Writing a Movie Script

The mail came today - Yay!!! That meant the book I ordered has finally arrived. Here where I live, mail arriving at the post office and mail actually reaching me are many times two very drastically different things. Things I order or things sent to me reach the post office in good time, but even though the post office is only around 25 miles up river from me, there are times when I don't get my mail for the entire winter. There are a couple great guys here on the river who go up there frequently, and they have taken up the task of bringing me my mail. However, that doesn't mean I get my mail much faster, only that I will get mail at some point during the winter. This morning was that time.

You might remember from some of my Facebook postings, a while ago I ordered a book on Script writing. I am not getting any younger, and though at one time, my greatest ambition was to get all the books I'd written published before I kicked the bucket (which is still the case), now I would also like to see at least one of them as a movie. I'm not getting any younger.

Now I know getting my book in front of some director by accident is like a billion to one chances, so I thought I might try my hand at writing up a script. I'd like to do my trilogy, I happen to think it is my best book, but it might be to big a project for a first shot. Maybe I'll do my first book; I'm going to republish it anyway, and to do that it will get a rewrite. Sounds like a package deal to me - maybe.

Anyway, I did a little research and came across a book called Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. Upon a simple flip-through, it wasn't what I wanted, however, judging by that flip-though, it is likely what I need. What I wanted was something to tell me the mechanics of how to write a script. You know, something to tell me the formatting issues - font size, margins, indents, etc. Seriously, I know nothing about what a script should look like - I've never seen one. So, a little more research is in order for me. I'll get to it one of these days. First, I have a book to read. This book - Save the Cat! - looks to be filled to the brim with all the little tricks of the trade I'll be needing to make my script the best it can be, even for a first shot.

Another thing that will put this project off is that I've been promised an editing job to start most any day now. As I wait for that, I'm working on the rewrite of my next book, The Trials of the Youngest Princess. I'll be looking for critical readers for it when I'm done, so if you think you'll be interested, send me a note. I look forward to hearing from someone. A fresh pair of eyes is priceless, you know.

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