First Tips onTeaching Adolescents to write Stories for Film

As an aspiring writer, I can tell you some tips that may help you to write and sell your stories for film. While I have never written a film before, I have published two books. If you are writing, but feel stuck on how to prepare your story for a film, here are some tips that may help you.

 

It’s Not Only You

 

You are not alone. This is the first thing you need to know. You are not the only one who has writer’s block or issues getting your story out there to the public. I had issues when I first started writing as well. It took me almost a year after I had completed my second book to tell myself it was okay to publish it. I was overwhelmed with worry that nobody would like it.

 

As it turned out, I sold 100 copies the first week it was available. That may not seem like a lot to some people, but for coming from such a small town, it was a lot more than I expected.

 

Remembering or realizing that you aren’t alone can help you to put your stories out there.

 

Bad First Drafts Happen

 

When you are writing your story for a film, nothing can happen unless you are willing to show your first draft to someone who can get it filmed. It won’t help if you keep making cuts and wondering what else you should change. If you are stuck in your own head about all the things you could change, you are never going to turn in your draft to a film producer.

 

Your screenplay is not a flawless, polished gem and it never will be. No film is ever produced exactly as written in the first draft. Changes will continue to be made as the director shoots it, for reasons good and bad, and even later in the editing room.

 

So, you won’t get into trouble for a bad first draft as long as your ideas are in there and they make sense. The producers can and will offer you advice on what they think it needs as a film from there.

 

Talk to Someone Else About Your Story

 

Sometimes, when you have writer’s block, you just need to talk to someone else about it. Tell them what you are writing. Discuss the details behind your story or even let someone read what you have already written. By doing this, you can get feedback and possibly some advice on what to change or what to write next.

 

Sometimes it just takes another set of eyes or ears to move your story along, so that you can get it ready for filming. For my first book, I had 3 other people read it before I was even halfway done with it. This helped me to get my final draft finished a lot quicker.

 

Setting Yourself a Time to Work

 

Can’t seem to get started writing? Do you have a vision in your mind of the story you want to have in the film but can’t find the right words? Don’t worry about it. Just set yourself a time to work: when to start, how long to write (maybe one hour), then sit at your computer, typewriter or notepad and do it. Don’t do anything else during this time.

 

If you don’t know what to write, then write down anything that comes to your mind related to the story you want to tell: snippets of dialogue, backstory, what a character looks like. They don’t even have to be in full sentences; just get your ideas onto paper and out of your mind. This can help you whenever you get stuck in a funk.

 

Practice

 

You may not know exactly what you want to write for the film. You just know that you want to write a film. There is nothing wrong with practicing. You may write one, two, or even 10 scripts or stories that never go to film. The point is to practice your writing and storytelling. By doing this, you can perfect and hone in your skills and eventually produce a screenplay that can finally go from a film producer to the screen.

 

No Writing and Editing at the Same Time

 

Regardless of what I told you about not worrying about a bad first draft, you probably will want to at least polish your finished script. Before you do that, you must first finish it. Don’t try to write and edit at the same time. This is how writers mess up. They miss errors that they would have caught if they only waited to make the edits, or they shortchange the writing to make up for the time they spent correcting their earlier writing.

 

You can come back to your writing hours or even days later. This lets your eyes and mind rest. It will make it much easier to catch errors and make needed changes if you can look at your writing with fresh eyes.

 

Edit Your Own Writing and Have Someone Else Do It Too

 

Even after a day or two, there are some people who feel they can’t edit their own work. They have no trouble seeing the errors in other people’s writing, but they just can’t seem to see the flaws in their own.

 

By learning to edit your own work, you can see how you feel about your writing. You may be inspired to do some things differently. So, you should certainly learn to edit your own work. However, it’s a good idea to have someone else do it as well.

 

When someone else edits your work, you get another person’s perspective on your writing, maybe a complementary perspective, and not just for spelling or grammatical errors. If you are going to turn your story into a film producer, and you hope, a wider audience, someone else is going to see it eventually. Another set of eyes can be your first glimpse of what the public may think of it.

 

Are you trying to write a story for a film? As an adolescent, this takes time and you must commit to doing it. Writing isn’t something that everyone is cut out for. However, if it is your passion and you want to make a go of it, then put in the work, practice, and follow these other tips to make your writing even better.