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I think I would have found it much easier (and quicker) to write and, in my opinion, yes I think it would have turned out better had I gone into it with stuff I learned from the first experience. More importantly though, I don't think I would have become so exhausted and fed up with the project...

Ouch LOL! Well I've not tried to sell them, so I don't know. But I do know the writing, the plotting and the character arcs were all vastly improved. I learnt a lot from the mistakes I made doing the first one, that I was able to approach them with a greater knowledge.

I'm still waiting for that day to come LOL. The current version is a thousand times better than my first draft BUT it still isn't quite "right". The feedback from everyone who has read it has been positive, yet at the same time, it's missing... 'something'. And I'll be damned if I can figure out...

The other way to look at it logically is to ask the question "would that screenplay benefit in any way, from being the first screenplay that author has ever written, is it more likely to sell by being their first attempt at writing"? I'd find it hard to think of any reason as to why it would be...

Just from personal experience. The first feature screenplay I wrote, I still think has the best concept of all those I've written. Spent a long, long time on it but the finished piece is nowhere near as good as it should be. I've re-written it dozens of times now. But it becomes harder and...

I highly recommend Screenwriting for Neuortics, an amazing book. I've acquired a number of books and online courses over the years and would say this book taught me the most. Only one suggestion I would make here, if the story you have for your screenplay is one which you believe has genuine...

Or there's some good clips on YouTube and some of the scripts available online if you're interested. They manage a lot of exposition in these scenes without making it sound unnatural.

No, I don't think it is on Netflix. It's on Amazon Prime but costs extra and I think it's on Hulu but I'm not familiar with that platform to know the costs or if they do free trials. Would recommend watching it though to anyone looking for good examples of how to do gritty dialogue and...

That's where the synopsis comes in handy. The exchange between Bill and Felix here sounds extremely similar to the one you posted previously with scissors and his friend in the bar. Even down to the friend/brother taking them to task over how they're treating their girlfriend/ex. They could...

On another note, Bill's character reminded me a little of Frank Sobotka in The Wire in some places when he is being a bit more aggressive with Felix. His story/situation in the series is somewhat similar to your guy as well.

No need for the drawing board. Think you just need to spend a bit of time developing your characters. Do a synopsis for each of them, and maybe one of those questionnaires. You need to be able to think like your characters and the dialogue comes so much easier then. If you imagine a conversation...

You need to give Bill an introduction, you describe Felix quite well but we don't know anything about Bill other than he's in the room. Same with Hayden. Tell us something about their appearance, age, demeanour. Unless of course this is just one scene and the pair are going to be introduced in...

No, if you are using screenwriting software, it will automatically format it with the correct indentations and spacing. So what you've written above, when typed into the software, appears like this -

What do you mean by spaces? In screenwriting software, those lines would go one under the other without any real spaces between the lines if that's what you mean. Technically I would say that formatting is correct if you need to make it obvious which member among a group is being addressed i.e...

Trying to teach my little boy about Christmas, only thing he's interested in though is dismantling my tree. Has to pull off every bauble he can reach and bring it to me as a present. Can't get him interested in Christmas songs either, only gets excited if I put something by the Black Eyed Peas...

Good idea. Not that I'm a film maker but a movie clip database for random context building scenes, that are difficult to film to good effect, might be useful too. i.e. A night shot of a city, a snake in the desert, a spectacular sunset, nice drone footage etc. One other thing I would personally...

Little bit!! :lol:

LOL. Oh yeah, that's right, it was you who told me about it. Hahahaha. :lol:

I think that's sensible but Mara is also correct, it's often better to stick to your guns if your story is "different enough". A similar thing happened to me actually when I wrote a feature. In my case, I did actually do some research on existing films and was pretty confident the concept in my...

Hey Ben, if you don't have screenwriting software to type this up, it would be a good idea to try and replicate the correct screenplay format using the margin and spacing settings in whatever word processor program you are using. As @directorik said, the dialogue shouldn't be centred (or...