Help?

[eazy]

I'm fifteen years-old and I began writing scripts several months ago. I've worked on three so far but I continue to run into a wall. Any advice?

[Aldenard]

Are you talking about like a writer's block wall? Or like you are unsure of how the script should be properly structered? Or simply that you get tired of your story and stop writing? I don't know about anyone else here, but I would need more information to answer that question.

[eazy]

I simply get tired of my story and stop writing.

[Aldenard]

How far into the story are you when you stop? Could it be that you feel it is a story not worth telling? Many people here may disagree with me, but I do not believe you should write simply for the sake of writing. I believe you should have a story you want to tell, maybe even one you personally have strong feelings about or want to contemplate an asset of society with.

[eazy]

I get in the story twenty pages or so when I realize that it isn't following my idea of what it should be. I enter into an internal rage until I finally just blow the script off and start a new one.

[Aldenard]

Perhaps it would be best for you to write the entire story, in prose form, (minus unnessary description, ect.) first, so you have an outline of the story you want to tell. then you could transfer this to a screenplay with relative ease

[eazy]

I will definitely try this. Thanks.

[MrJayVee]

The mistake you’re making is…you’re not choosing a story you really want to tell. The other mistake you’re making is…you’re not writing an outline. What’s an outline? It’s basically bullet points of what happens from FADE IN to FADE OUT. For instance:

1). Joe at his crummy job.

2). Joe driving home in his crummy car; gets stuck in traffic.

3). Joe arrives home, has argument with neighbor about trash in yard.

4). Joe takes off his suit and tie, puts on robe, sits down in front of TV with a can of beer; watches wrestling.

5). Joe’s wife comes home, starts bitching at Joe to clean up the trash in the front yard.

6). Joe goes into the garage, gets shotgun, goes back in the house and blows his wife’s brains out.

7). Joe sits down in front of TV again and continues watching wrestling.

OK, I think you get the point. If you want to add snatches of dialogue in the outline, that’s fine. But don’t get too bogged down in details. Once you get the story worked out from start to finish, go ahead and add more and more detail.

Get you whole story worked out in the outline. Remember: This is where the real work comes in. The script should come relatively easy once you get the outline all figured out (if you halfway know what you’re doing, that is).

One last thing: You don’t necessarily have to come up with a story you think will sell to anyone. Right now you’re in the very early learning stages of learning this craziness we call screenwriting, and more than likely anything you write now (and for the immediate future) will not be worth selling. Learn now. Sell later. But you’re young, so you’ve got a bit of time to play with.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Listen to my podcast interview:

http://storage.blogmatrix.com/ (http://storage.blogmatrix.com/) (go to the June 23rd podcast)

[dpaterso]

I second MrJayVee's outline advice.

Related to which, try looking further ahead to where your story is going. Do you know how it ends? Can you work back the way, from the end to the beginning? Doing this might help you understand what it's about. Are your characters any different at the end than they were at the beginning? How does what happens during the course of the story affect them? Have they gained anything? Have they lost something? This can have an emotional effect upon them, and therefore upon your audience.

Don't just focus on your own scripts. Pick your top 10 favorite films, seek out the scripts, read them, and analyze their stories. Why did you like them so much? What made the story and characters work for you? Can you duplicate the story beats? Not the plot or the characters -- the structure of the script, how the story was told. Character and setting introduction. The inciting incident that kicks off the story. The main story unfolding, with its bumps and twists and turns. Whatever factors compel your characters to continue instead of just walking away.

Shrug, my thoughts. Hope it helps in some way, good luck.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57/scripts.htm)
"What's the strategy, sir?"
"Get out of the bloody place before it blows up."
~Casino Royale

[Joe Calabrese]

I agree. Outline your script, like a blueprint. Work out the problems before you write the script and then attack it in script form.

[StephieM]

Eazy,

I have sort of the same problem. When I've worked forever on a script, the "oh, this is a fantastic idea!" starts to fizzle out after awhile, and then I stop writing it completely. The problem was that I was trying too hard to make it perfect, starting from begining and trying to work my way through to the end, often times spending hours on one page alone. :crazy:

This is what I do now. Before I begin I use index cards to write down each scene, its goal, and a brief discription of what happens. Everyday I take a few random cards and write out the scenes. I don't even think of the story as a whole yet, (okay, maybe a little), but the idea is not to be intimidated on how much you still need to write and just concentrate on a little bit at a time. I work on each scene like it's an individual piece, a mini-mini-story. Then when they are all done, I will go over it as a whole and fix any kinks, then begin my rewrite. Remember most of the work in writing is revising and rewriting. Your first draft is going to be far from perfect no matter who you are. So take your time, have fun, learn all that you can, and don't give up! :)

Steph