All valid questions, to be sure, and each comes with a simple enough answer. The first, and ultimatley most popular, is the educational quiz. I did not, in fact, go to film school. I went to Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ONT, known more for its business programs than anything else, and studied English and Communications. When film school grads (usually the unemployed ones) find out that I don't have traditional film training, I can most-oft hear them throw up in their mouths a little. You mean you didn't spend three years and $40,000 listening to a failed screenwriter complain about the industry before you wrote your first script?!
Of course not. Don't be stupid. I equiped myself with a liberal arts degree as backup in case I fall flat on my face in this run and gun film industry and need to revert to teaching (I kid, I kid. That's just a subtle jab at all my brilliant educator friends. You know who you are). The not-so-subtle truth is that if you're a talented writer you don't need to go to screenwriting school to learn the ropes. In fact, most of the grads I've run into in the last two years finish school with one short film credit to add to their resume and nary a single feature script fully developed. I know that's a vast generalization, but it seems like people in film school do everything but write while they're there.
On to the second question. I taught myself. It's as simple as that. I've been writing as long as I can remember - I finished my first (very, very poor) novella when I was in the 6th grade, and worked at writing a novel over the next fifteen or so years. I took a script reading and writing course on a lark in my third year of university as a way to help me structure my fiction writing, but was bitten by the script bug and have been plugging away ever since. I bought two books - The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier, and How Not To Write A Screenplay by Denny Martin Flynn - taught myself the nuances of structure, format and style, and began writing. And writing. And writing. It may come as a surprise to some, but writing is the key to screenwriting. It's even a major part of the word. Those two books, for better or for worse, were my film school. I've since read dozens of others, hundreds of articles on writing and every tip and trick to be found on the net, but nothing comes close to matching the sheer undiluted information imparted by those two authors. Buy them.
Where do I find the time to write... wherever I can. That's the only acceptable answer. When I first started writing and really concentrating on the craft I was a senior in university (okay, in terms of free time that's probably the single greatest example of all time). But when I graduated I started a full-time job like everybody else in this world. Where did I find the time then? After work, weekends, the middle of the night, holidays, any time, anywhere I could. You can't cheat yourself when you're trying to write. Some people can get away with three or four hours a week, but to really be successful you should be writing at least that much every day. I sacrificed virutally then entire summer of 2006 in order to ready a script for a producer at the Toronto International Film Festival, and against all odds left that little party hired to pen WIRELESS. If you're going to do it, you have to put forth an honest effort and not cheat yourself. There are no excuses, and I certainly don't want to hear them.
Once a month I'll run into someone who claims to be a writier. Great! What have you written? I'd love to take a look, is my first response. The answer usually runs along these lines: well, I don't exactly have anything written. I take a lot of notes. And I have a lot of ideas. Up here (taps temple with finger).
Here is an important newsflash; if you don't write anything, you're not a writer. Don't call yourself that. It's annoying. Sit down and write, for crying out loud. And don't ever say you don't have the time. Not a single professional screenwriter in the history of film "had the time" to write. They made the time, and they made it work.
HOW NOT TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY
THE SCREENWRITER'S BIBLE
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