Screenwriter and novelist Alexandra Sokoloff offers a concise overview of screenwriting as a career. After ten years hustling scripts and making a good living, she's turned to the novel for her artistic satisfaction and published "The Harrowing," a horror novel nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Her tips on professional screenwriting will give newcomers a firm foundation.
Murderati: So you want to know about screenwriting
"IT’S A JOB.
Authors – and aspiring screenwriters – rarely seem to know this about screen work. It’s a job in a way that writing novels just isn't. Employers (studios, producers) are looking for writers who are committed to doing the screen thing as a living, full time (double full time, is often the real case). They don't want to just buy your fabulous spec (meaning original script), pay you big money and never hear from you again. The chances are infinitesimal that they'll ever make your movie at all. Your script is just a sample to show that you can write the movie THEY want to make, which they will dictate to you, and which probably won't make a whole lot of dramatic sense, but they’re paying you to do it."
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