“Unlocking the Secrets of Successful Screenwriters: Why Every Aspiring Writer Needs Three Scripts!”

"Unlocking the Secrets of Successful Screenwriters: Why Every Aspiring Writer Needs Three Scripts!"

As aspiring screenwriters, we often find ourselves caught in the whirlwind of excitement after finishing our first screenplay. We convince ourselves we’ve cracked the code—only to realize, much like an emerging superhero, that we’ve barely scratched the surface of our potential! This article dives into the stark reality of screenwriting with some tough love: to truly understand the craft, you need to put in the hours—and that means finishing at least three scripts before even thinking about Hollywood. Why three, you ask? Well, it’s not just a random number; it’s the sweet spot where the learning starts to eclipse the bravado of “I got this.” So, buckle up for a journey where the only way out is through the pages, and let’s explore this essential, albeit daunting, advice for every new writer. Ready to take the plunge? LEARN MORE.

You write, you learn. Three scripts is a good minimum number for starting to understand the craft.

This is advice for the front end of your life as a screenwriter. Advice you may not want to hear… but advice you need to hear.

Three scripts. Don’t even contemplate working in Hollywood as a writer until you’ve completed at least three scripts.

You may think you know your way around a screenplay after you’ve written your first one.

Trust me, you don’t.

After finishing your second script, you are amazed at how much further along you have come in your understanding of the craft.

You’re still not where you need to be yet.

In my experience working with writers, It’s not until at least your third script that you can distinguish between your metaphorical ass and metaphorical hole-in-the-ground.

You can study the craft, you can read books, you can take classes, you can watch movies, and all that you should be doing. But there is a kind of knowledge you can only get by writing and completing scripts, a conscious and intuitive understanding of the craft you must have to succeed as a working writer.

Why three? Why not five? Ten?

In all honesty, after you’ve written five scripts, you will look back at the You Who Wrote Three Scripts and say, “What the hell was I thinking?” And when you’ve written ten scripts, you’ll reflect back on You Who Wrote Five Scripts and say, “Gawd, what I didn’t know.”

You will always be learning.

So why three? Oh, I could give you all sorts of theories… how after 1 and 2, three is the first number to signify a pattern… how there may be a synergistic connection to a story’s three acts… but in truth I choose three because K-9 was my third script, and I sold that as spec. Hey, if it worked for me, maybe it can work for you!

Now let me share something important. I deal with this all the time: A writer who is finishing their very first screenplay. And they are consumed with the idea about how they are going to use it to get representation.

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