Ever The Opportunist

As an aspiring scriptwriter the thought of sitting down and writing a feature film both excites and scares me to death. I mean nobody learns to run before than can walk - it’s just common sense. Recently, there has been a steady flow of writing competition that are less daunting to the amateur scriptwriter but just enough to get the creative juices flowing, for example, BBC Writers Room had the Rapid Response: In The Red competition, which was looking for a 5-10 minute script relating to the recent government cuts. Then there was NSFS Screenwriting Competition which also asked you to produce a short script but this one had an open brief. A new website that I recently joined, Circalet was running a 30 second script competition, yes just 30 seconds! (Which turned out to be harder than it sounds)

So what’s the point I’m trying to make here?

Basically, competitions are a great way to motivate yourself to get writing! Even if it’s as short as 30 seconds, every script will improve your writing. Short scripts still need structure and just because it’s short doesn’t mean it has to lack story and eventually slowly by slowly you can build you way up to that longer script. The other great thing about writing short scripts is that people are more likely to read them and sites like Circalet have a great community of writers who are happy to give both praise and criticisms, which is great for both confidence and improving as a writer.  Remember even if you don’t win or don’t make the shortlist of a competition it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer then fact that you have written something is what matters because you can only improve your writing by writing!

Finally, I leave you with two of the sites I’m constantly checking for new competitions. Firstly, as you probably are all aware of BBC Writers Room and secondly, a site I’ve only recently found which is also a great resource for both scriptwriting advice and industry knowledge Script Angel run by Hayley McKenzie so check it out!

PS: I didn’t win the BBC Rapid Response: In The Red competition but I did make the shortlist, which was a great boost for my confidence and I can’t wait for the next one of its type.

Look forward to competing with you soon, happy writing!