Screenplay help

Don't worry about protecting your baby.

Ideas are ten-a-penny.

Really!

When you submit your script you'll have to sign a release that basically says if they reject your script and make a movie just like it, you can't sue them. The reason is, yup, you guessed it, ideas are ten-a-penny.

Don't be silly and wave it from the roof-tops, but ultimately it's all in the execution.

- 90 to 120 pages
- 12 pt courier
- standard script format
- lots of active verbage
- lots of white space is usually in vogue (which means lots of dialog)
- and don't direct from the page (that's the director's job).

I'm with the monkey ... the hard part of writing is not the idea, it's sitting with butt in chair for long hours and getting the idea out onto paper in a salable form.

If you really believe in the idea, if it really grabs your brain and won't let go, learn the format and do it.

Do yourself a favor and invest about $30 in Hollywood Screenwriter software - (or buy the more expensive ones if you need the bells and whistles, but I haven't found them to be necessary). It will teach you format and it takes care of the biggest problem a word processor can't address: page breaks!
Last I knew you have to download a small fix from their website as part of the set-up process but it's worth saving over $100 on the more expensive competition. . .especially if you don't have producers banging down your door begging to buy your unwritten script. Writing the script is half the battle. Then there's trying to get anyone to read the darn thing and considering whether and how much to revise it while it's still a spec. in order to improve your chances of an option and further rewriting. . .BUT hanging in there is the key to success. . .I would suggest learning about format and such before considering whether you want a collaborator. If format is all you were looking for someone to bring to the table, you can learn that yourself. If you want another writer to help you develop the story and possibly argue over how it should end, etc., then go for it. Good luck!!

Oh yeah, check out wga.org , inktip.com , and sellascript.com for tons of free resources and links to other free resources.