying if I said that didn't factor into my conclusion), but because you also went ahead and published them, saw the project through. Also, I think you could switch gears easily because I think you'd be downshifting (nobody kill me!).

Taking the essence of your novels and bringing out the rich moments while guiding your story along its broader scope would be like taking all the juicy parts of your books and collecting them onto a hundred page script. That's more or less what you would be doing (also writing more visually instead of introspectively, as well as conforming your flow into a screenplay format), but that change would be similarly transitional as writing novel and then publishing it.

I really think you could do it and I'm only piping up about it, because I know how it feels converting something on your own from one media to another as well as how it feels to consort with someone else to adapt, and in my experience, the latter doesn't hold a candle to the former (that and, well, things always seem to go wrong with a writing chum... maybe it's me, I don't know).

Anyway, good luck and please give some thought to keeping your work yours and maybe discover how capable you are at screenwriting!

[rosta]

I am by no means experienced but Ive been known to be quite insightful if you have no luck drop me a line.

[HungrySoul]

Self-published writer of 6 novels seeking someone experienced at writing screenplays for a partnership.  Must be interested in working on drama and/or thriller & suspense scripts--no comedies, westerns, or sci-fi & fantasy.  I am in my 30s, female, and ready to write this thing as soon as humanly possible.  Serious subjects: racism, sexual abuse, mental illness, substance abuse, and other social problems.