Lie #7: My screenplay is a 7/10 and I just need to get it in the right hands and my dreams will come true.

A few years ago I was working as a script reader for a production company in Hollywood. This particular company allowed their readers to submit their own screenplays to be considered.

So I blasted through writing a contained thriller screenplay in 3 months and submitted it.

While I knew it wasn’t perfect, I was proud of what I’d written. I thought my script was a 7/10 with a good idea that could be produced on a budget. 

Then one of the producers took a look at my screenplay and he called me into a meeting to discuss it. As I walked into the meeting, I was bursting with excitement. 

This was my shot!

But when I got in the meeting, he said he liked the idea, but my writing was “Z Grade.” 

Not a B or C. Z-Grade.

I was crushed, but he was right.

Inexperienced screenwriters have the tendency to overvalue their scripts because they have put so much time and effort into them.

Think of a movie you would consider a 7 or 8 out of 10. Is your screenplay really at that level? 

If you're honest with yourself for a moment, the answer will be clear. 

No. 

 But that's okay!

Truth #7: Great writing takes TIME and ATTENTION.

You think because you blasted through one draft and polished up a few scenes that you have a 7/10 script.

But it's simply not possible.

Great writing takes more than holding to a structural guideline, having some basic characters, and creating a plot.

Great writing requires putting the time and attention into a screenplay to develop every character, every scene, and every moment. 

When you just write one or two drafts, you simply haven’t put in the time to make it a great story. 

And when I look back at that screenplay I submitted now, I can see just how rushed that draft was. 

And it was only by admitting how much I fell short, that I could allow myself to return to the script and give it the necessary rewrites it needed. 

We’re almost to the end. 

In the final blog, I want to give you the Final Truth about writing you need to know. 

If you remember nothing else from these blogs, remember this Final Truth. 

Click the button to see the Final Truth.