things you wish you knew before writing your first script....
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I wish I had known Screenwriting software existed. 
Formatting in Word was a pain in the patoot. Of course, this was....er....nine years ago? I was naive.
Formatting in Word was a pain in the patoot. Of course, this was....er....nine years ago? I was naive.
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I wish I understood how often it would be re-written after I thought it was 'finished'.
Or better yet - that they aren't 'finished' until the movie is shot.
Or better yet - that they aren't 'finished' until the movie is shot.
I wish I would have known that scripts have a specific format and do NOT look like the plays handed around at school. Ah well, at least I can look back and laugh.
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I created an entire website for that question. Right now it is at http://www.loreleiarmstrong.com, but will soon move to http://www.kullervo.com.
General answer: that I was wasting my time.
General answer: that I was wasting my time.
They have a character list at the top with each character getting a line and each have their own highlighted color and everything to the left, and example below.
Such as: (Though there isn't a highlighter here, so I had to change the whole text color.)
JONNY Age 22 Male
CAROLINA AGE 20 FEMALE
STREET SWEEPER AGE 50 MALE
EXT. HOUSE
JONNY jogs over to CAROLINA who is sitting on the steps.
JONNY: Hey babe.
CAROLINA: Hey Jonny, wanna see a movie?
An old STREET SWEEPER shuffles by with his broom.
STREET SWEEPER: See the love nest, it's a classic.
And so on. Yeah my first two scripts really did look like that. Though not as clean...
That the whole (passive writing) stuff you learned in high school and every creative writing book ever written applies to screenwriting. That writing 20 pages a day will not give a script in six days, or even sixty days.
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That characters shouldn't say what they're thinking.
That they shouldn't say what they're feeling.
That they shouldn't tell someone what that person already knows, simply because the audience doesn't.
That they shouldn't be telling one another what the scene is about.
That nothing should be there that doesn't have a reason for being there.
That nobody should say something unless he has a reason for saying it.
In real life, people who talk about themselves, their lives, and their problems are boring. Ditto in the movies.
That a scene that doesn't advance the story shouldn't be there.
That simply providing exposition doesn't count as "advancing the story." Advancing the story means introducing a complication or a resolution or laying the groundwork for a future complication or a future resolution. Sometimes scenes can do more than one of these things -- but they've got to at least do one.
Story and Character are simply two ways of talking about the same thing.
NMS
That they shouldn't say what they're feeling.
That they shouldn't tell someone what that person already knows, simply because the audience doesn't.
That they shouldn't be telling one another what the scene is about.
That nothing should be there that doesn't have a reason for being there.
That nobody should say something unless he has a reason for saying it.
In real life, people who talk about themselves, their lives, and their problems are boring. Ditto in the movies.
That a scene that doesn't advance the story shouldn't be there.
That simply providing exposition doesn't count as "advancing the story." Advancing the story means introducing a complication or a resolution or laying the groundwork for a future complication or a future resolution. Sometimes scenes can do more than one of these things -- but they've got to at least do one.
Story and Character are simply two ways of talking about the same thing.
NMS