How to Become a Screenwriter

Jun 08, 2018 Written by Ayushi creative writing tutorials

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How to Become a Screenwriter

You love movies. You’re passionate about storytelling. If this sounds like you, then you may want to consider becoming a screenwriter (if you haven’t already). As a matter of fact, you might already have a couple of great scripts rolling around in your head, just waiting to be put to paper. But you don’t know “how to become a screenwriter?”

The professional world of screenwriting can be pretty tough, and there’s no tried-and-true path to success. But the good news is that there are many, many ways to break into the film world. Here are just a few to get you started.

• Take Some Classes
• Join a Writers’ Group 
• Become an Insider
• Start Putting Your Stuff Out There

How to become a screenwriter?

Becoming a screenwriter is a very difficult yet fruitful journey. As it looks easy from outside, it is more difficult from inside

I wrote my first script when I was in class 9th. A curiosity arose when I wanted to know how a movie is written and how to become a screenwriter. So I started writing a script. So I learned a lot about screenwriting.

I learned how to make scenes and how to make emotions and how to arrange the scenes. There's a huge difference between writing a story and script.

Scriptwriting has a very different process as I have mentioned above. Then after learning all about screenwriting, I again wrote 3 scripts which were not as good as I wanted but those were much better than my last written script.

5 Key Ways to answer “how to become a screenwriter?”

• Know your story
• Prepare- It goes without saying that being really well prepared to direct will help you enormously. Watch DVD commentaries, read books, read internet articles, speak to friends who are the screenwriter, go on any courses you think might benefit you, anything until you feel like you’ve reached saturation point on learning how to direct.
• Ask questions- If you don’t know how something works on set, just ask. If you aren’t sure if you know or not, don’t just guess. It’s ok to ask your Heads of Department if there’s anything else they think you should be talking about, anything else you haven’t covered that needs to happen for the film. Be upfront about your experience but tie it in with bags of enthusiasm, spirit and leadership skills.
• Don’t be afraid of actors- They will bring the character you wrote on the page to life. Don’t be afraid to let them do it, value their input, genuinely listen to them and collaborate. Make sure you’ve prepared enough with you DP that on set you can spend most of your time with your actors focusing on performance.
• Lead- Even if this is your first film, you are the director and everyone expects you to lead. Everyone will ask you questions and expect you to know the answer. But you know all the answers, remember? Because you’re a writer, and all your directing decisions come from the story.