Jared Wynn

A writer asked me a very specific question the other day, and it was the best question I think I've heard from a writer in all my time here at InkTip. She asked: "Is there anything I can do to guarantee I'll sell one of my scripts this year?”

And the answer is…no. Sorry.

BUT… I can think of five things you can do to dramatically increase the probability of selling your scripts. In fact, these are five very specific things you can and should be doing regardless of where you're at in your writing career – and if you're already an optioned or produced writer, chances are you're already doing most or all of these:

1. Write a LOT. This may sound like the old "write for an hour or two a day every day” rule, but like a runny nose, it's not. I know a lot of successful writers personally and they all seem to have two things in common: they do write every day , but they're also constantly writing or developing more than one story at a time. What this means is, when they hit that writer's block on one project, they set it aside and work on something else, knowing they'll always come back to the other one with a clearer head and perspective. And as a result, they spend less time getting bogged down and more time getting words on the page.
   
   
2. READ a lot. You may already know this, but if you don't, I've got a real shocker for you: Some writers don't even read scripts! And it shows in their writing; in fact, if you've ever worked in development, you can probably pick out the un-read writer by the end of the first page. Which is good news for you as a writer, because a bit of reading in your writing routine can really make your work stand out.
   
   
3. Write a THIRD draft . The common wisdom in Hollywood is that no script is ever really ready to go, but some are more ready than others. And… those are the ones producers tend to pick up! Producers are loathe to read a script twice, so don't send out a rough draft, don't send out a first draft, and don't even send out a second draft. Rewrite and refine and polish that thing till it shines like a diamond so producers won't treat it like a lump of coal.
   
   
4. Learn ALL the formulas. Or at least learn as many as you can. There are broad structural formulas like this beat sheet. And there are genre-specific formulas like the fish-out-of-water formula that works so well in comedy, or the rock-and-a-hard-place formula in thrillers where the protagonist has to find the killer before the killer finds her. Then there are budgetary formulas, like the single pivotal character in a single location so they can cast an A-lister in a role that shoots out in a week formula that is favored by low-to-mid budget producers (think Halle Berry in "The Call” or Colin Farrell in "Phone Booth”). Now I know some writers hate the word "formula,” but that's like a hammer hating the word "nail.” Bottom line: formulas are powerful writing tools, and when you have more tools to choose from, you're going to build a better script.
   
   
5. Change your PITCH. This doesn't apply to all writers, just 99.99% of them. OK, maybe that's a bit hyperbolic, but here's a rule of thumb: if you aren't changing up and testing new loglines every once in a while then you need to start doing so yesterday. What you're going to find is that some loglines work better than others. And oddly enough, sometimes producers will read a logline and pass on it, then read a completely different logline for the same script two months later and then decide to read the script after all. So the goal isn't to change your logline till you find the magic one, it's just to keep changing your logline. But still, do try and find that magic logline.
   
   

Finally, if you can think of a sixth thing that should be on this list, email me at jerrol@inktip.com with "Article 6" in the subject and let me know what else writers should do to sell their scripts.

I'll update this article with some of your suggestions sometime later this year.

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