Screenwriting : Advice by Ashley M. Hodo

brainstorming exercises

Hello, Ashley ... Read scripts

Larry - What are some brainstorming exercises?

Whatever it takes, complete that first draft - it will provide a great measure of satisfaction and accomplishment - initially, it will appear "genius", but in fact is CRAP - then the fun part commences, write, rewrite, and rewrite again - DILUTE as much as you can, watch grammar and spelling - eventually one will begin to understand and appreciate "economy of words" - "less is more" - "show not tell" - BUT, this comes later with experience, the beginner should concentrate on completing a screenplay regardless of the quality, just finish the damn thing, then have a break - when ready, read the screenplay again and it will appear less "genius" than initially thought, lol - cheers.

Chanel - That makes a lot of sense. Thanks!!!

Ashley, there is no point confusing a "beginner" with too much information, share a few basics, let them read the odd "how to" book and script, but ultimately they need to WRITE - even if it's crap, and the first one will be, write and most important, FINISH the work - the rest will take care of itself one way or another over time - I was convinced my first screenplay was a master-work and Hollywood would come calling - I read it now and cringe with embarrassment, it is CRAP in capital letters, but we've all been there, lol, baby steps - cheers, kid.

Don't read 9,000 screenwriting books. Read scripts, good and bad. Something to be learned from both.

writing is a discipline, but learning to write does not have to be difficult and painful. keep it simple. baby steps. and keep it fun. once it's no longer fun, it becomes very difficult. and people wonder why they suffer from writer's block. good luck! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K8W4ooygUU

don't quit your day job :)

Read. Write and challenge yourself.

Have a story idea, lead character with weaknesses, problems that we (audience) can relate or care about, so we can cheer, go on that journey with your character. Beginning, middle, end. Write, write, write everyday, write in a journal, jot down things that hurt you, make you laugh, cry. Begin by searching for stories to which you have a REAL, personal connection as the jumpstart cable that will get you excited about that story. At times it could be painful, but at the end it will be catharsis. We/I'm here for you. Good luck, stay active in the lounges and tell me how is going. Ps: Here a link to a video by one of many screenwriting coaches that if you haven't seen it yet, might help. In here we share content, as inspire by our CEO and leader, Richard "RB" Botto, that we might find helpful to one another. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xt2PcwKHbxc

Understand and embrace the world - its good, and its evil. Write in the light, but do unto your characters in the dark. Know the rumbling and tumbling flux of the human brain. Good is good. Evil is evil. Wait...sometimes good is evil, and evil is good, too. What? How did that happen? Rise, story, rise! And dip. And rise! And veer. And recover. And crash! And...against all odds...rise again, and kiss that good-good finish line! Or is it en evil-evil finish line? Or evil-good? Man, these human brain chemicals and world conditions that they create are whacked in a Brexitian sorta-way, aren't they! And speaking of Brexit, read some Brecht. And Ibsen. And as much as everyone else...too. Take from the table graciously, and leave a little more for future writers to take from, too. At the end of the table, it's all give and take. And good and evil. And also learn about Product Placement, and add Bill Costantini's Cheesy Chocolate Broccoli Bites to a couple scenes in your movie. There will be a few boxes of Bites in your future when you do! Mmmmm. Bill Costantini's Cheesy Chocolate Broccoli Bites - "The Best Food in the World if You Were on a Desert Island with No Food Around!" Best wishes and great luck in your writings!

Thanks Bill! I enjoyed reading your advice!

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate the advice.

Watch a lot of movies, shows, etc, that are succesfull and are being talked about so you can get an idea of what works and watch bad movies and terrible television shows with bad scene work, corny and awful dialogue, and shit endings so you can get an idea of what does not work. When I watch television I study how the characters interact, how dialogue flows and how scenes are done in a way that advances the plot. I now look at movies and shows in a different light to help me with my writing.

Whatever you do, don't compare your work to any one else's. Even if you think you can write the next thriller that will be bigger that he James Bond films, don't compare your work to those films. Make your work stand on its own and be so set apart that when its successful people will be comparing that work to yours, in a positive admiring light. Be the person who writes original, never before seen, work. I know its difficult to write something completely original, since everything has been done, but it is not impossible. Give your audience a message they can take with them and leave them thinking and reflecting. Don't just write fluff work just for the fun of it, have it mean something. Have it be so outstanding that it will be noticed and remembered long after you're gone.

To respond a bit to what Dan said..... + "The odds are terrible." Oh man, are they ever. Even half of the Writer's Guild members didn't make a dime in 2014, according to the WGA Annual Report. But yet...we dream, and we take a chance. Many aspiring new business owners never get a business made, either, just like many aspiring screenwriters never option/sell/get contracted to write a screenplay. And for those aspiring business owners who do get to open their doors....only a small percentage actually achieve success in the short-term or long-term, just like only a small percentage of films make a profit in the short-term or long-term. Those who dare to passionately dream, I salute you at the same time that I warn you. And for those who are fortunate enough to take that dream to fruition....and a profitable, life-changing, life-affirming fruition...Hallelujah by and bye! There aren't too many feelings in the world that can match the gazilliion types of joys that blossom as a result of that success. + Yes...learn structure. And story. And structure. And story. And structure. And story. And the purpose of film. And the ways to market a script. And marketing strategy and implementation. And the things I mentioned earlier about good and evil. And especially the product placement of Bill Costantini's Cheesy Chocolate Broccoli Bites in your story. + Regarding Dan's comment about the amount of sales....no disrespect towards Dan, but the people who report sales numbers for original scripts are not accurate. Jason Scoggins, whose Scoggins Report is vastly quoted by most people, only gets numbers of sales that are publicized, and he readily admits that in his report disclaimer. And that's no knock on Mr. Scoggins - he performs a very valuable service, to be sure. But nobody has any idea how many annual total sales there are in any given year, because nobody can track the entire script sales industry. The entire U.S. film industry is more than minor/major studios, and is mostly made up by smaller independent producers whose script purchases for their indie films are rarely publicized and that may or may not find distribution; that may go straight to video/Internet/cable/foreign markets, or that may not ever even get released or seen in any channel outside of a film festival. I'd bet that around 500 - 800 scripts get sold annually, and wouldn't be surprised if it's closer to 1200 - 1500. + Don't get caught up in just "Hollywood." Finding Dory will make more this year than the revenue of 300 indie films combined - maybe 500 films. The entire U.S. cinema industry is not the top ten films that make a combined $4 billion, or the 150-ish studio films. Over 1,500 films were made in America last year, and only around 20% of them were theatrically released. And the U.S. film industry's output is around 20% of the entire world's film output, if I recall correctly from the most recent UNESCO Cinema Report. So what I'm saying is...know that there is this whole entire world (the indie producers who option/buy spec scripts) outside of the other whole entire world (the major studios that rarely, if ever, buy spec scripts) outside of the other whole entire world (the global industry)....and learn about it, embrace it, and eventually try to dive into one of those worlds. Or more than one! And most importantly, love writing, of course, because even if you never ever succeed in selling a script, you will always - or at least most of the time - love what you are doing. If the motive for writing is "self-satisfaction because it's something I enjoy", then you will never have failed. If the motive for writing is "to sell a script"...than you will be a 99%er who will never derive satisfaction from an endeavor that takes up a great deal of their time. Who wants to live life like that? Not even Bill Costantini's Cheesy Chocolate Broccoli Bites will make them happy. Heh-heh. Best wishes and great luck in your writing!

BILL: You are an amazing, giving, intelligent, experienced, well informed, witty, funny, honest, big hearted, incredible human being. I loved and humbly agree with everything that you said and boy, you said alot. I've said this many times before, writing saved my life as a teen, after surviving a sexual abuse at age 8, by a male adult neighbor, after being bullied constantly in school as a teen, writing was became an escape. I dream then and dream now. I wrote screenplays then and I write them now, just that now I write as if, Spielberg or the least know Indie filmmaker had asked me to write something. No pressure, just love for creating characters, like you said, some good, some evil, but every single one of them is a part of me. Thank you, Sir, for being a huge contributor to this community.

I'd like to point out that the latest horror movie having to do with the lights being turned off and demons attacking people when the lights go off was originally a very short film screened at a film competition and a director saw it and was so impressed with it, the way it was filmed and directed, that he turned it into a full length Hollywood slasher film. Big things can happen in the most unexpected ways, so don't ever give up hope. If your work is good and you get it out there, someone is bound to notice it. Plus, think about this, even if your screenplay only gets made into an indie film, that's still a huge accomplishment. Sure, you can go further and compete with it at the big film competitions, but the fact that you made a movie that people can watch and you can proudly say "that's my movie. I made that" is something that no one can ever take away from you.

Practice practice practice, write write write. then write some more. once you feel overwhelmed with writing, then read scripts, analyse story structure, then write some more. best of luck

Never stop learning and never stop writing. There are excellent resources to help you learn your craft that applies to both novels and screenplays. My personal schedule is one hour learning a day (it may be reading about our craft - just finished Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and just starting The Anatomy of Story by John Truby, or something else - I just took a webinar class with Marc Zicree right here on Stage 32 this week about writing Science Fiction) and two hours writing a day. Some days I skip the learning and go longer writing, but I always try to learn - even if it's just people watching while I am grocery shopping, or researching something that I think may add to my story - learning is not necessarily reading a book but do take advantage of books that address areas you may be weak in. If you don't have that much time you can tweak what you do to what works for you but again - Never stop learning and never stop writing :) Hope that helps! Best wishes on your creative endeavors!

This isn't really "advice", it's more like the voice in my head screaming at me whenever I come up with a killer, sure-fire, can't miss concept - flee, run like the wind and never look back; all of it is a scam, a come-on by the muse-gods to debase and embarrass us who have the arrogance to believe that an idea might make its way to the silver screen, or even our flat screens or pads or phones... But we have no choice, do we? So we keep writing and writing and writing and...

write :)

If you aren't doing it because you love writing, quit now. Screenwriting isn't a get rich quick scheme. You will be faced with rejection, disappointment and tough competition. And all that's even before you get your first requested read. Learn the craft, toughen your skin and expect to work very hard. Because if you don't love writing, it will bounce you off like a bucking bronco bull.

All kinds of good advice so far, so let me just add: write and complete as much material as you can. To some degree, writing is like a romance. At first you are infatuated and excited and just want to "do it" morning, noon, and night! But later all of that heat burns down to a kind of boring relationship. Hey, you're comfortable with each other, but you only "do it" when you need to... and even though there are patches of romance, you don't have that, um, insane drive, that you had early on. So while you have that insane drive - do it constantly! Later, when you have a lot more experience but maybe a little less passion, you can go back to those old stories and rekindle the romance (now that you have more experience, if you know what I mean, and I think you do...).

Don't overthink it. I say that because that is what I struggle with as a writer and filmmaker. Learn the craft, learn the industry, and put everything you learn into practice. Good luck! :)

Write !!

William: Don't know about you, but I have the same love, passion, enjoyment for writing, especially a new story, the same or more than I had when I started writing at age 14 , 15 and I think I 'm older than you. Then again as a teen I wrote about 10 screenplays and in the last eight years I've written 7, your numbers I'm sure are way higher than mine.

I'm no expert in screenplay writing and am always looking to learn new things, but the way I learned to make a screenplay is, the first ten pages must hook the reader, in the case that you submit it to a company and they have those interns reading them. From whta I learned looking online, if the first ten pages are badly written, boring, or simply don't interest the guy reading them, it gets tossed and they move onto the next screenplay. Then you have to have introduced all your characters by the time you reach page 30 and it starts your plot. The body of the screenplay is pages 30-60 and 60-90 is gearing towards the conclusion, and then your story must be concluded at page 120. I don't know if this is right or wrong, but it kinda made sense to me so that's how I write mine.

Don't think linear. If you're stuck in the middle of act II, move on to act III, but keep writing! When you're not stressing it, the answer will come to you.

Wow.. William: 19! That's huge, sir. I just read your bio. " I write like I breathe, without it I would die."

All of this is awesome advice but I would just like to second William's advice also because I feel like it's the most overlooked by beginning screenwriters: just do it and do it constantly. Write, write, write - take a break - then write some more. Though he wrote it in a more exciting context than I did ;)

Plastics.

1) Write every day. 2) Novelize a screenplay scene. Take what you learned in adding "production value" to tighten up the screenplay version. Then go back to the novelization and cut away the useless prose, flowery descriptions and boring dialog. 3) Write every day, even if it's random pearls in a notebook. 4) Write every day.