By Sean Tuohy and Daniel Ford
Screenwriting is the redheaded stepchild of the creative world that makes millions of dollars. The literary elite has always looked down on the craft of screenwriting. Hemingway was known to hate screenwriters, and F. Scott Fitzgerald truly hated writing screenplays toward the end of his life.
This hatred, and the simple-minded image of the screenwriter that has emerged over the years, makes it is easy to believe that screenwriting is a simple task. However, fist fighting a bear after pouring honey over your head is easier than completing a screenplay and then selling it.
Screenwriting is all about images and keeping the story short but powerful. A good screenwriter has to figure out how to write an epic but do it on the head of a pin. It’s easy to lose your voice as a screenwriter because you try to please so many people. The best screenwriters can throw a heavyweight punch with a baby-sized fist and keep their voice despite everything going on around them.
Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ford recently picked out the best screenwriting advice Writer’s Bone has heard. Share the best advice you’ve received in the comments section or tweet us @WritersBone.
“Always hire better writers than yourself. ”
“The craft will always be the most important thing, but this is a business; you need to stay on top of it because it changes constantly and can eat you up and spit you out if you don’t know it. ”
“More than anything it was, ‘Let’s just tell a damn good story.’ ”
“You develop your voice through rewriting. ”
“If you are passionate about television, and you watch much more television, than try writing for television because the jobs are there.”
“You have to keep the hustle going even after you sell a script. ”
“Tropes are shorthand for emotional strings you can pluck.”
“It’s going to feel wrong until it feels right. You can’t give up.”
“Write! Read screenplays to get a feel what they are supposed to read like, then just keep writing screenplays. ”
“Make sure Michael Mann knows who you are when you meet with him.”
“Feed your brain with a bunch of ideas. Read as many scripts as you can.”
“Outline your favorite movies as you watch them so you can teach yourself structure.”
