My Monthly Scriptwriting Newsletter

July Scriptwriting Newsletter

Scriptwriting Newsletter

Opening Statement ▶︎

This is the first month for this Newsletter. So, it’s not going to be too productive for this month. Is this the way it is for most, if not all, Newsletter their first month? Maybe it’s because this is a Scriptwriting Newsletter instead of a Short Story or Poetry one. I would really like to know. Do any of you know about past Newsletters?

In future Newsletters, I’m hoping it will be better. At least it will be when it comes to this part of it. As you can see I’m not very good at this. This is my first Newsletter. So, I am playing it by trial and error. Mostly by error, as you can read. It will get better too. At least I hope that it will. Any suggestions on how I can make it better, I would appreciate in reading it.

Tip of the Month ▶︎

A lot think that scriptwriting is very hard to do. In a way, they are right. It’s not any harder to do than any other types of writing. I think that Poetry is a lot harder than scriptwriting. Especially, if you are trying to rhyme it. A Short Story is probably the easiest. Scriptwriting can be just as easy as a Short Story. It all depends on how you format it.

Formatting a script is what makes it different from a Short Story and Poetry. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a script for a movie or for television it needs to be formatted. Short stories and Poetry have their own kind of formatting, but it’s more style and organization than formatting. Poetry does have a kind of Style that’s a lot like formatting, but there is no Standard way to do it like scriptwriting does.

That is what I am going to write about this month: The only way to format your scripts. There are several Scriptwriting programs out there that can help you do it. Only they cost you money. Most of us just starting out as scriptwriting can’t afford to do that. They are like me, they come up with their own Standard Scriptwriting Program.

I did mine with Microsoft Word 2016 aka Office 365. Yes, I know that’s a program too. Only it’s one that you can pay for it monthly like I do or yearly. Either way that you do it, it’s a lot cheaper than those Scriptwriting programs. I created my Scriptwriting Template from it. It works for both my movies and my television shows.

Once I learned how the different parts of a formatted script are supposed to look like it wasn’t hard to create a proper Scriptwriting Template. Since they run from left margin to the right one Scene Headings and Action Descriptions aren’t that big of a problem, but it is for the Character Names, Character Descriptions, and Dialogue. It’s not all that complicated for them either. At least it is for my template, but it’s not for WDC. Nothing is easy with WDC. That’s next month’s Tip, though.

The standard length of a script is sixty characters. That’s sixty characters pure line using Courier 12. Which is the only Font you should be using. Scene Headings and Action Descriptions are sixty characters long. Character Names, Character Descriptions, and Dialogue are within those sixty-character lines.

Character Names are two inches from both margins, Character Descriptions are one and half inches on both sides, and the Dialogue is one inch. That means there are twenty characters per Character Name, thirty for Characters Descriptions lines, and forty lines for Dialogue.

I used this information to create individual Style Sheets for my Scriptwriting Template. Then I created Short Cut Keys to make it easier to use those parts when I needed to us them. That’s how I created my Scriptwriting Template. How you create yours is up to you. You can use one of those other Scriptwriting programs or you can create one of your own like I did. If you write it the right way, it doesn’t matter how you do it.

Next month I will write to you about how you convert your properly formatted scripts for WDC. If you think this is hard to understand, it’s even worse when it comes to WDC. It isn’t going to be easy to do, but it can be done. It’s not really that hard to do, it’s just going to take you a long time to do it. I can show you how to do it, and how it should be done, but it’s going to be up to you to do it.

June Participants ▶︎

I only had one contest going on last month. Unfortunately, there have been no participate in in. So, I’m not going to be adding any to this part of the newsletter. See what will happen when you don’t participate in my contests.

Hopefully, that will not be a problem for this newsletter next month. I don’t think that it will be though. I’m kind of doubtful with The Monthly Script Writing Contest after the last couple of months, but now that I have changed it to a single Prompt I’m hoping that will change too.

My first contest isn’t the only thing that has changed. I have started several things related to scriptwriting. One of them is another contest. Another one is a Challenge that didn’t go too well. This newsletter of course. A group for scriptwriters and a Blog.

June Entries ▶︎

What can I say that I didn’t in the last tag? Since there was no participates for The Monthly Script Writing Contest, there was no entries either. I’m not sure without looking, but I don’t even think anyone posted in there. There were probably some views of the Prompts, but other than that nothing much happened last month with my first contest.

June Reviews ▶︎

Unfortunately, I don’t have any entries to review. In the future, I will be posting my reviews for all my contest entries here. At least I will if the entries want me to do it. If they don’t that is okay with me too. I think it would be helpful to everyone else, but the final decision is up to you scriptwriters.

I’m not sure if I will be posting the reviews for The Daily One Scene Contest here or not. Not because of them wanting me to do it, but because there could be so many of them. At least I hope there will be a lot of them every day. I want to review the winners at the very least, but that is also up for debate depending on how many there are each month.

June Winners ▶︎

This is kind of a continuation from the last tag. There were no participates or entries for The Monthly Script Writing Contest. So, I can’t post them here. Starting with the next month Newsletter I’m hoping that I will be adding a lot of them here. Only you fellow scriptwriters can make that happen, and the only way to do that is to participate in my monthly and daily contest.

Joining Us ▶︎

After what has happened with this Newsletter so far, I don’t blame any of you for not wanting to receive it this month. True, my Opening Statement and the Tip of the Month are worth you wanting to join us, but the rest of it isn’t.

I’m afraid my Opening Statement and the Tip of the Month will be enough for you wanting to join us. I am hoping that it will be, but I don’t blame you if you don’t want to do it this month. Maybe next month will be a lot better, and you will want to join then. If you want to join now just send me an email at PureSciFi or PureSciFiPlus .

The Daily One Scene Contest  [E] #2162318 Another contest that isn't a Short Story or Poetry one. It's another scriptwriting one. by PureSciFi

My Scriptwriting Plus  [E] #2162356 This Blog isn't just for my scriptwriting Projects. It's also for my other activities. by PureSciFi

Scriptwriters Welcome  [E] #2162345 A discussion group for scriptwriters. Only it's not just for scriptwriters, though. by PureSciFi

The Monthly Script Writing Contest  [E] #2144083 Not just another monthly contest. Instead of Short Stories or Poetry, it's about Scripts. by PureSciFi

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What you are about to read (see) is true. Nothing needed to be changed. After all, This has already been translated into a language that we all know and understand - English (German, French, Italian, Russian etc.).