Read more scripts, seriously

[Optimus]

This stikes me as I read some of the questions here (and other boards) sometimes. It seems that way-too-many aspirant screenwriters don't read scripts.

Just reading some book like "Complete Idiots Guide to Screenwriting," or Screenwriting 101 will not make you a good screenwriter.

You have to read produced scripts.

Lots of them.

Let me repeat.

YOU HAVE TO READ LOTS OF PRODUCED SCRIPTS.

It's basic research.

Would one attempt to write the next great novel without ever reading any of the great/classic novels? Wait, don't answer that.

A person would be incredibly stupid to do that, but it happens all the time.

The same goes for screenplays. It seems (from the content of many basic questions I run across) that people just don't read scripts. They think they can read a book, ask the most basic of questions, post some pages, and then have someone answer everything they ask, correct all of their mistakes for them, and they can just sit back and become a better writer via osmosis.

You have to be willing to work.

"Here are the pages to my latest screenplay. It will be the best screenplay ever."

"It's not. You need to change this and this and this and that."

"How?"

"Well, by doing this and this and this and that."

"Oh. Well how do I do that?"

"Like this."

"Oh. But what about this and this?"

"Have you ever read a script in your life?"

"Well...no. But I have a really great idea and I bought this book and..."


Gimme a break.

That, to me, is extremely lazy. You can't expect to get good at basketball if you've never seen a game, let alone a good one.

Thus, you are doomed to failure if you don't start the process of learning to write scripts if you never read scripts.

You shouldn't even type the words "FADE IN:" for the first time ever until you've read at least 10 produced scripts.

At least.

The best way to learn, better than any book you can buy in the store, is by reading scripts. The best way to develop your own voice is by seeing how the pros express theirs. The best way to learn great format and the art of writing lean, tight narrative is to see how the pros do it.

If you're trying to write a sci-fi thriller, and you've never read Alien, then you shouldn't be writing sci-fi thrillers.

If you're trying to write action, and you've never read Lethal Weapon (or anything by Shane Black), then you shouldn't be writing action scripts.

If you're trying to write a great romance, and you've never read Casablanca, then...

You get the idea.

Find scripts in the genre of your story and read the great ones. It will answer virtually all of these basic questions that keep popping up on the boards.

Writing takes work. Specifically, it takes homework. If you're not willing to put the time into really studying and learning your craft, doing your own research, finding things out on your own, getting off your own butt and finding the answers to the most basic of questions rather than just asking endless questions on a messageboard regarding the most basic of techniques, then I suggest you give up now.

Becoming a good screenwriter takes work. You can't expect it to be spoonfed to you.

So, if you're reading this, no matter how long you've been writing, get off your butt and go read a script.

Learn from the best if you want to be the best.

[P.H.Delarran]

:Lecture: Well said!

[dpaterso]

Q: Can I find scripts on the internet?
A: Yes.

Q: Will I have to pay to read them?
A: No, many are made available for educational purposes.

Q: But where are they?
A:
http://www.script-o-rama.com (http://www.script-o-rama.com/)
http://http://www.imsdb.com
http://www.simplyscripts.com (http://www.simplyscripts.com/)

...to name but three sites.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/scripts.htm)

[Optimus]

Q: Can I find scripts on the internet?

A: Do you know what Google is?

[Joe Calabrese]

Here's a bunch of sites. some links may be broken.

http://www.joblo.com/moviescripts.htm
http://sfy.iv.ru/
http://www.scriptcrawler.com/
http://www.script-o-rama.com/
http://www.moviescriptsandscreenplays.com/index.html
http://physiosoft.uibk.ac.at/hitman/scripts/
http://www.pumpkinsoft.de/screenplay451/
http://www.screentalk.biz/gallery.htm
http://corky.net/scripts/
http://www.simplyscripts.com/
http://www.weeklyscript.com/
http://www.awesomefilm.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/PLAQUE2/
http://www.imsdb.com/

[Jamesaritchie]

This stikes me as I read some of the questions here (and other boards) sometimes. It seems that way-too-many aspirant screenwriters don't read scripts.

Just reading some book like "Complete Idiots Guide to Screenwriting," or Screenwriting 101 will not make you a good screenwriter.

You have to read produced scripts.

Lots of them.

Let me repeat.

YOU HAVE TO READ LOTS OF PRODUCED SCRIPTS.

It's basic research.

Would one attempt to write the next great novel without ever reading any of the great/classic novels? Wait, don't answer that.

A person would be incredibly stupid to do that, but it happens all the time.

The same goes for screenplays. It seems (from the content of many basic questions I run across) that people just don't read scripts. They think they can read a book, ask the most basic of questions, post some pages, and then have someone answer everything they ask, correct all of their mistakes for them, and they can just sit back and become a better writer via osmosis.

You have to be willing to work.

"Here are the pages to my latest screenplay. It will be the best screenplay ever."

"It's not. You need to change this and this and this and that."

"How?"

"Well, by doing this and this and this and that."

"Oh. Well how do I do that?"

"Like this."

"Oh. But what about this and this?"

"Have you ever read a script in your life?"

"Well...no. But I have a really great idea and I bought this book and..."


Gimme a break.

That, to me, is extremely lazy. You can't expect to get good at basketball if you've never seen a game, let alone a good one.

Thus, you are doomed to failure if you don't start the process of learning to write scripts if you never read scripts.

You shouldn't even type the words "FADE IN:" for the first time ever until you've read at least 10 produced scripts.

At least.

The best way to learn, better than any book you can buy in the store, is by reading scripts. The best way to develop your own voice is by seeing how the pros express theirs. The best way to learn great format and the art of writing lean, tight narrative is to see how the pros do it.

If you're trying to write a sci-fi thriller, and you've never read Alien, then you shouldn't be writing sci-fi thrillers.

If you're trying to write action, and you've never read Lethal Weapon (or anything by Shane Black), then you shouldn't be writing action scripts.

If you're trying to write a great romance, and you've never read Casablanca, then...

You get the idea.

Find scripts in the genre of your story and read the great ones. It will answer virtually all of these basic questions that keep popping up on the boards.

Writing takes work. Specifically, it takes homework. If you're not willing to put the time into really studying and learning your craft, doing your own research, finding things out on your own, getting off your own butt and finding the answers to the most basic of questions rather than just asking endless questions on a messageboard regarding the most basic of techniques, then I suggest you give up now.

Becoming a good screenwriter takes work. You can't expect it to be spoonfed to you.

So, if you're reading this, no matter how long you've been writing, get off your butt and go read a script.

Learn from the best if you want to be the best.

Maybe it's just me, and I have no idea whether or not other script writers do this or not, but something that helped me a great deal when I first started was not only reading a script, but reading as many versions of a script as possible, and also reading the novel that started it all.

Seeing the process all the way from novel to shooting script somehow made it easier for me to understand how it all worked.

Oh, and of course watching the movie a couple of times with several versions of the script at hand.

[aspiringwriter]

I've said it before and I will say it again... I'm a visual learner...I learn by watching the movies, listening to dialouge (some albeit crappy)... I posted to something earlier explaining I have Adult ADD (I know it's not an excuse) but to fully understand Adult ADD, you have to know what it is... :)

My point is, the more I read the more confused I become and my mind runs off into a million tangents and I hate it, I really do... I have an idea but then once I get it started, well it all seems to fall apart. I've read script after script and it's just too blamed confusing...

[GonnaBeFamous]

I've said it before and I will say it again... I'm a visual learner...I learn by watching the movies, listening to dialouge (some albeit crappy)... I posted to something earlier explaining I have Adult ADD (I know it's not an excuse) but to fully understand Adult ADD, you have to know what it is... :)

My point is, the more I read the more confused I become and my mind runs off into a million tangents and I hate it, I really do... I have an idea but then once I get it started, well it all seems to fall apart. I've read script after script and it's just too blamed confusing...

I hear you. I never read scripts from beginning to finish. I just can't. I read a little hear and there from a few scripts and pick up what I need for a genre. I think aslong as you read pieces herre and there and skim some of it you can pick up a lot. The only time I read one fully was Halloween. I almost needed to though because horror films ARE written differently then other genre's They are full of Ecloseups through the use of subheadings in intense moments because they are not as dialogue driven and they don't take up pages as much because of so much descriptions and visuals so you have to use a lot of subheadings to take up more pages to help get closer to that one minute per page rule. Wow I'm making this complicated but I hope you understand what I mean, read Halloween H20 before you start your horror script.

[Jamesaritchie]

I've said it before and I will say it again... I'm a visual learner...I learn by watching the movies, listening to dialouge (some albeit crappy)... I posted to something earlier explaining I have Adult ADD (I know it's not an excuse) but to fully understand Adult ADD, you have to know what it is... :)

My point is, the more I read the more confused I become and my mind runs off into a million tangents and I hate it, I really do... I have an idea but then once I get it started, well it all seems to fall apart. I've read script after script and it's just too blamed confusing...

Have you tried watching the movie while holding the script? First watch the movie straight through. Then watch it again. This time pause the movie after each scene and read what the script says there.

Adult ADD does not mean you can't read and understand something. Nor does it mean you have to have a shorter attention span. It may mean you need both medication and treatment and training, but many, many people with Adult ADD learn to do anything and everything just as well as those who don't have it. You're the boss, not the ADD, and you can do anything you want.

[aspiringwriter]

I do take medication and it does work... sometimes though, I still get confused. For me though, I learn best visually... reading a script or book, well I can read it and then everything gets jumbled...sure I try VERY hard to follow it but sometimes I just can't and give up...I know I shouldn't give up but I get discouraged...

I've always had problems, even in school paying attention but over the years I have gotten better... Like I said, some people learn better visually and that's me :)

[JustinoXXV]

Watching movies and tv can help with you dialouge. It will not help with you formatting at all. If you do not have the proper format, no one in the industry is going to read your work.

And while watching movies can help with plot and structure, I agree with Optimus. You'll need to read produced scripts. You should also read scripts by other writers at all stages of the game to learn what's good and bad about yours.

Even people who take screenwriting classes are ENCOURAGED to read screenplays.

Joe, who has optioned and sold work, has also been a reader at production companies in New York. I'm sure that's helped him.

By the way, I have adult ADD, yet in the past week, I read 17 screenplays and I reviewed them, in addition to working on my own scripts. And no, I'm not on medication.

And if you can't read, how can you write? While you can't do an adaptation to books under copyright, there are lot of classic works, including mythology (all of which were written long before copyright) , that you could draw inspiration and even adapt if you were able to read. Even on things that were totally modern comedies (Cheers for example), it's rather obvious the writers were well read people.

Put it like this. The producer will not care that you have adult ADD and aren't able to read. The producer is going to see your script, find it lacking, and it will hit the recycle bin or the garbage can. I'm not being mean, but the industry won't care. Therefore it's up to you stop making excuses for yourself, and seek out additional treatment and training to help you be able to read, if you intend to pursue a career as a screenwriter.

[Optimus]

This is off topic, but...

I *heart* Joe.

[Joe Calabrese]

You're right Opti. It's is way off topic. I'll leave it to you to delete.

[nganok]

...Oh I'm sorry did you guys say something... I was busy reading scripts. lol

[scripter1]

There is so much more to screenwriting then just learning format or understanding how to write out a decent character description.

There is structure.
Pacing.
Set up and pay offs.
Plants and reveals.
Events that happen off the page.
Subplots.
Character arc's.
Twists
etc, etc.

You will never grasp how to develop and put forth these elements if you stop reading before you get to them.
How can you POSSIABLY understand the details of the craft if you've never actually seen them applied in a complete and thorough manner?

If you've only read the first ten pages of a script, or one little segment, then you may have a great opening scene, or bits and pieces here and there that work but the whole will suffer.

Read the WHOLE SCRIPT.

And yes, it is very educational to read different drafts of the same script and then watch the finished product with script in hand.

[odocoileus]

http://www.screentalk.biz/moviescripts.htm

One more script site.

I like Thomas Pope's Good Scripts, Bad Scripts. He does a chapter of analysis each on 25 different scripts.

And in How Not to Write A Screenplay, Denny Martin Flinn lists 80 or so great screenplays in different genres.

In response to the inevitable question, "Which scripts should I read?"

[GonnaBeFamous]

There is so much more to screenwriting then just learning format or understanding how to write out a decent character description.

There is structure.
Pacing.
Set up and pay offs.
Plants and reveals.
Events that happen off the page.
Subplots.
Character arc's.
Twists
etc, etc.

You will never grasp how to develop and put forth these elements if you stop reading before you get to them.
How can you POSSIABLY understand the details of the craft if you've never actually seen them applied in a complete and thorough manner?

If you've only read the first ten pages of a script, or one little segment, then you may have a great opening scene, or bits and pieces here and there that work but the whole will suffer.

Read the WHOLE SCRIPT.

And yes, it is very educational to read different drafts of the same script and then watch the finished product with script in hand.


You wouldnt happen to be a teacher or something would you? :box: :Hail: :flag:

[JERETHAL]

A good script seems to be less and less a requirement for acceptance.


I can't believe that a studio is doing another Duece Bigalo male gigalo.

there has to be better material out there.

I've been watching the movie channels on cable lately because the news turns my stomach and network Tv is worse.

I kept track of all the movies I watched in the last two months. I watched over 100 films. I enjoyed a few. maybe three. One was "Second hand lions", another was "The Notebook"-except for Rachel Mcadems showing me her tonsils one too many times, and "Crazy as hell". I almost liked "The Missing".
"Lost in translation" was good the first time, hard to watch a second time.

The point is that I dam near puked on about 90 of them. Good thing they were running some old John Wayne flicks. Saved the day.

[icerose]

:idea: Perhaps Gonnabe's and Aspiring's problem is you try to read too much at once. Try taking it just 5 pages at a time, take notes and whatever. Think of it as a class assignment and make a goal to finish reading one every month (or faster if you can manage) then rent the movie and watch it, and follow your notes and have the script so you can see how you did and if you can see how the elements worked out and such.

:Shrug: Just a thought.

P.S. And you don't have to be entertained to learn something. ;)

[StephieM]

I'm tired and confused, but didn't I just read another thread very similar to this one?

Anyway, point taken Opti. Will read many scripts, will read many script, will read.....

Sorry just planting it in my head. :)

Thankyou to those who included links to script sites. I didn't realize there is so many. I'm going to add them to my favorites. Soon.

Steph

[GonnaBeFamous]

:idea: Perhaps Gonnabe's and Aspiring's problem is you try to read too much at once. Try taking it just 5 pages at a time, take notes and whatever. Think of it as a class assignment and make a goal to finish reading one every month (or faster if you can manage) then rent the movie and watch it, and follow your notes and have the script so you can see how you did and if you can see how the elements worked out and such.

:Shrug: Just a thought.

P.S. And you don't have to be entertained to learn something. ;)

That's a good idea. Yesterday I was reading a script of a movie I have seen and really liked. had to stop afte page 15. I'll have to pick up and read it later. :)

[icerose]

That's a good idea. Yesterday I was reading a script of a movie I have seen and really liked. had to stop afte page 15. I'll have to pick up and read it later. :)

Yeah just because they are shorter than novels doesn't mean they can't be read in installments. I haven't sat down and read a novel from beginning to end in a very long time, simply because I don't have the time. Scripts are the same way, I read them in chunks.

[scripter1]

By Bill Martell.

http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip305.htm

[LabyrinthineMind]

I sort of thought this was obvious - but then I'm a reader by nature. I read all the time. It's the only thing I have to do with my time now that my children are old enough to basically do things for themselves.

I've run out of more printer ink than I care to think about. I started sending the links to my husband so he could print them at work and get all nice brads and stuff :p

[Opty]

*Bump*

[dclary]

Why are you bumping other people's threads, sporky.

Besides, you should take opty's advice.

If you do, you'll know that "continuous" and "(continued)" went the way of the Dodo in the 90s.

[Joe Calabrese]

Maybe there is a reason Spork is reviving Iwrite and Optimus's old threads. HMMMM? I think I'm gonna have to form a committee to investigate.

[whistlelock]

You have to read produced scripts.

Lots of them.

Let me repeat.

YOU HAVE TO READ LOTS OF PRODUCED SCRIPTS.



At least 100.

No, we are not joking.

[dclary]

I'm up to 3.

[Opty]

I thought the other thread was Maestro's?

Anyway, I was just reading through some old threads and found these two (but especially the other one) pretty interesting and worth more discussion.

And, Dave, if anyone needs to be concerned with "Continuous" and "Continued..." it's you.

;)

[dclary]

LOL. I will not be adding your grandmother's script formatting to my script.

[Bravo]

i would really hate to read one of optimus' scripts.

he couldve said everything in that post in one, small paragraph.

sad.

[dclary]

I've read Opty's scripts, and I've read Sporky's scripts.

Sporky is *much* better.

[Opty]

That's because Optimus sucked at writing and I kick ass.

[dclary]

you misspelled "kiss"

[Opty]

Ha!

Shut up and sign on to AIM, bitch.

[BrianTubbs]

I write a lot of nonfiction articles. Sometimes, when I have writer's block. I will copy and paste another article - usually a previous one I wrote, but sometimes another author's. Then, I start changing it around, and after a few substantial rewrites, I have an article.

Now, before anyone jumps on me, I'm very, VERY careful not to plagiarize. In NO case has the article I've come up with resembled the article I pasted. It's merely a start-up exercise for me. Once I get going, the article I write doesn't look ANYTHING like the article I started with. But, for some reason, it helps to actually have that pasted article there to start with.

Similar to this exercise is advice I've read on re-typing WORD-FOR-WORD manuscripts that other authors write - NOT to plagiarize and publish, mind you. But to learn from them.

Has anyone here tried anything like that? Again, I'm NOT talking about plagiarism. That's actually a big pet peeve of mine. But I am talking about learning from another writer's pace, structure, and style.

And do any of the script sofwares out there (MovieMagic, Final Draft, etc) have template screenplays or electronic screenplays in which you could do this?

[dclary]

Ha!

Shut up and sign on to AIM, bitch.

Yes, ma'am.

[Hillgate]

I have to read a screenplay from start to finish, just as I wouldn't pause a film after ten minutes to come back the next day and watch another ten minutes.

You can read most screenplays as fast as the underlying film. If you can't (and I'm excluding the poster with Adult ADD - I know what that is because one of my kids has it - he's 12) then maybe the screenplay's just not good enough. If you're struggling with it, so will everyone else. Either that or like the original poster says you're simply not practised enough at reading screenplays.

Try 'Bad Santa' or 'Airplane'. Hilarious. Then try 'Schindler's List' (all 160 pages of it). Interesting to see which scenes were cut. 'Something About Mary' strangely doesn't read as well as it should. 'As Good As it Gets' - doesn't look nearly as good in written form. 'About Schmidt' - worse.

I think the DVD extras nowadays are fantastic,especially deleted scenes with director or writer's commentary (eg Richard Curtis for 'Love Actually' is an exercise in how to write a great romcom).

The only screenwriter's book I think is even remotely worth reading is David Trottier's 'The Screenwriter's Bible.' The other stuff attempts pseudo-science. It's garbage. Watch films, read a ton of screenplays.

[winter]

Well the problem with that is that the majority of produed scripts available to read are redominantly pulp to feed the dispoable enterainment idustry.

Where's Fellini's eight and a half? Haven't seen any of Greenaways work.
Go to film school.

I mean, you can't exect to be an engineer unless you go to engineering school.