Screenwriting : The single most important rule of screenwriting: by Tom Lazarus

Yeah....there are at least a dozen "most important rules of screenwriting", Tom, and constantly moving the story forward is one of them, but now more than ever, a writer better have a premise/concept that is extremely marketable and potentially profitable for its investors in today's world. If not, I don't think the rest matters - all you will hear is "pass....pass....pass..." during a pitch, and nobody will ever even read your brilliantly-written but horribly-marketable story. Good luck.

It's hard for me to get behind the idea that the only an extremely marketable premise/concept is important and the rest doesn't matter. The script matters. The craft matters. And many writers have been hired based on their writing of not particularly marketable or potentially profitable scripts. It's not about marketing, it's about writing.

Tom....I didn't state that, and never said "the rest doesn't matter", and agreed that the rule you cited is extremely important to writing a successful story. And I give you all the respect in the world; know your history; and have cited your history in a past comment that I had made. I still think. though, that the most important aspect of commercial screenwriting today..."rule", even....is that a writer who is trying to sell that particular script better have a premise/concept for that particular script that is marketable in today's marketplace. Without that, it's a "pass", and the producer will never have even got to the point where they would have requested the script and discovered how brilliant that writer might actually be.

I know I've been hired by producers who read scripts based on the recommendation "You gotta read this guy!" The script that got me the most jobs was never made....but it sure showed I could write... And Jeff, you're right. It's all about writing. Showing up every day and writing. And thinking about writing counts!

Don't write exposition.

Focus on what you can control...that is, your writing. It's about writing...not about what they want, or what scumbags they are. It's not about marketing...it's about writing. It's about what's on the page.

Tom - to say writing does not include starting out with knowing what someone wants is a disservice to aspiring writers on several different counts. Here are just a few of them: 1. A writer mentioned here very recently how he "did his homework" on someone that he was querying, and knew that company made specific types of films. As a result, that company requested his script. That's marketing analysis at its best. 2. Another writer here identified an undersupply of a certain type of genre in film and developed a strategy to publicize that dearth on a website frequented by producers, and offered a solution. As a result, a top producer signed a deal with that writer. Another great example of market analysis and strategy, and how it filled a need. 2. When a production company is hearing specific genre pitches, like comedies, and I only have horror scripts, and I paid to pitch to that company...that's not competent marketing analysis at its best on my part. 3. The first questions that a production company rep ask me after I state my logline aren't "do you write everyday?, or "how well is the story paced?" It's "who is your audience?" and "how is it relevant?" Yes...there are many literary elements that are essential to the acceptance of a script, and that are foundational bricks for dramatic writers. Whether you agree or not, knowing what is relevant/marketable - and knowing how to market one's script and oneself - are just as important, at least in my opinion. And in a world where half of the members of the Writers Guild didn't make a dime last year on writing, they are probably more important now than ever - and not just for aspiring scriptsellers, but for guild members as well. It's essential for writers to understand all of that and to be able to incorporate that into their skillsets; have an audience in mind for their stories and to also understand the story's relevance in today's marketplace (and hopefully before they are asked those questions by producers; and understand that, first and foremost, the film industry is a business dictated by certain specific sets of requirements and metrics - from the largest studios to the smallest producers. No disprespect intended that we disagree on those concepts. I guess in the ideal writing world, writers shouldn't have to worry about concepts like "audience", "marketability", "relevance", and "zeitgeist". A writer should be trying to master the craft of writing, no doubt. But a writer who is trying to succeed in today's marketplace will have a much better chance of being that 1 in 10,000 who breaks in and sells a script, or who gets hired or contracted to write something, or who gets a producer to sign onto a potential franchise concept if they understand marketing and know how to conceptualize a premise and story world that is relevant; that is marketable; and that fills a need. Writers who don't pay heed to that first are really headed to a faster oblivion than the other 9,999 who don't succeed, and the half of the Writers Guild members who didn't make a dime last year - at least in my opinion.

I'm not sure we disagree. I spent ten years working at the studios creating advertising, both on the agency as well as the studio side, so I do understand how important attempting to know what your market is when writing a script...but with all due respect, having that knowledge and writing a great marketable script are two very different things.

Not rules, but principles.