Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

  |  

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Books / Film Are You Ready to Write a Screenplay?

Posted by on Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 11:28 AM

barton_fink2.jpg
I've done National Novel Writing Month 6 times. I've done the 3-Day Novel Contest once. And I love them; I firmly believe that every time you take part in one of these challenges, you come out the other end a slightly better writer. But the most fun I've ever had with these writing endurance challenges is Script Frenzy, in which you write a 100-page screenplay from start to finish in the month of April.

The reason why it's more fun is simple. While it is of course very hard to write a good screenplay, it's much easier to write a screenplay than it is to write a novel; just considering the sheer blank space on every page of every screenplay, you can understand why being forced to write a little more than three pages of screenplay a day is less work than three pages of solid text a day. Plus, screenwriting is only a tiny piece of moviemaking, and so you can mentally shove the deficiencies on the page further down the process—"surely," you can tell yourself as you write, "the right actor/director/cinematographer/best boy can make this script work somehow!"

Another Script Frenzy perk is that you can collaborate with another writer on your screenplay, making it a much more social endeavor than NaNoWriMo. Plus, there's a broader range of media involved: According to the rules, "You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires."

My favorite type of free scriptwriting software is Celtx, which enables you to write just about any kind of script easily. But if you're collaborating, you might want to try Scripped, which is kind of a Google Docs for screenplays. You have a month to plan your outline. Go!

 

Comments (4) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
Canadian Nurse 1
I like Celtx, but it's no Scrivener, which is wonderful for those with a Mac. Not free, but if you do a lot of writing, it's worth the price.
Posted by Canadian Nurse on March 3, 2010 at 12:04 PM
2
Celtx! I'd never heard of it. Your slog posts are always my favorite, so full of useful tips.
Posted by TValley on March 3, 2010 at 12:09 PM
3
Everything is free on the Internet
Posted by Skit on March 3, 2010 at 4:42 PM
4
you've convinced me!! i'm doing this. is it cheating if i start now?
Posted by cornballer on March 4, 2010 at 12:19 PM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy