Screenwriter

Are you an armchair critic with a creative imagination and the ability to write? Are you serious about the film industry and lured by the drama of the big screen? If so, and you’re ready to climb your way to the top, then a career as a screenwriter is well-suited to you.

A screenwriter or scriptwriter (also sometimes known as scenarist) is a writer who writes screenplays for television, film, video games, and comics. Screenwriters are good at writing, storytelling, and usually, have a vivid imagination. They love movies and television and think they have the fortitude and passion to make it in this competitive industry. And, with hundreds of feature films, and dozens of television movies and weekly series produced each year, (not including cable TV, independent, religious, or educational shows) somebody must be writing screenplays.

There are a number of attributes and skills that all screenwriters must have, including:

• An understanding and appreciation of how films, video games, etc. affect an audience
• An in-depth knowledge of the story, plot, and narrative
• A creative imagination
• Familiarity with current software for formatting, writing and presenting screenplays, comics, or video games
• Ability to bring characters to life through pictorial and dramatic writing
• Organized and dedicated
• Ability to work within strict deadlines
• Ability to work as part of a team with other creatives
• Flexible, able to take criticism, ambitious, and realistic

Screenwriting is a distinct art field that requires talent, practice, and training, plus an enormous level of commitment. The field has a clearly defined set of rules, methods, and parameters for achieving success, both professionally and artistically. Every screenplay begins with a story idea. Screenwriters turn those ideas into scripts with the intention of having them produced, made into a video game or a comic (including manga and graphic novels).

Some stories are fiction and others are nonfiction; based on a person’s life story or an event, which is then adapted by the screenwriter. Exclusive or pitched assignments are stories which are thought up and written by the screenwriter.

Most, if not all screenwriters are contracted freelance writers and may begin their careers writing on speculation, which means they might be paid little or not at all, or if the script is “picked up for production” they may be paid very well. Professional scriptwriters do not write for free and are commonly represented by a talent agency.

A talent agency or booking agent finds jobs for screenwriters. They also defend, promote, and support the interests of their clients. Signing with an agent isn’t required, but it will help a screenwriter get a job as most studios and production companies prefer to go through a talent agency to find a writer. Agents are typically paid a percentage of earnings, but regulations are set by writer’s unions and the legal jurisdiction where the agent works, so percentages vary.

Screenwriters who “pitch” a story usually have the luxury of facing little or no competition, and are often very successful. Open assignments are typically initiated by a production company or film studio. They are more competitive and usually have more than one writer competing for the assignment. Of course, when a screenwriter becomes known in the industry, producers and production companies will come to them because of their reputation and quality of work.

Screenwriters produce highly creative writing and often work on strict deadlines with a script development team to create a finished screenplay. When producers bring in additional writers to add or improve certain aspects of a script, the original writer will either get credit for the original screenplay, or they will be credited for additional dialogue or as a story consultant. For this reason, and many others, to succeed and gain a reputation in the industry as someone easy to work with, a good scriptwriter will leave his or her ego at the door.

Some screenwriters also work as script doctors. Script doctors edit and rewrite scripts to suit the needs of a studio or director . This can be…