“Unlock the Secrets: 30 Surprising Screenwriting Tricks That Could Sell Your Dream Script!”

"Unlock the Secrets: 30 Surprising Screenwriting Tricks That Could Sell Your Dream Script!"

In the world of screenwriting, the journey to creating that perfect script can feel a bit like choosing the right path at a crossroad—each option leading to vastly different outcomes. I often get spirited questions from budding writers, eager to know: “What type of stories should I chase?” or “How do I decide between my treasure trove of ideas?” It’s a maze, really, with no guaranteed map for success. After all, if there were a foolproof method to nail that blockbuster script, wouldn’t everyone be penning Oscar-winners by now? Instead, we face two foundational paths on our writing odyssey—each as unique as the stories we wish to tell. Grab your compass and let’s embark on a journey through the options that could shape your screenwriting fate! LEARN MORE.

There are many writing paths. Here are two of them.

Let’s consider this a response to a reader question because I get this type of inquiry pretty regularly from aspiring screenwriters via email. It takes different forms:

What type of stories should I focus on?

I have a lot of story ideas: How do I know which one to write?

What’s the best approach to take to maximize my chance of selling a script to Hollywood?

There is no one right answer to these questions. Even if there was and I gave it to you, you can be certain you would open the trades tomorrow to read a story about some writer who came along and did precisely the opposite, and just sold a spec for six figures.

That said broadly speaking, there are two basic paths a screenwriter can take when writing a spec script.

Photo by Oliver Roos on Unsplash

The most obvious approach is this: Write what they’re buying.

It’s the first rule of sales: Qualify your customer. If Hollywood is your ‘customer,’ then you find out what they are buying. That can mean right now, that can mean established patterns in terms of genres and movie story types over a decade or more, that can mean reading the tea leaves for what you think…

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