Your First Script Will Suck (and That’s the Point)
Your first few scripts won’t be great, but they will teach you everything you need to know.
A lot of people don’t know where to begin when they’re learning screenwriting.
I wrote my first “screenplay” (if you can even call it that) in a word document during summer vacation in elementary school.
It was a spy thriller that me, my sister, and my friends were all going to create & star in. It had toy guns, ridiculous outfits, and even worse dialogue.
I didn’t know anything about screenwriting format or storytelling structure. I just had an idea I liked and the desire to create it. This is where a lot of screenwriters hit a dead end.
There’s plenty of people with an idea they’ve been sitting on for years that they dream about creating but there’s always an excuse about why they can’t do it.
”I’m not a professional.”
”I don’t know anything about screenwriting.”
”I need to learn more before I do this.”
And, if you’re anything like I was when I first started trying to take screenwriting seriously…
You bought multiple screenwriting softwares to find the “best” one.
You read Save the Cat, Story, The Anatomy of Story, maybe even all three. You created a bunch of mood boards, music playlists, and dream casted your film before it was even written.
But, when it came time to face the blank page… Nothing.
That’s exactly where I was, so if that’s you—you’re not alone.
Screenwriting feels big and intimidating because it is. There are rules, expectations, structures, and formatting. It’s easy to convince yourself that you need to learn everything before you can write anything.
The reality is this:
You don’t need to learn the craft before you start.
You need to start so you can learn the craft.
Writing Is Rewriting—But You Can’t Rewrite Nothing
You’ve heard it a million times… Writing is rewriting.
It’s cliché because it’s true.
The best scenes in film start off in a completely different form and are very rough around the edges to start. Maybe they were even terrible. It’s the screenwriter’s job to see the potential in these scenes and shape them into something incredible.
Real screenwriting is not writing perfect pages but sculpting rough drafts into something incredible with each iteration. The catch? You can’t revise what doesn’t exist.
If you’re trying to get everything right on the first pass, you’ll end up stuck on page 23 forever. The first draft doesn’t need to be smart, good, or even coherent! It just needs to be finished.
Write bad dialogue, use placeholder names, repeat yourself, leave notes for yourself when you get stuck like:
[FIX THIS LATER]
[MAKE THIS LESS TERRIBLE]
[PLOT HOLE NEEDS FILLED]
But once you do, keep moving forward & writing anyways. Every story starts as a rough draft that no one is going to read besides you. So get the idea out and shape it later.
Momentum Matters More Than Mastery
There’s a kind of magic that happens when you finish your first screenplay—even a rough, clunky one. You’ve proven to yourself that you can do it. You’ve crossed the finish line. You’re no longer “trying to be a screenwriter.” You are one.
Finishing builds confidence. Confidence builds momentum. And momentum makes everything easier.
From there, you’ll start to notice things. You’ll start seeing story beats faster. You’ll understand where your dialogue lags. You’ll hear pacing in a way you couldn’t before. And your rewrites will become an exciting part of your process.
Just Start
If you’ve been thinking about writing your first screenplay or your next one, just start!
Start small. Write a 10-page short. Write a 30-minute TV pilot. Write a feature in three weekends. Don’t overthink it. Don’t wait for perfect. Don’t let your inner critic hold the pen.
Don’t learn to write.
Write to learn.
Because no one becomes a great screenwriter by outlining forever. You become a great screenwriter by finishing bad scripts, rewriting them, and sculpting them into something great.
Need a Boost in Your Screenwriting Journey?
If you want a proven blueprint and prompts to spark inspiration for your first (or next) screenplay, check out my Screenwriting Launch Kit that gives you a step-by-step process that enabled me to write my first feature screenplay.