darcy

@forscreenwriters.com

88 Followers 64 Following

Maker of Screenwriter A better way to write screenplays Write 3 for free at app.forscreenwriters.com

Single panel cartoon illustration of two dogs in a writing editor’s office with the editor dog holding the writer dogs pages as the caption below reads “If you introduce a stick in act one, somebody needs to throw it.”
Excerpt from the Scriptnotes book on screenwriting that reads: IF YOU FOLLOW these rules to the letter, congratulations! You’ll have written a perfect screenplay. Please proceed to the gates of Hollywood to receive your paycheck and commendation. Obviously, these “rules” are bullshit. We’ve broken every one of them over the course of our long careers. Pick up any award- winning screenplay and you’ll !nd it violates at least half the items on this list. Still, there’s a reason aspiring screenwriters love rules like these. We crave order. Faced with a blank page, we’re desperate for any constraints and guidelines. Just tell me what I can and can’t do. Newer writers in particular are afraid of making mistakes that might reveal their inexperience, so they choose the absolute safest path. It’s the literary equivalent of driving five miles an hour under the speed limit.
Distracted boyfriend meme but it's about being distracted by writing a new screenplay, and the scorned girlfriend has been cloned 15 times and takes up the majority of the image space to represent all the unfinished screenplays that deserve your attention.
iPhone home screen screenshot showing three identical app icons for Screenwriter side by side.
Romeo+Juliet Montague boys pointing their guns at the camera
Screenshot of the Shorthands feature in the Screenwriter app, with a caption above that reads, "Features that actually help you stay focused."
Screenshot of the Format menu in Final draft opened, with the Change Element To submenu selected, showing a long list of elements to choose from.
A screenshot of text that reads: ✍🏻 Attention screenwriters: I wanted to address the top question I get asked most often on LinkedIn: "how do I get my work seen if no one responds to me?" As it relates to me personally (other reps and producers might have different feedback), here are my top 3 suggestions: 1. Avoid sending materials, pitches or loglines. It opens someone up to potential legal problems (see my previous posts for more on that). 100% of the time, when I see a pitch, I won't read further. 2. Highlight your accolades. I only have the bandwidth to read 1, maybe 2, specs per month from an unrepped writer. If your script won or became a finalist in a respected competition, that grabs the attention. Since I'm not an AI and my primary day-to-day responsibility is to my clients, a competition has done the groundwork for me of weeding out the best of the best. 3. Know your audience. People who pitch me comedy or family projects haven't done their research. Here is an example of a query that will get my attention 100% of the time: "Hi Bernard, I wrote a Michael Clayton style thriller with a sci-fi twist (this gives me a sense of your project) which was a finalist at Final Draft, placed second at Slamdance, and placed Top 1% on Coverfly. Here are links to the project (proof of it earning the accolades; you want to present any support materials you can) and here's a link to my website. Looking forward to hearing from you."
Dark banner with bold white Helvetica text that reads "Hey there, Screenwriter." centered below the Screenwriter app logo of a blue S keyboard key.
Banner with dark background, letter s keyboard key logo centred above large white text that reads “Hey there, Screenwriter”
A two panel comic style image of a man watching the same nature documentary of a lion catching an antelope, one titled lion documentary and the other titled antelope documentary, where he is cheering in one and shocked in the other.