To blog or not to blog... that ain't a question!

Hi Everyone,

I'm Dave and I've decided that it's time to blog, I mean I have a facebook and a twitter that I never use so I figured I should add a blog to that list. So what am I going to blog about? Screenwriting and the mammoth task of breaking into Hollywood. I'm going to attack myths and break down barriers, smash the naysayers and annihilate the rumors. So strap yourself in, hold on to something, make some coffee and put some sugar in it for the ride because here we go...

Hollywood is a place where dreams in more ways than one can come true, whether that dream is to work in the movies or to get paid for dressing up as Superman on Hollywood Blvd. Dreamers of all types come to LA with hopes of success and stardom, and many leave disappointed soon afterwards. The biggest killer of dreams are myths, myths that make people believe that their dreams are not valid, that their dream is the impossible dream and that they may as well just take that crappy nine to five job that their cousin can arrange for them.

Make no mistake, being a screenwriter is hard, the biggest part of being a screenwriter is working hard. The funny thing is that most new writers think that they only need to do one draft... rewrites are only for people who don't write awesome material first time, right? WRONG! Rewrites are essential because no matter how good your first draft is I bet you can make it better. Another thing newbies don't like is coverage(paying people to read/review your work), they feel like they don't need that, they can read and they know that the script is amazing. Well if that's your attitude then have fun for the next few years getting nowhere. Coverage is a great way to pinpoint the areas of your script that need to be improved, and no matter how good you think it is it can always be improved.

Imagine this scenario: You work in a production company, the phone never stops ringing with people who "have the next best script ever"... you are so sick of reading crap screenplays by someone who doesn't really know what they're doing. -- How does it feel?

Now imagine the adulation when you are the same person who picks up the amazing script from the pile of crap that stands before you. -- That feels great, getting dragged into a script and not realizing that you're still reading at page 33 when you only intended to read 10 pages. So why do so many writers send in the bad scripts? I'll bet you any money that most of the scripts sent to production companies by writers are first drafts by first time writers who don't know the first thing about the art of screenwriting... yes it's an art!

SO my advice for the day (which will round off every blog entry... yay that means we're near the end!) is simple, make sure that screenwriting is for you and if it is the please, make sure that you learn the art before you dive into the deep end... I wouldn't want to see you drown!

Write on

Dave The Screenwriter