How many scripts do you write a year?

Average of 3-4 completed scripts, 1-2 rewrites of other writer's work and another 4-5 concept/outline/treatment/synopsis for future development. But I write pretty close to full time.

I would say for a PT writer or a newbie, 2-3 scripts per year is respectable. The important thing is to write whenever you can, have at least several scripts in each genre you write in (as a showcase) and develop a library of pitches.

5 is a reality but a foolish one. 10 weeks for a polished script is nearly impossible. The most I would shoot for 3 months each which is 4 completed scripts a year. That's doable, writing 40 hours a week.

Hey eazy,

Joe pretty much hit the nail on the head. In my first year of serious screenwriting I have written four scripts. I tend to brainstorm for a month then write for two, then repeat the whole process again. But it's different for everybody. Unless you are incredibly prolific, I wouldn't worry about trying to hit a quota of 5 in one year. I think quality always trumps quantity.

The least I would recommend to any writer is 1 script a year.

Even doing a page a day after thinking and planning it for a month or two would take 3 months for a first draft and up to six months for a comfortable rewrite(s) and polishes.

Taking longer to write a script causes you to obsess over the little things so much it will cause you to become too close to see the forest.

Besides, telling an agent or manager you took 3 years to write something, will cause serious questions on your ability to produce material in a timely manner. They want to make money off your work, not just off of one script.

And since it took you that long to write it, a producer would wonder whether you could do a rewrite under the gun in a matter of weeks, which is what they would expect of you.

Good advice, Joe!

Great script. Great concept. Great story. Wonderful!


Sorry we can't use it because it just isn't marketable. This is a clever story. Very cerebral. Very well told. You can feel it.
Unfortunately we can't use it because the market just isn't there. The market wants sex,action, blood, profanity,animation,FX.
"Gone with the wind" would bomb in theatres today.

Go ahead and write five scripts a year. See how many you sell.
You can write it but you can't sell it without sex,violence and FX.
My guy who pushes my stuff says that he is getting out of the game because the only thing the market wants is garbage. Gangsters,rappers, interracial relationships,exorcisms, ghosts and demons, vampires and such is what sells tickets. Dam shame. Dam shame.

Elijah Phoenix said:

Great script. Great concept. Great story. Wonderful!


Sorry we can't use it because it just isn't marketable. This is a clever story. Very cerebral. Very well told. You can feel it.
Unfortunately we can't use it because the market just isn't there. The market wants sex,action, blood, profanity,animation,FX.
"Gone with the wind" would bomb in theatres today.

Go ahead and write five scripts a year. See how many you sell.
You can write it but you can't sell it without sex,violence and FX.
My guy who pushes my stuff says that he is getting out of the game because the only thing the market wants is garbage. Gangsters,rappers, interracial relationships,exorcisms, ghosts and demons, vampires and such is what sells tickets. Dam shame. Dam shame.

Click to expand...

Hmm, doesn't seem to be my experience. I find plenty of movies to watch that don't have these things.

Numbers

I'm not sure setting numbers goals is a wise thing for a new writer. Just write a good script, get it in shape, and then write another one. Quality matters more than quantity, and it takes as much time as it takes. Whether you write one script per year, or ten scripts per year, really isn't the important issue.

Just write. Don't procrastinate, and focus on quality. Let the numbers take care of themselves.

On average it takes me about 8 months per script. They tend to be on the higher end of what's usually accepted. (just under 120 pages). The daily workload varies a lot. Can range from one to 6-8 hours. The first would be for the writing period and the second for the brainstorming/planning. It there was a life or death stake, I think I could shrink it to 4 months.

This is a great topic, because I've wondered about this myself.

Is there any difference in the time it should take to write a script for a movie as oposed to a half hour to hour TV show? I have only done TV shows but in the last year and a bit I've chalked up 8 episode scripts and 4 treatment/proposal packages and that's on a part time basis. Most of those of couse have been for first drafts only.

I should also mention here, that in terms of script writing, I've only been doing it for a little over a year, but I absolutely love doing it! I have proposed some of my scripts to local networks, all but one have been turned down, and that one they have been sitting on for about 3 months now.

I proposed a TV show idea to a producer about 2 months ago and he's pretty much snatched up the idea, although he asked me if it would be possible to produce an episode script every 2 weeks. I can do it, and so far I have, because I've been on leave, but to do it part time might be a push.

I have a few questions and comments I'd like to share, but I'll do that in another more relevant thread.

Great! Seems my goal of two finished scripts this year -- on a part time schedule-- should be accurate!

Jamesaritchie said:

Hmm, doesn't seem to be my experience. I find plenty of movies to watch that don't have these things.

Click to expand...

Agreed

Meet the Fockers
King Kong
Syriana
Harry Potter

Um, Meet The Fockers was ALL sex and toilet humor. Other than that, I agree with you. There are plenty of good movies out there; they're just mixed in with Dredge like the Dukes Of Hazzard remake and American Pie: Band Camp.

I don't think that having interracial relationships, vampires or the occult, etc, in a movie automatically makes it trash. It does annoy me when some of my favorite themes are done poorly, such as historical epics (Can you say Alexander? Oi vey!), but even gangsters can be portrayed to the benefit of film. Take Training Day, for instance.

What IS sad is the 'bandwagon' trend--deluging the market with shoddy work in imitation of a recent hit. It just doesn't work.

I tend to avoidfeel-good / melodramatic/ sappy and/or meaning-of-life films like Cinderella Man and Million Dollar Baby. I won't even begin to say how much I hate all films about boxing, save for Far And Away (which wasn't really about boxing in the end, anyway). They didn't move me the way they were suposed to, and that's happening more and more each year. Disliking Clint Eastwood didn't exactly help, but I loved all of the other actors, and I tried to enjoy them. I really did. If a movie is going to educate me, I have to be entertained as well. They felt insincere, as if their writers conceived them so that they would be Oscar contenders. The runners-up in the last few years seemed more genuine, as if they hit the controversy and the perfect combinations of ators, words and crew by accident because the creators lost themselves in their projects.

Most of the films with plots I like happen to have some kind of sex and/or violence in them at one point or another, in some form, minor or major. What's important is the STORY. If I have to watch a genre film to find a plot I like, so be it. Most of the general, modern-day, non-controversial dramas and comedies just don't appeal to me.

I just counted, I have 7 screenplays started, none finished. Arrrrgggg... I need to focus!