Screenwriting Tutorial - Top 5 Tips When Writing Your First Screenplay

By Author: Kenneth Hall
Total Articles: 38
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In this screenwriting tutorial I'll be giving you a few tips on how you can formulate ideas and get them onto paper. Some people find it hard to think of an idea, others can find ideas but aren't sure how to put them into a script. Everyone has problems when they first start out, nobody can just write a blockbuster script with no previous experience. The main things you need to think about to succeed as a screenwriter are; theme and genre, creating engaging characters, thinking of interesting plot lines, formatting your script properly and knowing how to promote your work.
1. Genre And Theme
The genre is the category of your film. Genres include; horror, romantic comedy, sci-fi, action adventure etc. Some people like to think of what genre they will be writing about before coming up with any ideas. This is up to your own personal preference. The theme is what your story is about. Once you have your genre then try and sum up what you want your screenplay to be able in one sentence. This sentence will be your theme.
2. Creating Engaging Characters
All good screenplays have an engaging protagonist. Whether ...
... you like them or not they will always have a depth that will make the viewer want to keep on watching. To create a character that will be engaging then invent a history for them, think about their background, what they wear, how they talk and most importantly their strengths and weaknesses. Every good character has a strength and weakness, it's the conflict of the two that will keep viewers interested.
3. Interesting Plot Lines
Once you have the genre, theme and characters then surprising the plot tends to come easily. If you are struggling to think of plot lines for your script then you can always manipulate and incorporate a personal experience or even some else personal experience. Put your character in the position that you or some else once faced and imagine how they would react.
4. Formatting Your Script
The right script format is one of the most important parts of having a finished product. If the script is in the wrong format or if there are obvious mistakes then you wont be taken seriously by agents and producers in the industry. Take your time to learn the right way to format a script before you send it off.
5. Promoting Your Script
There are so many scriptwriters out there that can write excellent work but just don't know how to get it out to the right people. Before you send a script off to an agent then you should always have another script ready just in case they want to see more work. It's also a good idea to have a few treatments for future scripts if you can.
Succeeding in the film industry as a screenwriter can be done by anybody if you just put in the time and effort. Learn as much as you can, read every screenwriting tutorial you come across and most importantly just keep writing and thinking of ideas. No matter how established you become there is always more you can learn. Take notes from every screenwriting tutorial you read for future reference. You never know when you might need them.

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