I'm very much in the dark right now! I have great story ideas but they don't mean anything if I can't get a script so that I can shot the movies. I would love to have a writing partner but there is no one around my area that I can trust to hold true to my ideas. Or let me say that I haven't meet them yet! Does anyone have suggestions on websites where I can find someone or suggestions on how I can begin the long process of writing?
Writing Partners??!!
- Thread starter TRISTLW
- Start date
jlabonney
Member
I'm glad you've lots of story ideas: you'll need them! There are lots and lots of resources. But I'm confused about what you're searching for. Are you looking for someone to take your story ideas and put them into screenplay format for you, or do you want to write them yourself? Or are you looking for a collaborator to work on scripts with you?
Personally I've found that people I have read my scripts are really the best writing partners; they come in with good ideas to make the script better.
You're already at a great resource: dvsuser. Check the stickies in this forum. There are tons and tons more. Just type "screenwriting" into your search engine. Check out Syd Field's books. There should be something from him at your local library. Read every scriptwriting book you can get your grippers on. And read scripts! There are databases online with lots of free scripts to read. The major screenwriting software packages, Movie Magic and Final Draft both have resources on their sites as well. I have both but prefer MM. There are demo versions available.
The best piece of screenwriting advice I've ever heard is to write daily and start your next script immediately after finishing the previous one. Even without showing it to anyone it will get better as you write more.
I'm looking forward to reading your stuff. Get writing!
Personally I've found that people I have read my scripts are really the best writing partners; they come in with good ideas to make the script better.
You're already at a great resource: dvsuser. Check the stickies in this forum. There are tons and tons more. Just type "screenwriting" into your search engine. Check out Syd Field's books. There should be something from him at your local library. Read every scriptwriting book you can get your grippers on. And read scripts! There are databases online with lots of free scripts to read. The major screenwriting software packages, Movie Magic and Final Draft both have resources on their sites as well. I have both but prefer MM. There are demo versions available.
The best piece of screenwriting advice I've ever heard is to write daily and start your next script immediately after finishing the previous one. Even without showing it to anyone it will get better as you write more.
I'm looking forward to reading your stuff. Get writing!
I would prefer to have someone to take my ideas and make them into screenplays, but since I haven't found anyone who shares the same interests and I don't understand how I will be able to protect my ideas with someone over the internet. And that is the reason I want to write it myself but I don't have the patients and I keep talking myself out of every script I try to write.
EJ Pennypacker
Well-known member
If you want someone to turn your ideas into a script, you of course need to find a writer.
www.mandy.com
www.donedealpro.com
are good places to start. You of course get what you pay for, so if you have zero $ to pay, then expect some very newbie writer (which *may* do more harm than good).
If you have money to throw at a writer, then the better writer you can afford.
Ask for samples of their writing when asking for writers to submit. Limit it to 5 pgs or 10 max. You don't need to read a whole script at first to know if they can write.
Secondly, if you can (and you should) get your story down in synopsis/treatment form, then you should register your material with either or both the WGA or the LoC.
That way you've protected your idea in basic form (the more detail the better) and someone isn't going to legally steal your idea and make money from it.
So when you have the treatment/synopsis in form, and have it protected legally, then you can search for a writer to turn that document into a full blown script.
On a side note, it also helps if you sell yourself as a filmmaker to the proposed writer. If they are working for below scale (or nothing) then they have to know that you're doing it for all the right reasons - which namely is YOU. So if you have a great showreel, show the writers it. If you have won awards, SHOW THEM IT. And such and so forth. The better you sell yourself, the more inclined someone might work for you if you're the talent they want to work with.
Hope that helps.
EJ
www.mandy.com
www.donedealpro.com
are good places to start. You of course get what you pay for, so if you have zero $ to pay, then expect some very newbie writer (which *may* do more harm than good).
If you have money to throw at a writer, then the better writer you can afford.
Ask for samples of their writing when asking for writers to submit. Limit it to 5 pgs or 10 max. You don't need to read a whole script at first to know if they can write.
Secondly, if you can (and you should) get your story down in synopsis/treatment form, then you should register your material with either or both the WGA or the LoC.
That way you've protected your idea in basic form (the more detail the better) and someone isn't going to legally steal your idea and make money from it.
So when you have the treatment/synopsis in form, and have it protected legally, then you can search for a writer to turn that document into a full blown script.
On a side note, it also helps if you sell yourself as a filmmaker to the proposed writer. If they are working for below scale (or nothing) then they have to know that you're doing it for all the right reasons - which namely is YOU. So if you have a great showreel, show the writers it. If you have won awards, SHOW THEM IT. And such and so forth. The better you sell yourself, the more inclined someone might work for you if you're the talent they want to work with.
Hope that helps.
EJ