#dear aspiring scriptwriters

[dearscriptwriters]

Straight White Males.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

You want to know what will grab my attention? Give me a minority as a main character. Trust me, everyone writes about straight white males. Speaking as a straight white male, we are not that interesting. Just once I’d like to read a script that doesn’t chronicle the “struggles” of being someone like me. The “struggles” are boring. There’s a whole untapped market out there for stories that few seem willing to explore.

Don’t know how to write for a minority? Start by writing a good character and see where they take you.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Critics.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

Don’t let critics get you down, ever. The best, most thorough critic in the world will not spend 1/10th the amount of time on a project as the people involved did. They have no idea how much work it took.

The only critic you should listen to is yourself. You know where you can improve, you know where you fell short this time, because you were there. Screw the rest.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Ambiguity.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

The greatest tool in any scriptwriter’s arsenal is ambiguity. Give your audience an ending, and you give them happiness for a day. Take an ending away from your audience, and you give them a burning question that haunts them forever.

Suggesting is always better than explaining.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Hot Female Characters.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

No script requires a female character described by their attractiveness. If you’re an aspiring scriptwriter trying to develop your craft, one of the most important tasks is trying new things. Being the first (or only) female character type that writers come up with, hot female characters have been thoroughly tapped out. Try something new.

At first, it will be hard. We’re men, sometimes we don’t think with the right organ. Try this; how do you write non-female characters? Do you usually use words like “gorgeous”, “sexy”, or “blonde”? How about “funny”? How about “intense”? “Goofy”, “sarcastic”, “fearless”, “thoughtful”, “unnecessarily blunt”, etc? There’s a whole dictionary of potential character adjectives out there and you keep using the same ones over and over.

If you really can’t write a female character that doesn’t serve some form of sexual fantasizing, you’re in trouble.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Script Readers.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

Script Readers are usually unpaid interns or assistants. Little peek behind the curtain, the first job you stop doing once you’ve moved up in a production company/office is script reading. It’s work considered to be beneath running for coffees and is mostly delegated to the very bottom of the totem pole. Also, spoiler alert for anyone looking to go into it, it isn’t paid work.

That said, people underestimate the power of script readers. Since the work is considered so beneath anyone of any standing, everyone listens to what script readers say about a script for the simple reason that they can’t be bothered to actually read scripts themselves.

Even the lowliest have power in this industry.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Research.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

If you don’t know something, learn about it. And more than Wikipedia, please. Seeing the difference between research and bullsh*t is like telling a pile of sticks that fall naturally from a pile someone tries to arrange “randomly”.

Some stories require making things up, but background knowledge in the genre is always a plus. Always.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Beliefs.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

A script is not a one-sided argument. That’s called a “rant”. “Rants” go straight to DVD, or just don’t get made.

Sincerely,

Dan

[dearscriptwriters]

Reflection.

Dear Aspiring Scriptwriters,

Unless you’re plagiarizing from someone else, anything you write reflects you. Your beliefs, your ideals, and your failings. Sometimes it’s more obvious. Sometimes it isn’t. Be aware. We can see you.

Sincerely,

Dan