writers block

[uncle_al]

The thing to remember about writing. It will always have some kind of issue and never really be finished. The written word can always be improved....

Somebody said once (I forget the exact attribution, which is why I phrase it thus:) that writing is never so much finished as it is abandoned.

Too true...

Al B.

[seansshack]

saleable screenwritng

Now there's a question and a half.

No an easy one to answer. In order to sell you need to get "someone" connected to read (or win a competition).

I made a contact with a very established screenwriter a couple of weeks ago (Irish) who came first in the Page international competition. He hired and agent etc. But the studio's didn't bite. So there are no guarantees (it seems).

I also remember making contact with someone that once worked with Warner. He was nice enough to read some of my features. Told me I had the most potential he had seen in a while (but needed some mentoring and training) and with work could become a full time writer (which was nice!) But my stories even though they were well written were not marketable enough. ()

So it's a hard one. You may have great ideas and be a good writer. But to climb that mountain and know what will sell it, I don't know.

Movies and thus screenplays change and age. What will sell today may not sell tomorrow.

I think it's a mixture of talent, determination(I've nearly given up a few times), luck, help and contacts. Not an east combination by any means.

Perhaps someone else here can help.

If you are worried that your story has issues - throw some of it/all of it up here and lets see if we can help!

The thing to remember about writing. It will always have some kind of issue and never really be finished. The written word can always be improved....

[padnar]

Hi,
what is the correct mode of saleable screenwritng
pl write . I have written my script and if somes says this story will not work
what you wll do can anybody throw light at it
padma

[uncle_al]

most of you guys wont believe me but i write the screenplay straight away... i dont make any notes... well only in exceptional circumstances... but the thing is i edit alot..... if i make an outline or write a story first then i probably wont edit that much!!!! i will agree to you uncle al.... everybody has his/her own way of screenplay writing!!!

I believe.  I've done that sort of thing myself.
What's important is that it WORKS.
And the thing is... it may not work the same way two scripts in a row.
It's just a case of "do it the way you have to and get it done."

Al B.

[sharry]

most of you guys wont believe me but i write the screenplay straight away... i dont make any notes... well only in exceptional circumstances... but the thing is i edit alot..... if i make an outline or write a story first then i probably wont edit that much!!!! i will agree to you uncle al.... everybody has his/her own way of screenplay writing!!!

[uncle_al]

Hi uncle_al ,
which is the correct way of writing a script ? Is it through the outline
or through the character pl write
padma

Padma, much as I'd like to answer the question as you want it answered, I can't.  You see, there is no one right way to write a script.
You can outline, write character bios, fill out Enneagram questionaires or job application forms or backstory notes on all your characters, follow the Syd Field paradigm, the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet, or just start at "FADE IN:" with a vague idea and a couple of one-line characters, and "wing it" until page 120.
None of these ways are wrong.  None of them are exclusively right.  It's that old devil Relativity (not the Einstein version, either) popping his grinning head over the monitor.
The right way to do a script is the way that works for you.
I'll emphasize that again...
THE RIGHT WAY TO DO A SCRIPT IS THE WAY THAT WORKS FOR YOU.

My personal vision is to have as much information as you can before you start {all your background research, interviews, digging to get the setting and the atmosphere right}, have a pretty good idea where you're going, how you plan to get there, and who's taking the trip... and realize that these three items can change at a moment's notice as you write.
Also, save MANY versions of your script before it's done... you may need some of it later, or can file off the serial numbers and make a new script out of it.

Cheers!

Al B.
--Uncle Al - NOW FORTIFIED with BLOG!
http://www.alexanderbouchard.com/blog.html

[padnar]

Hi uncle_al ,
which is the correct way of writing a script ? Is it through the outline
or through the character pl write
padma

[uncle_al]

I thought that I was going crazy or loosing it because I couldn't think of anything.

No, you're not going crazy... You're already there.  (You're a writer - even more so, a screenwriter.  Q.E.D.)
That's why I {personally and how else could I talk?  I am nobody else, just me} try to have a number of projects going in as many different types of writing as I can.  I have a podcast I'm putting together, I started a blog, I write essays, screenplays, critical analysis, HTML, JavaScript, program code in one of many computer languages, letters to the editor and a partridge in a pear tree...
When one dries up, I switch to another for the stimulation of other facets of my creativity.  In this respect, I pattern myself after Dr, Isaac Asimov, the late science fiction writer, essayist, explainer of things obscure, and popularizer of scientific thought.
Not in prolificity, though... he wrote every day for over fifty years, and I don't.

Keep plugging.

Al B.

[lottiemae]

Thank you guys for your suggestions, now I feel like I can let my brain rest. I thought that I was going crazy or loosing it because I couldn't think of anything.

[robogabs]

I agree with Sean.
I often take time away from my scripts or move on to some unrelated project then come back.
Sometimes, I find going on a bike ride conducive to "recharging my batteries." Often, the germ of an idea or dialogue comes to me during these breaks (I never completely forget about writing, no matter where I am).
Hope this helps.

[seansshack]

take a break and give it time. One thing about writing, never works when you try to hard and put pressure on yourself. Give it some time....

[lottiemae]

I am new in this field of screen writing, and I wrote 30 pages of dialouge now I got writers block. what should I do about it?