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CONTEST ADVICE by
Lynne Pembroke
There are many screenplay contests available
to the aspiring screenwriter. These contests can be a good avenue to getting
one’s work noticed and/or make a sale. So, it’s important to make
certain that you have written your screenplay to the best of your ability and
according to industry standards.
The most important thing to do for
any aspiring screenwriter is to first learn the basic techniques of
screenwriting before sitting down to write one. I come across many hopeful
writers who think that all it takes to write a script is a good story idea and
a lot of explosive special effects. While a good story is important, with or
without the special effects, writing that story using proper industry standards
is equally important. (Please visit
http://www.coverscript.com/education.html -- Tips for
Screenwriters link for further information.)
There are specific
techniques to the craft of screenwriting involving everything from act
structure to proper screenplay format, which must be followed. It's difficult
to write engaging characters, focused plots and entertaining screenplays
without having a solid framework in which to bring it all to life.
Before any money is spent submitting your work to a screenwriting contest,
it would behoove the writer to first educate himself in the "tools of the
trade". There are many, many screenwriting books available as well as workshops
and seminars, both online and in live classroom situations. My advice is to
take advantage of them. Then, armed with the basics, write, write and then
write some more.
Then before submitting your work to any screenplay
competition have it copyrighted and WGA registered. (United States Copyright
office: http://www.loc.gov/copyright. Writers Guild of America:
http://www.wga.org.)
Advice and Suggestions
I am a judge for many contests and
as such, have read thousands of TV scripts and screenplays. I can assure you
that the winners are chosen because their screenplays or TV scripts contain
great stories and are written to industry standards. Therefore, putting your
best foot forward is a must. Below are some pointers to keep in mind before you
submit your screenplay.
1. If your purpose is to “break into the
business”, make certain that the script contest you enter offers meetings
with agents and/or producers as part of the prize for winning and not just cash
prizes. Of course, if it is just the extra cash you’re after, then go for
it!
2. Make certain, before you write that entry fee check and
send in your material, that the screenplay contest or TV script competition is
a reputable one and indeed has, in the past, delivered to its winners what it
promised in its promotion.
3. Presentation of your screenplay does count so make
certain your screenplay follows the accepted industry standards. This not only
includes using the proper screenplay format but also such things as a typo-free
screenplay and the correct binding.
4. Keep in mind that the industry professionals who
sponsor some of these film and TV competitions do so in order to find good
producible material, hopefully for lower rather than higher budgets. Therefore,
entering a screenplay in a genre with a story that screams “high
budget” lessens the writer’s chances of winning. This means that
(1) Sci-fi special effects stories taking place on purple planets populated
with giant, paisley-skinned, seven-armed, Plasmanian Wooglegorps who magically
float through the air using anti-gravity belts or (2) a 1920’s Period
Piece necessitating Model-T’s, Zoot suits and flappers or (3) an
action/adventure story that has the bad guys blown to smithereens, along with
their Lear jet, over the ocean, followed by a high-tech nuclear submarine
underwater search and rescue mission while the oil slicked water burns out of
control, are not the best way to go.
5. Make certain that your story is told visually. Film is
a visual medium.
6. Make sure you don’t have “on the nose”
dialogue or too much dialogue and that all the dialogue sounds natural.
7. Check to make sure that your characters are
interesting, engaging and have good character arcs. Nothing worse than having
an unlikable hero, a wishy-washy bad guy, or a protagonist who starts out angry
at the world and by the end of the story is still angry at the world having
learned and changed nothing in his nature.
Conclusion
Once you've gone through your screenplay and are satisfied with it, have it
read by someone else. After all, your story is intended for a movie-going
audience so honest opinions from friends and family members will give you a
feel for that audience reaction.
Then do yourself a favor and have
your screenplay read by an industry professional that has experience and good
credentials in the area of script analysis. A writer can become too close to
his work and not be able to “see the forest for the trees”. It is to
your advantage to have any possible format, story, character, dialogue and
structure flaws found and corrected before it is submitted to a movie or TV
script contest.
While there is never any guarantee your screenplay or
TV script will be a winner, writing one to the best of your ability and which
meets industry standards is a must, as the competition is fierce.
I
wish you great success in your present and future story-telling adventures.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynne Pembroke is a writer, poet and
screenwriter. Specializing in screenwriting, script writing help and screenplay
analysis of movies/tv scripts. Services provided, include: story analysis,
ghostwriting, rewriting and adaptation of novel to screenplay. Visit her
website at http://www.coverscript.com
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