This question seems to be a reoccurring question asked by many writers who are trying to sell a screenplay. The answer is simple; no you do not have to live in Los Angeles to be a screenwriter. There are many talented writers who have made it in this business without living in the L.A. area.
Every screenwriter who sits down to his copy of Final Draft and begins typing a screenplay has the ambition of writing a great screenplay with an outstanding and memorable lead character. Good ambition. But many screenwriters don’t realize that the most critical reason for doing this is that you need to create characters that will
If you’ve written a screenplay, if you’re even thinking about it, or if you’ve already completed one or more, then you’ve probably imagined what it would be like to see your story come to life on the screen. … I can tell you that there is nothing more fulfilling as a screenwriter than seeing your
Screenwriters sometimes ask me what I think about approaching the WGA West Literary Agents as a possible way to obtain representation. Theoretically, it’s a good idea, as it is a list of the agents who are franchised by the Writers Guild of America as being legitimate agencies for writers, but there are several major caveats…
Nothing kills a good story like bad dialogue. If it is predictable, stilted, boring, or trite, or any of the other ills that can befall the dialogue, script readers won’t get past the first few pages before deciding to advise the producer to “pass.” Writing great dialogue is a challenge, but if you have this
Formatting your screenplay the right way is a barrier-to-entry. It’s one of those things you want to get right simply so that the script reader isn’t distracted by it being wrong. The funny thing is that if you format a script the right way, it doesn’t earn you points on the positive side, but if