Top 3 Screenwriting Tips from Michael Tabb

[jodymichelle]

Top 3 Screenwriting Tips from Michael Tabb

Tip # 1: Here is a huge gap in content availability created by Covid. What are you waiting for? Make your own project! Equipment is more accessible than ever. You have a better chance at getting picked up now that there are more content outlets than ever in the history of the medium. That said, it must be fantastic as possible. Nobody wants his or her name on a bad film. So, surround yourself with people far more talented (ego-less) craftsmen than you and learn from them every day. Put in the time, make it great, and if your film never gets picked up, you just paid for the best and most powerful film school a filmmaker can have – real experience.

Tip # 2: Write for you and what you have learned that resonates powerfully within you. Trends change and writers cannot write to today’s trends because they are passed by the time the script is ready. So, write smart, write now, right now. Write something that matters based on what you see going on around you that needs correcting. That makes it timely. What you may lack in craftsmanship may shine through in heart.

Tip # 3: Honestly, I have to say, read my book. It has hundreds of story creation tips in it stemming from every great teacher and writer I’ve known, over twelve years of WGA writing experience, all wrapped into a single set of building blocks. I make a pittance on the publication of it. I specifically wrote it for the same reason I co-created the WGA’s Mentor Program. I wanted to share all I know and help the next generation to become better writers. This first book is my love letter to the state of story crafting and screenwriting, and making sense of how it is constructed when done well. It was the only way I knew I could share all I’ve learned and understand about my craft long after I’m dead. I truly hope it helps you find your way.

(Prewriting Your Screenplay with Michael Tabb)

 

[geckopelli]

I'm going to have to disagree.

#1 -- Projects cost money. There's a difference between Screenwriters and Producers and Filmmakers. Making your own project involves becoming a financier, something few writers are interested in. And if you want to hire someone, you need a schedule and a budget and a bankroll. "Make it yourself " is internet advice that is way off. It's not that simple to make a film up to standard.

#2 -- If you're young and you write what resonates within you, you'll be writing the same thing everybody else your generation is writing. If you want your tree to stand out, don't plant it deep in the forest.

#3 -- There is no formula in a book that teaches talent. Read Trottier, Truby, anything you can find written by Jarvis, and if you're serious read this first:

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

here's a free copy, but the formatting is hard on the eyes.

http://ebooksbeus.weebly.com/uploads/6/3/0/8/6308108/the_power_of_myth_-_joseph_campbell.pdf

Trottier teaches Formatting, which is WAY more important then the net would have you believe, Campbell is the Godfather of Story, Jarvis and Truby are the originators of Screenwriting Software and students of Campbell. Everything else is fringe.

I hired a Screenwriter two months ago. I hired her based on her original work, but her job is to add length and polish a script written by someone else. That's the reality of Hollywood. If you want to be a Working Writer, write scripts to learn the Craft, not the other way around.

 

[jodymichelle]

There's a bit of a disadvantage when participating in convos where all the opinions and views are the same.You get stuck in the same feedback loop. So I appreciate that you have a different perspective and sharing it here.

However, I respectively disagree with all of the above.

As I read your points #1, #2, and #3, it all translates to me as "No, No, No."

#1) There are plentiful success stories of screenwriters, filmmakers, and artists who succeeded because they didn't listen when somebody told them, "No."

Yes, projects cost money. What doesn't cost money? There is a cost to writing or screenwriting all day and all night. What you choose to give up so that you can make time for writing, there is a cost to that.

Additionally, there are many screenwriters out there, who need the little nudge and friendly encouragement: Get Out of Your Head, and Make Your Own Project!

#2) You're making a huge assumption that just might be false. How do you know what people's generations are writing and if they are all writing the same thing? What is your generation writing about? Are you sure about that? #Generalizations #Stereotypes

#3) Your statement has nothing to do with my statement. Did you just troll my thread?







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