Tips for a Screenwriter Wannabe

By Rock

Most screenwriters start with a logline. A logline is a one or two sentence description of the screenplay, similar to the short description given in the TV Guide for movies.

Next would be the synopsis, which can be 1 to 4 short paragraphs, which briefly describe the story.

You might also want to write a treatment. A good book on writing treatments is Writing Treatments That Sell .

A treatment is a 5 - 10 page description of your screenplay written in present tense with short examples of dialogue. It's easier to get a producer or agent to read a treatment than it is to get them to read a screenplay. Generally it's easier to get them to buy a treatment than a screenplay, but you won't get as much money.

Lastly, you should consider writing the screenplay. Agents and producers generally will ask to read the screenplay if they like the logline, synopsis, and treatment. It couldn't hurt.

Read these books first:

Screenplay by Syd Field

The Screenwriter's Bible By David Trottier.

Both books have great bibliographies for more specific aspects of screenwriting.

I also highly recommend, for their honest treatment of the screenwriter's life :

The Big Deal by Thom Taylor

Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman

And if you do happen to sell something, you MUST read:

The Writer Got Screwed (but didn't have to) by Brooke Wharton

Some great sites on the Internet:

http://www.americanaccolades.com/links_and_sponsors.htm

http://www.celluloidjungle.com/

There are a lot of email lists. These are the ones I've found to be the most helpful:

Join these lists at http://www.onelist.com/ :

greatscripts

hollyscript

screenwriting

Lastly you might think about using http://www.deja.com/ to join the Usenet forum misc.writing.screenplays.

Once you get the screenplay written, you'll want to register it with the Writer's Guild http://www.wga.org/.

For extra security, you'll also want to register it with the copyright office https://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/forms/.

I also recommend letting a screenplay doctor look at the screenplay before sending it to producers or agents. I've tried a few and have one that I really like and trust.

A couple of good posting sites are

InkTip (http://www.InkTip.com)

Hollywoodlitsales (http://www.hollywoodlitsales.com/).

You also might want to enter a couple of screenplay competitions for exposure -- http://www.moviebytes.com/ has a list of competitions, their fees and deadlines.

A couple of good places to find producers' and agents' contact info are :

http://www.scriptsales.com/

http://www.celluloidjungle.com/

http://celluloidcrest.webjump.com/

I hope this gives you a good start.

- Rock

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