Screenwriting Blog

I’ve been researching all of the options writers have available to tell their stories, from screenplays to novels, poetry to picture books, and dribbles to drabbles. Whether you have a lot of time or a little, you have many options available to you. Today, I’m breaking down the definition of the various types of stories you can write and what the reader expectation will be, including word counts, publishing options, and the challenges that come along with each of them. Publishers often stick to the guidelines below for a few reasons: readers will know what to expect based on the type of story you say you’re telling ... Continue reading

I didn’t discover the value of mentors until later in life, and I wish I would have sooner. It can get harder to find a mentor for adults, perhaps because we’re afraid to ask for help, or perhaps because those mentors are more willing to help younger mentees. No matter your age, mentors can help you avoid mistakes in your career (and life) because they’ve already made them and learned from them. They can give you honest advice and support if you’re down. They can help you make connections and find jobs. I never knew how to find a mentor for my career and was lucky enough to have mine find me. A mentor ... Continue reading

Have you found yourself watching a movie or a TV show and wondered how it got made? I don't mean that in the negative, "how did this even get made?!" type of question, but a question that's more about the production of it all. How does a movie or a TV show go from concept to completion? Please keep reading to find out as I get into the mechanics of how Hollywood works! First off, producing a film or TV show is a very long, drawn-out process with various steps that can take years to complete. While film and television are different mediums, you'll see similarities because, at heart, their creation comes down ... Continue reading

Novels, how-to guides, and content writing for other companies are not the only way to make money off your writing! You can earn cash on your creative storytelling, and I’m not talking the long-form stuff. Short stories and poems have a place, too. Like short-form video content, people crave ways to be quickly entertained and zone out of reality in smaller bites of time. The market is rife with opportunities for short storytellers to be monetarily rewarded for their talent. Enter contests that offer cash prizes: Know that not all contests are created equal. Some contests charge such a high entry fee that you ... Continue reading

Being economical in screenwriting is key. You want your script to read easy and speedy. Have you ever been writing and thought to yourself, “there has to be an easier way to format this?” Well, allow me to introduce a handy device known as the intercut! Intercuts can be used to play two scenes out parallel without all the slug-lines. It’s saving you space and time, allowing you to skip writing a new scene heading when you’re bouncing back and forth between locations. An intercut could be used to cut between any two scenes that are happening; it’s most commonly seen when cutting between locations... Continue reading

Ah, the golden age of television! It's an exciting time and only getting more exciting thanks to the many streaming platforms creating new ways and new content for audiences to view. That in of itself is enough to make a screenwriter interested in breaking into television. But how? How do you even get started trying to launch a career as a T.V. writer? Well, you're in luck because today I'm talking all about how to break into the exciting world of television writing! Now, what does "breaking in" look like for a television writer? When you're just trying to get your career going as a T.V. writer, usually ... Continue reading

Here's the truth: if you want to make money being a creator, you're going to need to use both your right brain AND your left brain. Ugh, I know. If you're one of the creative types who would rather give up on your pursuit for an independent creative career than have to do MATH (tell me it's not just me!) or anything technical (build my own website? Uh, no), I've got good news. If you want that creative independence and cash bad enough, you can get paid to do your art – whatever that may be – with a bit of grit, some business acumen, and a very teensy-weensy amount of arithmetic. Below, I've listed tons of places ... Continue reading

Sometimes the thought of writing something terrible prevents me from writing anything at all. But the feeling doesn’t last, A) because I’ve trained myself to break through that barrier, and B) because I don’t get paid if I don’t write! The latter is very motivating, but not something that most screenwriters can rely on regularly. No, your inspiration must come from yourself. So, what do you do when you can’t seem to get past your screenplay’s title page? New York Times Bestseller Jonathan Maberry has some advice for how to start a screenplay and write the perfect first page, and it begins with ... Continue reading

We often overlook the holiday movie genre, only giving it thought as the festive season approaches. But did you know holiday movies are some of the most lucrative and beloved films around? Classics like "Elf," written by David Berenbaum, "A Christmas Story," written by Jean Sheperd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark, and "Home Alone," written by John Hughes, are go-to's for various television networks to replay and often find themselves rereleased in movie theatres. Channels such as Hallmark and Lifetime pride themselves on their holiday rating successes, and streaming services like Hulu and Netflix are also ... Continue reading

Internship Alert! There are SO many more remote opportunities for film industry internships than ever before. Are you looking for internships this fall? If you can earn college credit, there may be an opportunity here for you. SoCreate is not affiliated with the following internship opportunities. Please direct all questions to the email address provided for each internship listing. Do you want to list an internship opportunity? Comment below with your listing and we'll add it to our page with the next update! Continue reading