Scriptwriting

By Steven Rhyss Lewis

There are loads of good script writing books out there now. Get hold of as many as you can, beg, steal and borrow them. I personally get a lot from Linda Seger, Lew Hunter and Michael Hauge. Also, it is crucial that you are watching a lot of movies. If you don't like watching movies almost daily, then aren't you are doing the wrong thing? The 'making of...' and DVD commentaries by directors are now like having your own film school for a fiver. Always remember that you are writing for a visual medium. Whenever I finish a first draft the first thing I try to do is reduce the word count by 25%. There are two good reasons for this; it makes you express your story with pictures and it makes life easier for the actors. If they are having to learn huge monologues, they won't be thanking you for it and you can bet your boots you will end up simplifying them when you come to the shoot. Like most things in life the maxim KISS will serve you well, ie Keep It Simple Sunshine. Strong and robust beats pretty but over-elaborate every day. Lots of times I get friends and family saying "Oh wouldn't that make a great movie?" Nine times out of ten the answer is no. The reason is that there are many factors against finding a great story. The suggestion may date fast, may be already in production, be too thin(the most common failing), be too culturally specific, would cost too much money, may be intrinsically dull (story-wise), have little scope for being visually interesting, be too complicated,etc.
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