WHAT HAVE I LEARNT TO DATE (31 JULY 2023) AS A SCREENWRITER? WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
Since 2007 (the writing of my first screenplay) till 2022 (before the writing of my 12th screenplay), I would post a screenplay as soon as it was finished, with only cursory revision. This is a mistake that took me till my last screenplay, Howlingween 5: Trip Along, to realize how grave the mistake is. It was with Howlingween 5: Trip Along that for the first time I revised a screenplay up to 12 times before uploading to Winning Scripts. Even with that many times — reading it from page one to the last page — a dozen errors and three dozen instances of poor expressions nonetheless escaped my notice, which my recent revision of the screenplay (22 July 2023) revealed and hopefully corrected and improved respectively.
Errors and poor expressions break the all-important engagement between the reader and the screenplay. A mistake jars. Suddenly the reader is on guard for more errors, thus taking away the reader's 100-per-cent attention to the flow of the story or in, some cases, the awe a reader may have of a story. Readers are kind and forgive errors as it is hard to write a 100-page screenplay without an error being made, but readers, I believe, don't forget (at least not subconsciously). Errors and poor expressions question the authority that screenwriters have over their material or if they care enough to ensure error-free stories are presented to others.
Realizing this during the writing of Halloween 5: Trip Along, I went on a rewriting frenzy in the last four months of, so far, nine of my other 11 screenplays. Now only two remain to receive a rewrite.
I may not rewrite those two as yet as I wish to complete the first draft of my Twelve Less sequel, which I wish to write as a pilot to a series of 12 one-hour episodes involving my six teenagers as crime busters in the style of the three young adults in the 1960s TV series, the Mod Squad. This is a huge project, nothing like it have I ever attempted before. Imagine writing a 70-minute pilot and 12 48-minute episodes for the make-or-break first season — wow, the challenge is daunting, but there is the suspicion I may be able to do it. It will take months (perhaps a year or two) and a lot of planning, but I think I can do it. And perhaps thinking it may be enough to doing it. Only the future will tell. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MY PERSONAL HISTORY AS A SCREENWRITER I started writing screenplays proper in 2007 (that is, when I purchased Final Draft, version 7) and have since written 12 screenplays.
My latest is called Howlingween 5: Trip Along. In a way it's about the past not letting go of its hold on the Forran family. The major significance of this, my 12th screenplay, is its crafting. Unlike the 11 screenplays before, which would be posted as soon as their first drafts were completed (then repeatedly revised and re-posted), Trip Along has been so thoroughly revised that I can almost guarantee up to 96% of spelling and syntax errors have been captured and corrected. Another significant thing about Trip Along is that, like Howlingween 4: Beastly Mist, the series has gone off Halloween as being the trigger-event for the story.
Though none of my screenplays (as at 31 July 2023 AEST) has been optioned, let alone produced, I keep writing them because I love creating worlds.
Please enjoy reading any one or more of the following screenplays …
Splendid Isolation (story of a frontier town in modern Alaska) [has been rewritten July 2023]; On Board (misadventures on a cruise ship) [has been rewritten July 2023]; Counterchance (sometimes bad things happen) [has been rewritten April 2023]; Twelve Less (teenagers in trouble with a saboteur) [has been rewritten May 2023] ; We Were Young Once (fun teen musical) [has been rewritten April 2023]; Howlingween (a road trip to hell) [has been rewritten June 2023]; Howlingween 2: Clarry the Clown (horror island) [has been rewritten April 2023]; Howlingween 3: Red River County (unforgiving beggar) [has been rewritten April 2023]; Howlingween 4: Beastly Mist (insect sprays won't help with these bugs); Glorious Revolution (a story of unintended consequences) [has been rewritten July 2023]; Once Young (love-struck teenagers). Howlingween 5: Trip Along (dreams can become real-life nightmares) [has been revised July 2023].
Thank you for taking the time to read my brief biography as a screenwriter. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 JULY 2023 UPDATE A rewrite of On Board has been completed today (30 July 2023). It makes for an almost error-free read. I believe this is the screenplay when produced and released will be a huge commercial success. It was written for commercial success. Its appeal is its eclecticism. It appeals to young and old. It caters to several genres. The characters are well-delineated and interesting in their own way. There is, however, a risk: its very eclecticism could be its undoing. By appealing to many it may not satisfyingly appeal to any one member of the audience. Producers will need to also consider the costs: On Board will be expensive to produce, hugely expensive.
22 JULY 2023 UPDATE Triggered by the incredible quarterfinal success in the Creative Screenwriting Feature Screenplay Competition, Howlingween 5: Trip Along has been revised. Just when I thought the screenplay had been revised enough, I find some dozen errors and some three dozen instances of expressions in need of improving. If Howlingween 5: Trip Along goes no further in the competition, I have a lot to be grateful for: out of it came an improved screenplay.
17 JULY 2023 UPDATE I'm pleased to announce that Glorious Revolution has had a rewrite, which task was completed today (17 July 2023). It is a timely tale of how good intentions can morph into dictatorial outcomes. The rewrite has major improvements. Inconsistencies in story elements have been straightened out. Expressions are free of ambiguities and are much clearer. Errors in syntax have been corrected. The result is a more rewarding reading experience.
UPDATE: 4 JULY 2023 AEST Wonderful news! A rewrite of Splendid Isolation has been completed yesterday morning (2 July 2023). It now makes for a more enjoyable reading experience. It was only with the writing of my latest screenplay, Howlingween 5: Trip Along, I learnt how important it is to revise almost to the nth degree before going public. Before uploading Howlingween 5: Trip Along to Winning Scripts, I revised it (from first page to last) a dozen times to make sure errors in spelling, word usage and syntax were corrected (so much so that I can almost guarantee the screenplay is error-proof). And to also sharpen expressions (whether dialogue or action descriptions) to rid them especially of any ambiguity and blurriness. But not only that, I ironed out most (hopefully all) of the plot inconsistencies. The thing is this: any error, poor expression or inconsistency breaks the spell that a screenplay may with its readers. It jars — readers thereafter may be more focused on spotting the next error rather than perhaps continuing to engage in the screenplay's imagined world. The magic, assuming there was magic in the first place, may be gone. With Howlingween 5: Trip Along, I was determined to avoid a premature upload, a tactical mistake I've made with all my previous 11 screenplays. This lesson was so well learnt, that by now more than half of the previous 11 screenplays have undergone a rewrite during the past several months (since posting Howlingween 5: Trip Along), the latest being Splendid Isolation, with four more to go. In days gone by, I would upload a screenplay once the story was finished thinking the story is the thing. The excitement of finishing a story with a beginning, a middle and an end was so great that I felt I needed to bring it to the immediate attention of the world. Yes, it is exciting to write a story some 90 pages long in the screenplay form — not everyone can or wants to do this — but with Howlingween 5: Trip Along, for the first time as a screenwriter, I've learnt to hold back on the excitement and to get down to the nitty-gritty of revision, revision and more revision until satisfied over 90% (or ideally 100%) of errors, poor expressions and inconsistencies have been spotted and attended to. Now, having completed a rewrite of Splendid Isolation, time to choose one from among my four remaining screenplays as the next candidate for an overhaul.
UPDATE: 7 JUNE 2023 Great news! A rewrite of Howlingween has been completed today (7 June 2023). Errors and inconsistencies have been attended to, resulting in a reading that, crossing fingers, will not break the spell between reader and screenplay by way of even a single spelling or syntactical error or by the jarring effect of a single inconsistency.
UPDATE: 23 MAY 2023 Yesterday I completed a rewrite of Twelve Less. Up to 100 per cent of errors in spelling, word usage and awkward expressions have been corrected and issues of consistency have been addressed. If you have read Twelve Less before the rewrite, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how much easier and pleasant it is to read now.
UPDATE: 29 APRIL 2023 Today I completed a rewrite of Howlingween 3: Red River County. Producers and other creatives will find it much easier to read.
UPDATE: 29 APRIL 2023 Yesterday, I completed a rewrite of We Were Young Once. What is most significant is I have reduced the story from 108 pages to 88. I've started rewriting Howlingween 3: Red River County.
UPDATE: 15 APRIL 2023 Great news! Today I have completed a rewrite of Counterchance. Please, if you have read the screenplay before, read it again. Up to 96 per cent of errors in word usage and syntax have been spotted and corrected. Many ambiguities in expression have been set right. Several drops in story consistency have been detected and straightened. In my opinion, Counterchance has the ingredients for a huge commercial success while at the same time being a thinking person's film as it explores the theme of crime and punishment without being didactic (ie, the story comes first, not the message).
UPDATE: 7 APRIL 2023 I'm realizing how much more work needs to be done before uploading a screenplay to an exposure site, like Winning Scripts. I first learnt the lesson when I finished, a few weeks ago, Howlingween 5: Trip Along, my 12th and latest screenplay, and when I rewrote Howlingween 2: Clarry the Clown, completing the task a few days ago. And I'm learning it now as I'm in the process of rewriting Counterchance. No matter how many times redrafting is needed, errors in spelling, word usage, grammar and story consistency must be tracked down and corrected. It's hard work (and still not foolproof): Howlingween 5: Trip Along took about a dozen readings, starting from page one through to the last page, and with every reading trying to freshen the eyes so as to feel like reading the screenplay is for the first time. But it must be done, because I believe one single error can break the spell that may exist between an industry reader and one's screenplay. Excepting Howlingween 2 and Howlingween 5, please read, if you wish, any of the other 10 screenplays available on Winning Scripts with the knowledge that they are scheduled for an overhaul. As each rewrite is completed, notice will be given on the title page of the screenplay and in my biography on Winning Scripts.
LATEST NEWS! A few days ago (4 April 2023) I finished rewriting Howlingween 2: Clarry the Clown. It will be a more pleasurable read for producers and other creatives. Mistakes in spelling, word usage and grammar have been mostly corrected and inconsistencies in story have been "ironed out". Greater clarification of action paragraphs and tightening of dialogue have also been achieved. Howlingween 2: Clarry the Clown is now possibly a "master-class" of storytelling in the horror genre.
(Updated: 31 July 2023 AEST).
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