I'm going to need an editor/cowriter/collaborator/whatever sometime in the future.
ugh, I feel embarrassed even asking this but here it goes:
I'm writing a script right now. I only have 17 pages so far. I've outline the whole thing but I'm a slow and lazy writer so it's going to take me awhile to finish it, maybe months, maybe a year.
I can already tell it's not going to be very good. It will also be short too. It has potential, I can tell. I'm sure it could be something great int he hands of an actual screenwriter, one who knows what s/he's doing and has been doing it for years.
I'm none of the above so of course the final product is going to read like it was written by someone who doesn't know whats/he's doing and hasn't been doing it for very long or ever.
what I need is someone who has a lot of free time and knows script format (I pretty much got the EXT/INT thing down) and is a somewhat competent writer, someone who knows good grammar and composition. (I think of myself as a decent writer but I sometimes find it hard expressing ideas and actions clearly without rambling on). maybe some ideas too to flesh out the story so it could at least be considered a feature length project.
keep in mind anything you add to the script, even if it's a couple of lines, will earn you credit, and in the unlikely chance money is made off the script, you'll get a percentage.
bleh.
"It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream - a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought - a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities."
Pick up Final Draft 8 and that'll prevent a lot of formatting issues and stuff.
Yah, what brandon said. It's not terribly expensive; if you are a student you can get a discount and upgrades are only $89. It does everything for you. Also pick up these two/four books:
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder (he has a sequel called Save the Cat Goes to the Movies which is great too)
Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias (this guy also wrote The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters which is awesome as well)
Someone will probably suggest Robert Mckee's book Story but I think it's not as accessible for newbies. But mine is all dog-eared to hell.
Get the sugar. Get the sugar. Get the sugar.
Celtx is good and free for a script writing format program.
Must be someone really bored and desperate to help you out.
I think that is an easier thing to find than you appear to believe. We are a bunch of people dicking around on the internet way too much, after all.
I'd like to give it a shot.
Must be someone really bored and desperate to help you out.
I think that is an easier thing to find than you appear to believe. We are a bunch of people dicking around on the internet way too much, after all.
Celtx is what I use and I would recommend it to anyone starting out, as it does pretty much anything Final Draft does and you can't tell the difference once it's printed. Your script should be 90-120 pgs if you want it to actually get produced (70-90 can pass if it's really action oriented but only those with experience get away with over 120). A lot of my script ideas I turn into short stories first because it 1) it helps me to visualize whether it would be worth pounding out an entire script and 2) so I always have an easy way to pitch the script once I'm done.
I would recommend you do a lot of prewriting. Get notecards and write down every important detail, conversation, and plot point. Then organize them in the order in which they will be revealed. When you're done pound out a script, ignoring how crappy it may or may not be. Then send to someone to edit. I think that would be much easier than trying to find an internet writing partner. Just remember that if you don't pre-write you'll probably be forced to commit to several intense rewrites. Movies are very plot-centric and good pre-writing helps to prevent silly plot holes.
"[B]eing good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two." - Ray Bradbury
downloaded Celtx, works great, makes things a lot easier.
haven't added much to what I have in awhile, getting lazy.
franc, if you're serious about this PM me your email address and I'll send you what I have so far so you can see just what kind of mess you're getting yourself into.
"It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream - a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought - a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities."
Sometime in the future. Wow a year really?
Must be someone really bored and desperate to help you out.
So...We are still going to die. Right?