What steps to take next?

Visit someplace like the Writer's Store online (http://www.writersstore.com/) and look at the supplies normally used. You could probably find similar items locally.

Be sure to use two fasteners, not three (this is one of those picky things required to make your script meet the "standard").

Have you considered using the SYW section reserved for scriptwriters?

There you can paste some of your work for some feedback.

Good luck with it all ... Oh Yeah ... and what alleycat said

And here's a page I find using a simple Google search that describes the basic script preparation.

http://www.nwsg.org/guidelines.html

Chances are, and this is true for everyone, it's no where near being ready to be sent out.

You're new, take your time. When you finish this one set it aside and write another one. When you feel you've had enough time away from this script go back and read it. See how it strikes you, edit typos and so forth. After that get some feedback.

Read lots and lots of produced scripts. There is a sticky at the top that has links to free online copies of scripts. Find ones in similar genres of yours and see how they handled similar scenes. It takes a while to get the feel for script writing. That means dialog, pace, plot, character, and so forth. It's different than any other kind of writing. So even if you've been say a novelist for years, you still need to learn how to write a script and that process takes time and practice.

As for binding, you want three holes in your paper and you want to fasten it with two brads, one at the top and one at the bottom. You don't want them too long or they're dangerous. You don't want them too short or they won't hold the pages in place. The writer's store as linked above has them. The front and back cover should be blank, coverstock works nicely, it just protects your script as they can go through quite a bit and keeps the pages from falling out during the wear and tear of reading.

Good luck and welcome.

And the fasteners and brads are sold separately - one to 1 1/2 inch is the right length for fasteners (for a 110 p script) and they are available at your local OfficeMax / Staples, brads would have to be special ordered as basically only writers use them You can order 'em bulk via Writers Store too.

Levanthus said:

Thank you for your help. I have spent over 2 years working and re-working it, correcting things, changing pace and omiting scenes, but I understand where you are coming from. I have spent ages studying other scripts, it's been a keen interest of mine for many years. I only wished to know these things for future reference, it is something I feel rather passionately about so I'd like to understand how it all works so when / IF the time ever comes that I feel it is ready, I know what to do.

Click to expand...

It sounds like you're off to a really good start. There are many new writers that have never read a script, are just finishing their first, have never editted it, and expect to print it off, send it out, and sell it. So my advice is rather generic as I have no idea where each person is coming from.

Oddly enough I was one of those newbies once upon a time. It's amazing the delusions we can hold lol.

Work on the basis that you'll need minimum 3 years from finishing the draft you're happy with (which could be your 16th) before your script gets any attention from anyone, including a tinpot prodco who wants to make it for USD10k and pay you zero.

It sounds, as Icerose says, as though your head is screwed on. However good your script is, remember that most people will dismiss it in a heartbeat before they even get to page 10. And that's if they'll look at it in the first place, which is tricky to arrange.

Doesn't stop us all keeping going though!!

We should just make a sticky with your website on it...