How to start a screenwriting career?

Do the verb

6 min readJan 5, 2021

Intro

If you want to be a screenwriter, you got to write. Finding ideas and sitting down and writing are two of the most difficult things to do when you are starting out. It doesn’t matter if you know what a scene is or dialogue or a parenthetical or a beat, if you want to be a screenwriter, you need to get in the habit of writing every day. Do the verb.

What is your favorite movie?

If you do a web search of your favorite movie + screenplay + PDF, there is a good chance you will find a version of the screenplay for your favorite movie. When I first started screenwriting, I read around fifty screenplays from movies I had seen or movies that I was interested in seeing.

By reading the screenplays that went on to become movies, you will get an understanding of the format, how good dialogue is written, and begin to learn story structure.

When Diablo Cody started out as a writer, she wrote a blog about her experiences and eventually found an agent. She worked with that agent and eventually wrote the screenplay for Juno. She hadn’t read Syd Field or Blake Snyder or any of the other screenwriting gurus, she was a writer who learned the craft of screenwriting.

After you’ve read a few screenplays, try writing a scene. Two characters, one location, and they both have opposing goals. By having two characters with opposing goals, you immediately create conflict. How does the scene get resolved? How do the characters change? This is also a good way to think about writing a short film.

In a few of my first short films, I just wrote two or three characters in one location with a central conflict. This made it simple to put a production together to turn my script into a film. I would find a location where we could film for a day and find volunteers to work as cast and crew. Because the films were short (4–5 pages) we could film them in around 4–5 hours.

My first screenplays were short films and web series scripts. As I learned the craft, I wrote my first feature film screenplay and I sent it out to competitions to see what readers thought of it. When I paid for the optional reader’s feedback, I would use their notes to rewrite the script and try out new ideas.

Rewrite

Once you’ve written your first script, put it in a drawer, and start working on something else. Writing is a very personal thing, and if you’re doing it right people will feel something when they read your words. But no script is finished on the first draft.

For my work, I feel like it takes at least five or six drafts before I’m really happy with it.

One thing that can when you are ready to rewrite a script is to create an outline based on the script you’ve already written. Many times, if there’s a problem with the script, it comes down to structure.

Learn screenwriting structure

There is a lot to learn when it comes to screenplay format. There are sluglines at the beginning of each new scene which are made up of INT (interior) or EXT (exterior), Location, and DAY or NIGHT. For example:

INT. APARTMENT — DAY

Then there are action lines, and dialogue.

Screenwriters rely on screenplay programs to get the structure right. I like to use Final Draft, but if you want a free version, you may want to check out a program like Highland 2.

But beneath the surface, screenplays run on structure. Structure is the hardest thing to learn when it comes to writing a screenplay.

That’s why I recommend reading as many screenplays as you can get your hands on.

For an overview of structure, I would recommend checking out:

Dan Harmon’s story circle.

A lot of screenwriting gurus will break up a screenplay into three parts — beginning — middle — end. But for a beginning screenwriter this oversimplification can be detrimental.

Dan Harmon’s story circle can be used for any length script and it breaks up the story of the screenplay into eight parts.

Feature length screenplays usually run around 90–120 pages. Between 90 to 100 pages is usually a good length.

The first act should run about 25 pages, regardless of how long the entire script will be (unless you’re writing a short screenplay), and the third act should be between 20–25 pages. The second act can be broken up into two parts. I usually write headers in my screenplays for ACT TWO, PART ONE and ACT TWO, PART TWO.

I write that in for myself so I know where I am in the script, but if I were to send it out, I would remove that before someone else read it.

With Dan Harmon’s story circle, each of the acts are broken up into two sequences, and sequences were initially used when filmmaking began.

Do the verb

If you want to be a screenwriter, you gotta write. Do the verb. If you don’t know how to write a script, write a journal. Start writing bits of dialogue you overhear or write down the dialogue from your own life.

If you don’t know where to start, you can try a free writing exercise. Get a pen and paper, set a timer for 10–15 minutes and start writing. Once the timer starts, write down whatever comes into your head until the timer stops. No checking twitter, no checking your phone, or the internet, or any other distractions. Just focus on writing. As you write, you might get stuck. If that happens, just write, “I don’t know what I want to write.” Or describe how you feel or how the exercise makes you feel. Whatever you do, make sure you keep writing. Freewriting is a great way to get your writing muscle working and it helps you to overcome the inner editor.

Every writer has an inner editor and freewriting can help silence them. Writing is not just a mental activity; it’s also a physical action. By freewriting you will train your mind to eventually enjoy writing.

Final thoughts

If you don’t do the verb, you won’t learn how to write. With practice anyone can become a screenwriter. Once you’ve started writing, you’ve started your career in screenwriting. You are the verb.