We’ve started a new advice column here at LA Screenwriter that features answers to any and all questions you might have about screenwriting and the film world. If you have a question, please send it to [email protected].
Our question today comes from Elizabeth:
Is it hard for everyone when they start off writing screenplays? I find them so much more different than writing, say,
short stories and stuff like that, which is the only thing I really have any experience with, and my first few attempts at screenplays have proven pretty disastrous.I’m just wondering, is there ever a point where I’ll be like, “Yeah, I know exactly what I’m doing here,” - and is there a way to help myself get there? I feel so completely lost sitting down trying to format and structure my screenplays correctly, sometimes it seems like I’m totally out of my depth.
It’s a pretty generic question, I know, but I don’t even know where to start with most of my screenplay ideas - I hope you can offer some advice!
“Is it hard for everyone when they start off writing screenplays?” The short answer is, yes. The long answer is, yes, and it doesn’t get much easier.
