![]() ![]() All screenwriters pre-write in some capacity and it pays for us to engage in deliberate-practice rather than simply hoping we have some sort of unappreciated natural talent. Even the most radical of abstract painter still appreciates colour theory, proportions, and movement before picking up a bucket of paint and throwing it rebelliously at a canvas. ![]() A professional composer may ad-lib a flurry of notes to find the right melody but the rhythm, tone, and key is something carefully planned out beforehand to define an overall soundscape. It’s the “we’ll fix it in post” joke for the writing world.Ī highly skilled photographer pre-photos every shot they take as their art-form allows little correction to major flaws like poor alignment or lens choice. I’m sorry but a lot of re-writing is a case of desperately trying to glue the off-cuts back on after realising you’ve cut the planks too short. Plus, the “re-writing is writing” axiom provides a comfort blanket those people to clutch on to, helping them convince themselves what they are doing is not just professional but highly professional. Jumping into a new script with nothing but excitement and inspiration sounds romantic. I don’t think I need to tell you which one of those two you’re likely to be conversing with on your average screenwriting forum. ![]() Naive amateurs who are either too deluded or lazy to realise developing their story structure first will save them work in the long-run.Highly experienced professionals who’ve developed so many scripts, story development has become second nature.Those who do not spend conscious time pre-writing tend to be one of two kinds of writer EVERYONE pre-writes in some capacity, it’s just that some don’t do it formally by writing a lot of it down before they start drafting. I’m telling you now that the latter is nonsense. The comments often fall into two clear camps those who pre-write (synopsis, outlines, treatments, scriptments, etc) and those who say they prefer to “keep things natural” by diving into page one with no real plan. Now, the concept of pre-writing comes up now and then in screenwriting communities and the responses can easily mislead aspiring screenwriters hoping to improve their craft. ![]() However, I have my own well developed pre-writing system called Turn & Burn, something that’s proven critical in helping me break in, so I told the developers as such and their response was unexpected - they implemented my structure it into their software, humbling me in the process and giving me every reason to check Prewrite out, something I’m glad I did. When I was asked to check out Prewrite, a browser based screenwriting tool designed to help screenwriters develop their story, my ears pricked up. Sometimes however, there’s something that catches my eye, looks promising, and results in me throwing a bone back. It has turned me into a cynical husk of a human-being who often responds to those emails with a bark of “thanks but no thanks” before adding another name to my avoid list. I can’t tell you how often I get asked to review books on “how to sell a screenplay” by people who’ve never sold a screenplay. ![]()
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