When submitting a script to the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, people frequently ask me what makes it unique. Since the beginning, I have been personally selecting the winners of BlueCat, one of the oldest screenplay contests in the world. Many of our winners and finalists have gone on to pursue professional professions, and I have personally assessed hundreds of applications for the competition. How is a script chosen to prevail above the others? What distinguishes the script from the thousands of other entries, in terms of writing?
Putting in the Work
Screenwriting is difficult, to start. This is unquestionably a universal and persistent feature of the winning scripts—-the result of countless hours of intense work. You don’t frequently hear about the emotional, mental, and spiritual toll that presenting a narrative well takes. We talk about the “how” and “why” of screenwriting, but you seldom hear about the difficulties and time required to carry it out. Even in the face of extreme sorrow, you must show up and keep showing up without blinking. The enormous confusion that arises when a tale is told that is unique, emotionally engaging, and believable should be valued, welcomed, and always respected.
Speaking the Truth
Tell us who you are. Tell us what matters to you, what you find funny, and what occurred to you. Your voice is this. Do you know what is meant when someone uses the terms “voice” or “personal voice”? Screenwriting with a strong personal voice is one in which the author tells us about their current situation in life. what makes them sad. What continues to hurt their heart? what matters to them. their observations on the world.
But how realistic does this sound? How precisely does this relate to winning a contest or earning a career as a writer? Accept the reality that you are a unique individual and that your life experiences have led you to this moment if you wish to differentiate yourself from other scripts. What you need, desire, believe, and love today is what is immediate, unadulterated, and obvious within you. You have the best opportunity of writing something that is passionate, understandable, and emotionally compelling to your fellow audience members if you can connect to a tale that is entirely in line with who you are right now. It’s not a theory, and it’s not hard to put into practice at work. Consider what matters most to you in your life, as well as in your life RIGHT NOW, and make this the core of your screenplay if you want it to have a strong personal voice.
And stay on course. Remember that every decision you make throughout the script will have an impact on you, which will help you produce your best work.
Sincerity and Credibility
Then, be truthful. Authors will not increase audience connection with the tale if they are not honest about what they know about the world and how it functions. The audience won’t perceive the reality they live in and won’t feel strongly when they see your work if you don’t respect logic. The audience won’t relate to the tale if people behave dishonestly since they won’t see themselves in it. Sincerity must permeate both the society in which we live and the conduct of its citizens.
Writing in an honest and rational manner can seem like a pretty basic rule of good writing, but it’s frequently what distinguishes the winning scripts from the unsuccessful ones in our competition. You lose your audience if the reader doesn’t trust the choices you make about the narrative and characters. It is the writer’s responsibility to be truthful since the audience attends the theater to witness their life.
Uniqueness
The originality of the work is another important characteristic of the best screenplays in a competition. Take on the challenge of being new! Consider this: Have you ever seen this before? When they are in the audience, writers are extremely perceptive and fast to identify instances of plagiarism. Derivative: What is it? When a screenwriter bases their decisions on other people’s writing rather than their own experiences or creativity, this is known as derivative screenwriting! We frequently witness movies and television shows that make us think of something we’ve already seen. Derivative screenwriting is what it is. Effective screenwriting allows us to see the world from a fresh yet recognizable point of view. We will be compelled to follow your narrative if you show us something we haven’t seen before. This is crucial. Like our life, we come to observe and feel, and like a beloved song, we look for new challenges and rewards. We’re expanding. We may rejoice in the evolving world in your novel if you show us the new life and the new individuals. Authors distinguish themselves from everything we have already seen when they produce original work. Instead of just rewatching our existing stories, why would we want to view new ones? Because we need something different because we have changed.
Have no fear.
Your work is imprinted with your own soul when you use your voice to tell us who you are today. The secret to writing great scripts is also to keep in mind your past experiences. How are you? What have you gone through? Writing what you know entails sharing your past with us. It is common for writers to be hesitant or uninterested in writing about their experiences. However, every life is different, therefore if you want to differentiate yours from other screenplays, choose the original details from your life’s tumultuous journey and weave them into a narrative. Ironically, the lives that these authors have led are frequently far more interesting than the screenplays they are writing, despite the fact that they don’t think their own histories have anything to contribute. Don’t be afraid to share your humorous, odd, or humiliating experiences—even the sad ones. An audience will be captivated and eager to hear what you have to say if you are generous and unafraid.
Being humble
Finally, when writing a script, remember to remain modest. As a writer, don’t draw attention to oneself. Avoid being too loud or adorable while expressing your style in a script. Don’t run from the truth; instead, embrace what you believe to be significant. Writing a screenplay is not about you, your ego, or your writing. It is a collaborative work that will be used by hundreds of people to provide an audience a spiritual and emotional experience. People will be more touched by your tale than by your “writing,” and you will frequently go unnoticed. You will make your work about your audience and not about yourself if you acknowledge how challenging this is and allow yourself to lose a lot along the road. It is not about the writer while creating movies and television shows. It concerns other people. Authors who are dedicated to using their stories to benefit the environment frequently produce stunning works that become popular motion pictures. Giving, not lying, sharing bravely, and working like a ditch digger are strategies to win competitions and, more significantly, to write someone’s favorite movie, which is more valuable than all the gold in the world.