ScreenwritingU

If you haven't heard of ScreenwritingU yet, you will. Hal Croasman, the founder, has a series of courses for screenwriters that will blow you away (or turn that light bulb on that resides over your head). I read many books on screenwriting and was hesitant on Hal's courses. But then I took one of his free Rewrite teleconference, which lasted over three hours. In that small amount of time, I walked away with more knowledge on screenwriting than I did after two years of reading every book I could find on that topic. And his teleconference was free! That did it. I signed up for his Proseries course and that took close to a year to finish but it was worth it. Hal breaks out the process of writing screenplays, character development, dialogue, you name it. And he does it in a way that fits my brain for a methodical process. Match that with my inner creativity and its a match!

If you are serious about screenwriting, then go to www.ScreenwritingU.com and sign up for his Proseries course. You can thank me later.

Best wishes to you and your writing. I hope to see your dreams on the big screen soon.

The Roller-Coaster Ride

Being a screenwriter means balancing your passion with tons of disappointment, periods of elation, some frustration, even a bit of excitement. A friend of mine, also a screenwriter, once won a major screenwriting contest. That same script couldn't even make it to the quarter finals in a couple of other contests he had submitted at the same time. Go figure. It is a subjective business. Same goes with script analysts. They are people, individuals, and they have their own set of filters and backgrounds that influence their likes and dislikes. As a screenwriter, what you have to do is to separate out the wheat from the chaff. Learn, improve, keep at it, but don't let anything get you down. If you feel a twinge of hurt or pain, acknowledge it, then get through it and start a new day.

It is a roller-coaster of a ride. That's for sure. But I believe in myself and I believe in the scripts that I write. I write from my heart, from my central core of passion. These are stories I want to see on the big screen. That's why I wrote them. This world is big. There are lots of people out there. And I know, there are people who would enjoy some of the same things as I do. The key is to find them. One door at a time, one path at a time. It will come. Until then, I continue to write, continue to market, and continue to enjoy life.

SCREENPLAY

Shortly after my first novel, The Tibetan Talisman, was published, I decided to write a screenplay based on it. When I wrote the novel, I wrote it from the visual movie inside my head. It was very vivid as I watched and observed, and took down notes and dictation. And I have heard from many others that have read that novel, saying that it would make a great movie. And so, during my very first cruise with my wife, which by the way is the best way to vacation, I began to transfer the novel to script format. I had read a few books on the basics of a screenplay and felt that I could do it. My goal was to submit it to a contest.  Did I win? Not even close. But it got me interested in another form of writing. And while being frustrated trying to get my novel out to the world, I decided to take a break and write another screenplay. For some reason, I had story in my head in the genre of horror. And that was strange because I don’t like watching horror. But this story needed to be told (at least that is what my inner voice said). So for over a year I wrote and changed and fixed and re-wrote my script. Then I sent it in to a couple of screenplay contests. And it made the semi-finals in some, jumping over hundreds and even a thousand others. Not bad. But I wasn’t satisfied with my skills as a writer, particularly a screenwriter.

Now comes the next year. I decided to take an on-line class from ScreenwritingU. I read a few comments on the course. But what really cinched me was when I listened in on a free teleconference that Hal Croasmun runs. For free, he spent the next several hours describing in detail and methodically how to re-write a screenplay. I was sold. I signed up for his online course which lasted almost a year. Whew! But am I ever grateful. It gave me superb tools to write better scripts. Today I have three solid scripts in various gener: horror, comedy, and thriller. My original script, the one based on my first novel, is in need of a good re-write and when I decide to do that, I have the tools, thanks to Hal and his ScreenwritingU courses. Hal, you rock!

Oh, and that horror script? After more re-writes, the last contest I submitted it to in New York placed 3rd. Not bad. And a producer is currently reading it. Very cool.