A Savaege Blog?

I wrote my first feature length script when I was around 15/16. It took a long time to complete it but I got there eventually. I had looked up the Internet to get information on writing a screenplay and I was fairly happy with the format.

I sent it on to a few people and the feedback was always positive. My head swelled. Looking back now these people wouldn’t have been experts on screenwriting. TV producers maybe.

To the untrained eye it looked very much like a script. I signed up to a screenplay review site and uploaded the script for some more feedback. I didn’t get much before it was dumped, not because it was necessarily a bad script but because of formatting issues.

I was disgusted with them, what did they know anyway? “the script was constantly going in and out of past tense” one person said.

Fast-forward a couple a years and completion of a filmmaking course as well as writing a few shorts and reading tons. I had lost interest in the feature script so didn’t really touch it in a few years.

One thing that pains me is reading a script that isn’t formatted correctly, sometimes you put yourself through the pain to give the writer some feedback on the story. It’s Lazy, if you want someone to read your script, learn how to format correctly. Don’t give them a reason to hate your script after two lines!

So… recently I decided I’d edit my feature script and maybe give it to a few contacts I had made over the years for some more feedback.

OH MY GOD! IT”S TORTURE!!!

On the first page alone I must have made up to 10 corrections! The whole bloody thing looks like it’s in past tense, and the spelling and grammar mistakes! SAVE ME!

I haven’t got round to finishing the re edit yet and boy it won’t be fun!

So one bit of advise. Learn how to format correctly. Proper spelling, it’s you’re NOT your. And write in present tense! (I’m learning that the hard way)