How I Got into Screenwriting

I originally became interested in writing a screenplay in 2005 after watching a preview of upcoming movies on TV. I thought I don't want to see any of these movies. Then I thought about how many times I look at the movie listings in the newspaper and there's nothing I want to see.

So why not write something I would like to see? I sat down right then and there with a paper and pen and started writing even though I had no idea how to write a screenplay.

What I began writing turned into a Sci-Fi Trilogy (my masterpiece) which I then worked on - on and off for the next 4 years (mostly off ;)

As I picked up my Trilogy in Dec 2008 to begin working on it again I got to thinking about how I really wanted to make sure I didn't "miss" anything. Since I had done quite a bit of research into the Craft of Screenwriting I began going through my research again trying to piece together a comprehensive approach to writing a screenplay so I could use it myself to perfect my trilogy.

Obviously this got me thinking - since I'm having such a hard time gathering information on HOW TO write a screenplay from so many sources there's probably a lot of other screenwriters out there doing the same. So while I'm at it why don't I just put this information together into a book for them.

So I created a fantastic table of contents (TOC) - about 13 pages long! Yikes! Ya for real! I then submitted this TOC to a publisher in a book proposal. To be honest I didn't even really know what a book proposal was! When the Vice President of the Publishing firm responded to my E-mail an hour later from his cell phone I was shocked! I hadn't really expected a response at all!

Then I got all worked up - yikes! I hadn't even written the book why the Hell had I written this guy???? He asked me to send him the TOC and a sample chapter. I hadn't even written one chapter yet - I selected a chapter and wrote it that night and emailed it to him the next day.

After I submitted the book proposal I went back to organizing the book since I figured if he was interested I'd better have some idea of how long it would take me to write.

Then I came across a section in my TOC that I knew little about - screenwriting contests.

I decided to do my H.W. After an hour or so I narrowed down my research down to 2 legit contests: Bluecat and Nicholl's Fellowship.

I noticed the Nicholl's fellowship awarded $30,000 which caught my attention - this was the amount I was hoping to earn from selling my book to support myself while working on my trilogy.

I noted the deadline was 1 week away. The next morning I woke up with an idea for a movie - proof that miracles can happen. What the heck I thought I'd give it a go so I buckled down.

In 6 days flat I managed to write a polished marketable full-length screenplay!

It's called Donors and yes it's for sale if you're interested.

I thought - woah how did I just do that?

So I sat down and thought through exactly how I did it.

Basically I had ended up using the same process I had outlined in my TOC but in a condense way.

I thought heck this is a whole LOT better than the way I had planned to write the book.

So I went back to my table of contents and ripped it to shreds saving only the pieces I needed to explain the 7 Step Process I came up with to Create a Marketable Script.

So now my goals are as follows:

1-Finish writing this book by mid-June and then set it up so people can purchase an E-book version of it directly from my website via Google Checkout.

2-Keep searching for a publisher for my book - since I never heard back from that VP. I think I'll ask him if he wants to see my revised TOC - hey what does it hurt to ask?

3-Write another script each month using the 7 Step Process - which takes me about 6 days to write and edit one full-length movie script.

4-Complete my website so I can provide free helpful tips to screenwriters and add a new blog post each week with a screenplay tip.

So this is what I hope to achieve by August so I can get back to writing my Trilogy full-time.

Hey I let you know how it works out so make sure and check back on this blog in a couple months!

Sincerely,
Simon J. Michael
simonjmichael.com