Five helpful tips for people just starting out

When I knew I wanted to be a writer,many moons ago, I had no idea where to start. I had ideas and stories in my head I wanted to tell, but had no idea where to start with it. Luckily we live in an age where information is freely available on just about any subject. The problem is how do you filter out all the shit before you read the stuff that is really useful. I hope these five golden rules I learnt along the way will help you know at least where to start.

The best bit of advice I have ever read or been told is that if you want to become a writer or be able to call yourself a writer, you have to actually write. I know it sounds simple but a lot people who want to write have a lot of ideas in their heads, but nothing down on paper. Your mind is a great tool, but it is also full with a lot of information. It can’t possibly remember every single idea you have. So rule one is a simple one...

1. WRITE YOUR IDEAS DOWN!

Rule two is all about planning, me and Gareth realised very early on that we needed to fully plan our ideas, you can’t go from concept to script in one step. You need to plan, we write a full outline of the pilot before we worry about what we need the characters to say to get us from beginning to end. Write down what will happen in the first episode. Don’t worry about dialogue, just what will happen on the screen. Go into as much detail as you can. This will be a godsend when it comes to planning out scenes. So rule two is...

2. WRITE A DETAILED OUTLINE OF YOUR FIRST EPISODE

Rule three is using the right tools for the job. If you have money to burn you can buy Final Draft, but lets face it unless you are selling scripts, you have no need to spend stupid money on software. That is not to say that you should be using Microsoft Word. The Internet is a great place to get free software to write with. Celtx is a fantastic free programme to use to write with. It does the hard stuff for you. If you are feeling a little flush then you can buy a more advanced programme such as Fade In that will set you back about £35 - £75. So rule three is...

3. GET A PROPER WRITING PROGRAMME LIKE CELTX OR FADE IN

Rule four is all about perfecting your idea. Nobody has ever sold the first draft of their script. As I write this we are on the 4th draft of our pilot and we still have a few more left before we are happy to let it go out in the scriptures. From what I have read there is no golden number to how many drafts you should do, it should always be until you are happy with it or until you reach that point that you are happy enough to let it go. Chances are you will never be 100% happy with what you have written. So rule four...

4. WRITE, RE-WRITE AND REPEAT

Finally rule five, you have to get yourself out there for all to see. Networking is a huge part of making sure your idea is made. Twitter and blogging are a great way to do this. You would be surprised who reads your tweets as long you put a #screenwriting tag at the end of it. Blogging is a great way of improving your writing and sharpen your skills. There are some good blogging sites out there such as Blogger or Tumblr. Stay away from places like Facebook, chances are if none of your friends share your passion you may just be posting for nothing. So rule five is...

5. TWEET, BLOG AND NETWORK

So there you have it five simple rules that helped me and Gareth go from two people having a lot of lengthy conversation about writing, to actually writing.

Happy writing!