Hi all. I'm Rich or, often called Dick, and sometimes called Hector (that's my last name ... it's German). I'm new to the game, having spent 40 years as an engineer. Now I'm just a backyard grape grower, wine maker, and screenplay writer. I have two scripts in pretty good shape and am working on a third. My first is pure sci-fi, the second is action-thriller with an element of sci-fi, and the third is pure action-thriller with a lot of new hi-tech. My approach is to look at society today, the current hi-tech being developed, and public interest. I then apply a "what if" scenario to it and let the random thoughts flow.
Introduce Yourself : Hello by Richard G Hector
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how did you get started, and did you use a particular software?
Like I said, I did a what if on "a message from space" and developed my story. I wrote my story outline, divided into general scenes, taking about a dozen pages. Since I didn't really know if I would write a screenplay, I got a free trial copy of "Final Draft." It allowed you do write 15 pages of script ... so I wrote my script in 15 page segments. About the time I was done with the first draft, I decided to purchase a copy and put all the segments together. If I was starting today, I would pick up a copy of Save the Cat by Blake Snyder before writing and follow his suggestions. If I was still interested, I might try a trial copy of Final Draft ... or if I was sure, just buy a copy. One note about Final Draft that is very useful for the beginner, is their Document tab. It drops down to Smart Type and then lets you Rebuild your list of locations, characters, etc. This is important because the same location should always have exact the same name and spelling, likewise for characters. There is a lot of good advice on the internet regarding rules of script writing, but Final Draft will take care of the formatting. Good luck.