I worked for a producer in New York City. It was my job to read, evaluate and write coverage on screenplays in hopes of finding a gem. In one year, I read hundreds and hundreds of scripts. Unfortunately, I only found a couple potential gems and most everything else ended up in the recycle bin. I’ll explain later on how to avoid some of these pitfalls, but first things first.
It’s a Hollywood cliché that everyone has a screenplay. From my experience, most people usually don’t. Most only have the first five pages of a script. Unfortunately, these people will never finish the first draft, even if they have a spark of talent. To separate yourself from this poser majority, I want you to make your someday, today.
It’s really not that difficult to write a first draft. If you think about it, it’s just a matter of sitting down in front of a keyboard and typing. Since most screenplays are around 90 to 120 pages, if you only wrote one page per day, you could have a first draft in as little as 90 days.
But as you probably already know, disciplining yourself to write is the hardest part. For me and most my friends, the actual act of writing takes the most effort. And if you ever sat down to write you know what I’m talking about. As I put these words to paper, it is 3:25PM. I had planned to start writing at noon, but ended up cleaning my bathtub because it was easier.
The hardest part of writing is writing.
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Posted under SCREENWRITING
This post was written by Jason on October 15, 2008
