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.
