Screenwriters write and develop screenplays for film, TV drama, computer games, and other visual media. They create stories, characters, and dialogue that will be performed on screen. Screenwriters can work on an original idea, adapt an existing story into a screenplay, or join an existing project. They prepare their script in a way that enables readers to envisage the setting, emotion, and the way it will work on screen. Screenwriters collaborate with producers, directors, and actors to draft and redraft their script, often working to tight deadlines. They are almost always freelancers.
To become a screenwriter, one can take a university course, a college course, apply directly, or take specialist courses run by private training providers. Writing and storytelling experience from another field like journalism, advertising copywriting, or acting can be an advantage. Screenwriters usually start by coming up with their own screenplays and ideas and trying to sell them to agents and producers. Once they have had some work accepted and started to build a professional reputation, producers might then commission them to produce scripts for them.
Screenwriters work with development producers and their assistants. They are sometimes assisted by researchers, who provide information. In film, initially, screenwriters develop roughly three drafts of a screenplay, with the third being known as ‘the polish’. This is the version that gets pitched to a producer or film studio. Once a screenplay is picked up by a studio, more screenwriters may be brought in to work with a development producer to get it ready for production. Screenwriters write all aspects of a script, from dialogue to stage directions. They write a variety of things beyond traditional movie scripts, such as short films, television series, web series, television and radio commercials, stage plays, and computer games.
