Screenwriting Blog

As a screenwriter, it's beneficial to point someone in the direction of produced work and be able to say, "I wrote that!" Creating a web series can be a cost-effective way to get your work out there and launch your career. A question many writers have is, "How do I write a web series?" There's a standard structure for feature and television scripts, but is there one for web series? How long should webisodes be? I'll answer all of your questions as I delve into how to write webisodes for a web series below. Know What You're Writing, Know Where You're Going: Whether you're writing for TV or the web, you should always ... Continue reading

Writers are a resilient bunch. We've learned to take critical feedback as a means to improve our story and craft, and that critique just comes with the job of being a screenwriter. But professional screenwriters take it a step further, says scriptwriter Doug Richardson. They seek out that adversity. "People who are watching the movie, at the end of the day, are they going to like it? Are they not? Are they going to talk to somebody and say, 'Hey, I saw this really great movie! I'm going to give it five stars. I'm going to give it four stars,'” he said during the SoCreate-sponsored Central Coast Writers’ Conference. “That's adversity ... Continue reading

Networking, if you treat it like a task to be checked off on your way to the top, can be challenging and unpleasant. But if you follow this advice from a seasoned screenwriting pro, you may find that it’s not the chore you once thought. We asked screenwriter, podcaster, author, and journalist Bryan Young how he’s built his network over time, and he had five excellent pointers. “You know … a lot of people say, “How do I network? How do I get an agent?” he began. And he’d be right. It’s probably the most-asked question we get from aspiring writers here at SoCreate. Because without a strong network, and an eventual agent ... Continue reading

We've all read a great book that made us think, "Wow, this would make an incredible movie!" How many of us have considered adapting a book for the screen? How would you even do that? What kind of rights would you need to secure? Keep reading to find how to get the rights to write a book adaption! Where to Start on a Book Adaptation: When it comes to writing a book adaption, you need to concern yourself with obtaining the rights. You cannot just write a screenplay based on a book or pre-existing work and expect to sell it later. If you plan to sell your screenplay, you must have rights to the story on which it is ... Continue reading

I’ve asked a handful of screenwriters where they think the industry is headed in the future and how that will impact writers specifically. Ross Brown’s answer may be my favorite because of the way it aligns with SoCreate’s mission. Brown is a veteran TV writer and producer, having worked on shows including “Step by Step,” “Who’s the Boss,” “The Facts of Life,” and movies including “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and “Cannery Row.” He’s watched how film and TV have changed throughout the decades. He now teaches students how to be prepared to enter the industry as part of the creative writing program at Antioch University ... 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

Real-life events and real people have been the focus of many feature films, television shows, and novels. As writers, it's pretty much impossible not to draw inspiration from what we see happening around us. Drawing inspiration is one thing, but what if you want to write a piece about a living person specifically? Is it legal to write about any famous person? Today we're going to get into the legality of writing a story about a famous person or public figure. Writing About Facts and Events: Facts and events that have taken place fall within the public domain. An individual can't own a historical event. Anyone can go ahead ... Continue reading

For most, writing is less of a job and more of a passion. But wouldn’t it be ideal if we could all make a living in a field that we are passionate about? It’s not impossible to get paid to do what you love, if you’re willing to accept the reality: there’s not much stability for writers who choose this path. We asked five expert writers how much money the average writer can expect to earn. The answer? Well, it’s as diverse as the backgrounds of our experts. Per the Writers Guild of America West, the minimum amount a screenwriter can be paid for a low budget (less than $5 million) feature-length film... Continue reading

"Un Chien Andalou," or "An Andalusian Dog," premiered on this day in history in Paris in 1929. Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel wrote and produced the 17-minute silent film based on their dreams after having a conversation about them at a café. The pair wanted the film to be nonsensical, saying that nothing that could be explained as rational would be included. And nonsensical it was, but it ended up being hugely popular among the Parisian elite. This was the opposite of what Bunuel wanted. He said he was actually disappointed that the upper-class seemed to gravitate toward whatever was new, even though the violence ... Continue reading

Can you pitch your screenplay in less than a minute? You should be able to, but not for the reason you probably think. To be honest, when we asked screenwriter Ricky Roxburgh (Disney Animation Television writer, Dreamworks story editor) how to pitch a script in just 60 seconds successfully, the question stemmed from the idea of that chance encounter opportunity that we creatives always hear about. You know, the one where a celebrity gets their big break by meeting a studio exec in an elevator and proceeds to wow them with their perfectly timed elevator pitch. This is not real life ... Continue reading