In what language should I write my script? How did you start writing in English?

AnetJet

AnetJet

New member
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, but from what I read so far, seems like you guys built great community.

I want to film one of my stories. ( probably one of the short ones )

I'm trying to understand the reason why I never finished any of the scripts that I started writing . Along with the usual problems , like deciding that the story is non-existent or total rubbish after the 29th page, is the problem of, in what language should I write it.
I stopped writing in Bulgarian ( my native language) , because since 8 years ago I live in English speaking country and communicate in English all of the time. I just don't feel that articulate in Bulgarian as before. In the same time , although my English keeps improving along the years, when I write I sometime mess up the times and the dialogues quiet often sound lame. That completely puts me off and makes me feel inadequate .


Is there anyone there who had the same problem? Or is only me, who just makes up excuses for not writing . How did you made the transition to writing in English ?
 
English is my first language, so I can't say I've had this problem. But perhaps as a solution, you could write in English and then have someone who is more comfortable with English look over it and correct any mistakes you made? It's certainly nothing to feel ashamed of. You're actually a step ahead in recognizing the problem and seeking a solution.

Just remember that the most important thing is the story, so in a way, not writing because you're not sure which language to write in is an excuse, but it's not an invalid one. My suggestion is simply to write (in English, if that's your target audience) and then work on perfecting it.
 
Michael
Thanks for the encouragement.
Probably my problem is that I lose confidence in my story. I just hope to find the discipline to finish the first draft ( even if written badly) and then decide if it ever going to work or it is simply mediocre .
 
Don't write your story, that'd be my advice. If you think the story is really better than something you could find from someone currently penning screenplays in the indie community. find a writer online who is willing to work with you to flesh out your idea in English. You'd essentially have a "Story By" credit and give someone else the screenplay credit.

My advice.
 
Who is your audience?

If it's an English-speaking audience, and the characters are supposed to be speaking English, then the language has to ring true for both the audience and the characters. If you don't feel you have a fluent and fluid grasp of English, it'll show in the dialog, and it will take the audience out of the story.

But if they're supposed to be speaking Bulgarian, you could write it in Bulgarian and use English subtitles, perhaps translated by someone more fluent in English.
 
If your story happens to involve Bulgarian immigrants to an English-speaking country, then you'll have the perfect background to write authentic dialog :) Otherwise, you may want to look at co-writing with someone more comfortable in whichever language the film will be in. There's nothing wrong with a writing partnership where one writer mostly contributes story and the other contributes dialog.
 
All first drafts are mediocre. Even William Goldman, master screenwriter, admits to that with his own screenplays. Write a great story, worry about the screenplay getting better with rewrites. M. Night Shyamalan needed I think about 12 rewrites before he made Bruce Willis a ghost in The Sixth Sense. Since English is not your native language, it would be very difficult for you to execute (write) a great screenplay in English; but you can write a great story, then a first draft screenplay as best you can, then get help with a co-writer or ghost writer (script doctor) to clean up the English/style/dialogue. Just my opinion. And keep learning English. I don't speak Bulgarian, or Italian, so you must be pretty smart to be doing three language. Bulgarian? You have an asset-- fantastic film production resources in Bulgaria, many blockbuster films made in Bulgaria (Dragonheart, The Black Dahlia, many others), maybe use that to your advantage, liason with producers want to make use of Bulgaria for English film production.
randall


AnetJet said:
Michael
Thanks for the encouragement.
Probably my problem is that I lose confidence in my story. I just hope to find the discipline to finish the first draft ( even if written badly) and then decide if it ever going to work or it is simply mediocre .
Click to expand...
 
(to original Bulgarian poster) Yes. I do not know about the rest of America, but I think Bulgaria is one of those countries that is a bit mysterious for most Americans. We have not seen much of Bulgaria, except in old vampire horror movies, lol. I for one would welcome a good story set in Bulgaria, expose me to a unique world I know little about. Could be a political thriller, or creature horror (the mindset of many Americans is vampires and werewolves and demon creatures in Bulgaria, carryover from Transylvannia/Romania which is near, the movie The Keep [not set in Bulgaria, but still close by]). Use what you perceive to be your weakness to your advantage.
randall


David Jimerson said:
Who is your audience?

If it's an English-speaking audience, and the characters are supposed to be speaking English, then the language has to ring true for both the audience and the characters. If you don't feel you have a fluent and fluid grasp of English, it'll show in the dialog, and it will take the audience out of the story.

But if they're supposed to be speaking Bulgarian, you could write it in Bulgarian and use English subtitles, perhaps translated by someone more fluent in English.
Click to expand...
 
My stories are not set in Bulgaria, neither do involve immigrants living abroad, in which case I wouldn't have any doubts of why shouldn't write them in Bulgarian.
They are for English - speaking audience. Initially I thought I could write in Bulgarian and then re-write them in English.

Problem is, I don't communicate with other Bulgarians and don't practice my language at all. I don't know if you guys can understand how frustrating is to don't being able to find your way through a sentence in your own language as before.

That's why I wanted to hear also from somebody who writes in English ( being their second language ) and find out at what point along the way, they felt confident with what they are doing.

As Chamber005 said, the easiest way is to find someone to develop the story into a script, but it wont feel like my story anymore.
Clang, I thought about it too. At least that way I wont have any valid excuse not to write.
 
Randall,
" Fantastic film production resources" in Bulgaria ! I know this is off topic , but I will go on, since it pushes a button every time I hear about it.
Yes, ideed they are, but If you are indie production and want to save on production cost, you are set for disappointment. There are so many ways to rip you off ( to put it mildly), because somehow most of the production service companies there presume, that if you are foreign production you must have infinite budget.
There was an English director, who decided after arriving in location, that the grass in a little area in the park must be mowed .The art department added an extra 2000 Euro for that work.
2000 Euro? You can shoot in front the Colosseum in Rome for that kind of money.

Is really sad , because there are so many great locations for about anything you can think of, in Bulgaria .

So, unless you are willing to allocate 50% of your budget for contingency :), shooting there is not advisable.
Otherwise if you are Hollywood B move producer and want to account "funny money", by all means, go ahead and film there.
 
I'm having trouble with some part of this and I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

You're now saying that you don't communicate well in your native language and you have trouble communicating in English as well? How, as a writer, is this possible? Like, I guess I could understand a normal person going about their lives and letting this happen, but how is it possible as a writer? Have you written screenplays before now (in your native language)? Is this your first go at writing a screenplay?

Depending on your answer I think what you might be struggling with has more to do with actual writing experience (being novice) as much as anything else.

If you haven't written numerous screenplays, stage plays, prose -- whatever, and what you're actually saying is that you have a great story idea but have no means of effectively communicating said story, then having someone assist you on the actual writing of the piece is not going to mean giving it away because you don't have anything to give that pertains to words on paper.

It's like if you thought of a toaster before the toaster was invented. Like, "Hey, toasted bread! That would be great! Oh, and it can just pop right up. Cool." If you have no notion of where to even begin how to actually design a toaster so that it can plug in and work, you're not "losing" anything by bringing your hand-drawn idea to a company and letting their electricians and designers create for you a toaster.

I think it's worth noting that, like a toaster, your idea better be pretty friggin amazing to get a writer to scribble down a script for you at no cost (which is what I'm assuming you'd need to do).

A red flag for me is that one of the cardinal rules of writing (but especially for young or beginning writers) is that they should Write What They Know. From jumpstreet you're already nixing an aspect of yourself that makes you unique to other writers and other people's stories. You're gnoring a personal history you could bring to the characters and story (a heritage that would also help you construct authentic pitch and cadence).

I'm not telling you what you should be writing about, but I think maybe you're mistaking having a story idea for actually being a writer. A storyteller doesn't need to be a writer to be a good storyteller, but if he/she wants to affectively communicate that story on paper, enough so that the reader actually stays interested enough to read it from start to finish, they had better be a dang good writer. Make sense?

Good luck!
 
Randall . Interesting. I haven't noticed this kind American mindset . Yes. There are some unique demon creatures in Balkan mythology, that can make for an original protagonist, but the trouble is I'm not very good with creature horror concepts.
Anyway, finding a co-writer after finishing the first ( badly written ) draft makes most sense to me.

Thanks all!
 
Chamber005
I can communicate in English going about my daily life :)
As I mentioned in my original question, I have trouble finishing my screenplays both in English and Bulgarian. In fact I haven't finished any of them. I studied directing, done some courses on creative writing and read a lot of screenplays. I have the stories, not just the idea for them.

But at some point along the way I look back at the 15 or 20 pages I have written and I just hate the dialogue . Seems that my fluency in English only goes that far. The characters do what I want them to do, but often when they speak, they sound lame and off character. Than completely puts me off and I lose confidence in the all thing all together.
Regarding the plot, it's o.k at first. I'm more cerebral in my approach. Usually first write a detailed outline of the story, pretty much with most of the scenes properties. The ' skeleton ' so to speak, then building it, connecting bone to bone.

Am I novice? Of cause I am. I even wouldn't consider my self a writer until I actually finish one of the scripts.

Write what you know! You're right. Thanks :) I'm aware of this rule.
For me it seems a good idea to find a co-writer after I finish the first draft , who likes the story .
 
AnetJet said:
Anyway, finding a co-writer after finishing the first ( badly written ) draft makes most sense to me.
Click to expand...


I agree. By the way, don't feel bad about dialogue. English is my first language and I've been writing for years, and I still cringe at some of my dialogue.

The trick is to get it written and then rewrite it (possibly with a co-writer, if you feel that would help). Scrapping a work because you don't like the dialogue, or getting stuck because you can't think of good dialogue, will only lead to more unfinished screenplays. Work on getting something - anything - written. Good luck, man.
 
I'm gonna take a wild stab here and venture, that your problem is probably not with the language at all, but with your outlining of the story. How much planning do you actually do before you start writing the first scenes?
 
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