Five Essential Tools for the Amateur Scriptwriter

Only a few days into the New Year and already the emails are flowing announcing the start of a whole slew of new scriptwriting competitions. In preparing for the two competitions I’ve selected to enter this year, I trawled through the various script magazines , websites and forums for anything new that I may find useful in adding that final polish to my chosen script.

There is no shortage of competitions, books, software programs, magazines, subscription services and specially formatted stationery competing for the spare change of every amateur scriptwriter. Almost all market themselves as an essential component in achieving Hollywood success. Almost all are bought by the truckload by enthusiastic amateurs hoping to find that magic talisman or fool-proof formula that will guarantee huge success and endless streams of money.

The problem is that many budding writers become more bogged down in these how-to books and forums than they do in honing the craft itself.

I have fallen prey to these tendencies before. I currently read two scriptwriting magazines a month. I have bought quite a few pieces of software in the hope that they will help make my scene structures and dialogue fall into place. I have more scriptwriting books on my bookshelf than is probably healthy – most repeating the same information.

But there are certain tools and items that I do still value and credit with adding to my skills. The experience of writing for two fiercely fought Project Greenlight competitions has taught me to be highly critical of the paraphernalia that is constantly hawked at us scriptwriters. If it didn’t contribute something concrete to the final script, it was a waste of time. Deadlines are not met by reading cosy books telling you that ‘you can do it.’ Deadlines are met by only using tools that help you to finish the job.

So here are the essential tools for the amateur scriptwriter. I am sure some of you will have discovered your own essentials – so please leave me your feedback – but these are the ones that I feel were definitely worth the money and the time.

1. Robert McKee’s ‘Story’

A no-brainer this one. There are still many people who dismiss McKee as irrelevant. To those people, I say that you’ve missed the point. Do I agree with everything McKee says? No. Did it force me to consider the narrative structure and underlying themes of my work? You betcha.

Of course, there are still those amateur writers who dismiss McKee and others because they preach structure and structure, they say, stifles their artistic vision. Structure is everything. Read any successful scriptwriter and they all agree. Structure is everything. Disagree with some of McKee’s ideas, sure, but dismiss McKee at your peril.

2. Final Draft

I coughed up big money for Final Draft when I first made the commitment to write a complete script.

Partly, it ensured that I would reach my goal – at that cost I wasn’t going to waste it. Some of you may be devotees of Movie Magic – the other major scriptwriting software. I haven’t tried Movie Magic and I don’t think it’s necessary. Just get one or other and get stuck in. But the benefits of effective screenwriting software are astronomical when it comes to focusing on words instead of formatting. The Final Draft mantra is “Just add words”. That may be a little simplistic, but it certainly revolutionized my scriptwriting routine.

3. Blake Snyder’s ‘Save the Cat’

Formula again. This time, rather than a dense tome discussing intricate narrative mechanics, Snyder distils the modern Hollywood movie into an easy formula that makes a helluva lot of sense.

You may resent the fact that Snyder dictates – down to the page number – exactly where certain events should happen in your script, but there is no denying that most Hollywood movies you see fall exactly into this pattern. Read this book, and sure enough, every time you watch a movie, you will find yourself checking your watch and inwardly smiling to yourself as you realize page 12 of the script contained the inciting incident. You will have an epiphany as you clearly identify the breaks into different acts at predetermined times. The second act midpoint will scream at you as it propels the movie forward into the final half hour. Rules are always there to be broken, but by understanding Snyder’s approach to scriptwriting, the grammar of movies that are being sold today makes perfect sense.

If you want to sell a script to a mainstream studio today, you must read this book.

Blake has recently released the Save the Cat software which I bought over Christmas. I have only begun to play with it, so I will see how useful it is in redefining the latest draft of my script.

4. Script magazine

If I were to choose between Creative Screenwriting and Script Magazine, it would have to be the latter in a pinch. Both contain relevant and inspiring articles, but Script seems to focus on fewer films with more depth instead of the more scatter-gun one page articles of CS. More depth means more insight, and at this stage of my scriptwriting life, I need a bit more meat in my articles than reading a few paragraphs that skirt the surface of the complex process.

Having said that, Creative Screenwriting does have a very interesting podcast series, interviewing top screen writers. Some are more insightful than others, and some could benefit by having Jeff Goldsmith’s banal chatter edited out, but there are some real gems in this series.

5. Syd Field’s ‘The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver’

I had to get Syd into the list somewhere. Many swear by Syd Field's scriptwriting books and I certainly agree with those assessments. But rather than offer you another book that breaks down the three act structure for you for the umpteenth time, I’ve opted for his book on the rewriting process. Often overlooked in other books, Sid focuses on the critical skills necessary to identify the issues within your script and exercises to fix them.

You will only write the first draft of your script once, but you will rewrite it many times. Here is one of the rare books that gives sufficient weight to that process and gives a firm process for doing this successfully.

Five tools for your screenwriting kit. Five inspiring and/or challenging kick-starts to energise your writing.

You may have a completely different five, so let me know.