Hi Everyone

[Sirius]

I've always wanted to be a screenwriter ever since I was 10. I started writing screenplays around the age of 11 and I've been writing them since then, but I could never finish one and I still can't. I'd get right to the middle of the screenplay and all of a sudden I wouldn't be able to write anymore. A couple days ago I was looking through a forum for my favorite movie series, Halloween, and I came across a section for screenplays. There was a topic about treatments and how they help out with writing a screenplay and it led me here.

This forum is very helpful. I'm glad I found it.

Oh yeah, I saw a treatment here for Halloween H20 that I've never read before. That was a real treat.

[marc]

Welcome Sirius! Apologies I am WAY behind on that! Been very busy the past couple months. Glad you are enjoying the forum, hope to see you posting more. We've got many new members to chat with.

[WriteNow]

Hey Sirius-

I've got some foolproof, can't miss advice for you on this one.

You say you haven't been able to finish a screenplay? Well, EVERY writer goes through this to some degree. It's largely a mental block though, and I found any easy way to overcome it.

First off- realize that as a successful screenwriter you will be be writing scripts constantly. Over the course of his career Robert Towne has written over one hundred. But most of those scripts will never be sold or produced. Doesn't meant they were pointless to write, just that they were stepping stones in between your other, successful projects.

Okay, on with the advice-

When it come to finishing your first screenplay the trick is- JUST KEEP WRITING. Doesn't matter if you think it isn't any good, or the dialogue is clunky or Angelina Jolie won't want to do it. Try to keep it coherent, but really, IT DOESN'T MATTER. Just get it done and put it in a drawer.

BAM- you are now a screenwriter. No more pressure. Now go write another script with a nice calm state of mind knowing that you WILL finish it, because you already have done it before.

I realize the idea of writing two (or twenty) screenplays seems daunting now and that first one is probably your "baby" but- get over it. If you want to be a screenwriter, well, you are gonna have to write. Speaking of which, why aren't you writing now?