The dream of becoming a successful screenwriter may seem far-fetched if you think of the odds against you. Considering that we can all tell stories, a best-selling storyline must be dramatic enough to play on screens like movies, video games, or TV shows.
You need top-notch storytelling skills to keep your audience entertained, inspired, educated, or captivated to last through your screenplay.
If you’re looking to get better at screenwriting, this article is for you. It will show you how you can get better at screenwriting and the skills you need as a successful screenwriter. Read on to find out.
What Are The Screenwriting Skills?
It’s a no-brainer that successful screenwriters are creative, and they achieve this after a lot of hard work and constant practice. Talent alone is not always enough for your success as a screenwriter. You need to work on a mix of other screenwriting skills to improve your odds of getting better at screenwriting;
- Persistence- getting better at screenwriting takes time, and your level of persistence will determine how far you can go. You must be patient, build your network, and perfect your screenwriting craft.
- Self-discipline- each screenwriter has a writing process they must stick to in order to meet project deadlines. This could be practicing frequently or working under fixed time constraints.
- Flexibility- writing a high-quality script isn’t a smooth ride. You may face budget concerns or a change in the studio management team, affecting your writing process. You must tackle these challenges and adapt to every environment to deliver good-quality content.With such skills, you form a formidable foundation to build on becoming a better scriptwriter. Now that you’ve laid the foundation, you can look at the tricks of getting better at screenwriting.
How To Get Better At Screenwriting
One sure thing is that you must work hard to get better at screenwriting. Nothing comes easy. All successful screenwriters will tell you that they identified ways to improve on this talent and made these practices part of their lifestyle as a scriptwriter.So, what are the nine ways you must follow to get better at screenwriting?
1. Write Scripts
Practicing screenwriting cannot be emphasized enough. There’s no single successful scriptwriter who doesn’t write regularly. It’s part of their routine and should be part of yours too.
Regular scriptwriting is crucial because it improves your writing speed and thought process and familiarizes you with different genres. This makes screenwriting easy to sync to, no matter the storyline, and helps you meet the set deadlines.
2. Make Constructive Criticism
We’ve been judges of movies, and we’ll always be. And as a scriptwriter, you should be able to notice a poorly performing storyline and devise a remedy for its flaws. It can include the following;
- Changing the main characters
- A particular or entire storyline
- The structure of the movieFinding remedies to the flaws is essential, but you must also establish why these flaws are present. Could it be because of budget constraints or a change of cast members?Besides the flaws, you must appreciate the sections you liked in a movie. This is crucial as it enables you to understand why you love those sections and pick up a thing or two to use in future projects.Such constructive criticism will broaden your mind and help you realize the unfulfilled potential of your script.
3. Join The Right Scriptwriting Group
Having the right people around you is a plus for your script. They will help you streamline your story to achieve the desired effect.
A good screenwriting group must have filmmakers and screenwriters with whom you can share your work to get feedback. They should be within the same creative space you’re in and are happy with their careers and life. You wouldn’t want feedback from a bitter person.
What you’ll be looking for from their feedback is if there are any confusing elements in your storyline, what they’d want more, what they’d wish to hear less, and how it makes them feel. It’s not all feedback that you’ll implement. Only use the ones that align with your objectives.
4. Find Inspiration With New Adventures
Being locked in by a repetitive routine is dull, even for your subconscious mind. Now, if your mind is already snoozing off, what about the content you’ve written? Won’t it bore your audience to death?
You must seek inspiration by spending part of your time outdoors seeking adventures. The creative part of your brain gets fired up out of such experiences. It can be as simple as going out for a drive, attending an art gallery, visiting a museum, attending a concert, or complex activities like touring the other side of the globe.
Through experiencing life, you’ll be able to draw fascinating ideas and inspirational stories for your script and enrich its structure and the culture of your characters. In addition, you should go to events you dislike to get an understanding of that space and its participants.
5. Always Read
Writing is like emptying your brain. You need to restock it with the words and stories you gather from reading. If you’re not a committed reader, you’ll choke out that muscle in your head till it runs dry of words to write a script.
You shouldn’t be a picky reader if you want to enrich your brain with new ideas, characters, culture, and concepts. Whatever you get your hands to, be it history, psychology, or science- read it!
6. Shoot That Script
Nothing is satisfying as watching your script on screen. But before it gets to that point, you’ve got to put in a lot of work. You can make this process easy by shooting a scene or two.
The lessons and insights you’ll acquire from shooting the script are invaluable. You’ll get to see the actions that no words can express and understand the importance of your characters.
By directing the shoot yourself, you’ll also learn of your mistakes as a writer and improve on them, spot on. The next time you shoot a script, you’ll have eliminated all the misgivings of your script, catapulting it into screens.
7. Write A Screenplay Quickly
To break down mental barriers, write a screenplay as quickly as possible. It can be within a month, heck, even a week. What’s stopping you?
What this does, is that it boosts your confidence levels and lets you know that you can write a screenplay under a constrained timeframe.
Of course, you don’t need to hand it to anyone, and neither does it have to be perfect. It’s for practice and boosting your morale when you need to create a screenplay in a short timeframe.
You might surprise yourself with the quality you’ve achieved at the end of the writing.
8. Your Details Matter
Most stories sound alike. You can look at how the beginning and end are similar. However, how details are expressed is different. These details are what cement a good scriptwriter. They are the true watermark of seasoned scriptwriters.
The details carry the gist of the story. It’s how you’ll glue your audience to their screens, thirsty for more action. To achieve this, you must emphasize every detail of your story. If a character is making an insult, make it funny. Or, turn weird observations of characters into the truth.
This level of masterpiece requires intimate slow writing. You must pour time and effort into your scripts to make every action memorable.
9. Finish Your Script
The delight that comes from finishing a screenplay is unmatched. It gives you bragging rights and sets you apart as someone reliable. Given the challenges of scriptwriting, it’s not easy to finish a script.
Remember to celebrate because not many people see the finish line.
Wrapping Up
Screenwriting isn’t for the masses. You need high commitment, passion, discipline, and hard work to succeed as a scriptwriter. Of course, along with the nine ways of getting better at scriptwriting, you improve your chances of becoming a great scriptwriter.
What’s evident is that you must gauge your progress if you want to be a great scriptwriter. Always strive to achieve more when you’re past your goals.
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