Copyrighting your screenplay as early as possible is not only a good idea, it’s one of the easiest things you can ever do. And as an ounce of prevention, it will save you the pound of cure later (read: lawyer bills.)

Please note that you should only pursue the copyright registration process if you have a completed draft of your screenplay. Even if it’s just the first draft, it does not matter if you write subsequent drafts; the work as a whole, all drafts included, are covered by copyright.

What about WGA registration? Isn’t that the same thing?

Good questions. Getting WGA registration is nice and all, but, ultimately, copyright trumps the WGA every single time. I say this from the experience of being through the production process. Put simply, it starts what is called the chain of title for your work so you can get paid for the rights to your story. It is the only way to legally show proof of ownership of your work. And getting paid is a good thing, right?

Having proof of copyright is also necessary if the movie of your script will have any SAG actors. The Screen Actors Guild requires a mountain of paperwork up front prior to any production with their members in the cast. One of the first things on their checklist is: Copyright Registration Certificate.

Isn’t my work automatically copyrighted the minute I write it?

Technically, yes. But, without the proof from the Copyright Office in the form of an official Copyright Registration Certificate, the ownership of your work will always come into question from anybody seriously thinking about producing your script. And they won’t touch it with a ten foot pole until you do. If they say, “Don’t worry about it,” run away. Quickly.

Having this also shows a level of professionalism to others in the industry. It says, “I know how to protect my own work and follow due process to work with other professionals.” That’s just a fringe benefit though.

Also, if you submit your script to anyone that might be shady or unscrupulous, and you have not copyrighted your work officially, then they can rip your work off heart and soul and you won’t really have any legal leg to stand on.

Okay, so how do I do it?

Believe it or not, this is the easy part, and it doesn’t cost hardly anything. Of all of the things the U.S. government has done, they managed to keep this process down to a 4-page form, called the Form PA (PA for Performing Arts.) You can download a PDF version of Form PA from the Library of Congress site by clicking here. Arguably it’s only 2 pages long; the first 2 pages are the instructions and even the other 2 pages have big sections for the clerks at the Copyright Office to file your claim.

Once you have it downloaded, it should take about 20-30 minutes at the most to fill it out. Under “Nature of This Work” box, put in “Motion Picture Screenplay”.

When you’ve got the form filled out, put your check in for $45 payable to the “Register of Copyrights”, a printed copy of your script, and your Form PA into an envelope and ship it off. You can get it sent by registered mail if you so desire, it’s not critical.

The time to get a Copyright Registration Certificate back can vary by time of year and how much influx of material the Copyright Office is receiving. As of right now, they are experiencing a severe backlog and can only promise a return in 6 months time of a Certificate. However, don’t fret!

From the Copyright Office site:

“Your registration becomes effective on the day that the Copyright Office receives your application, payment, and copy(ies) in acceptable form.”

If you send your package via Registered Mail with a signature required, you can then get a track on your package and then use that as your temporary proof of copyright until the full Certificate arrives in the mail.

This is still kind of a pain to me. Is there any way to do this online like the WGA?

Currently, a beta-testing program is in progress for a select testing group to do electronic uploads of their work for quicker evaluation and registration. As of this writing, though, it is not available to the general public, but we can only hope they get it working soon.

I’ll admit that I’ve read more than my share of books on screenwriting, and on writing in general. There’s only a few I would ever recommend on either subject for the writer just starting out. Some of them did help give me some direction early on, but after a certain point they simply ceased to be useful. Rather than endorse any particular person’s work, I’ll get right to the point.

There’s a lot of different “methods” or ways to write a script. What I’ve found, in reading many hundreds, if not thousands of scripts is only one thing. Once I read one that grabs my attention, I’ll try to ask the writer what they did to prepare or what they did to write it. The ones that really stand out all seem to have the same answer: they were having fun.

When I write it’s all about letting go and having fun, not thinking constantly about whether or not I had introduced all of my characters by page 17 or made sure the first plot twist occurs on page 30. Conforming to rigid standards will just make your work stiff, stilted, and unimaginative.

That’s not to say there isn’t SOME structure to a script. But it’s not as rigid as you might think. You still have to introduce your characters, get the story going and have it end at some point. Point A goes to Point B and so on and so forth, and not necessarily in that order either. Just like the hippies of 60s used to say: conformity is for squares. Let your imagination go, see how far you can take your story. Just don’t get hung up on the mechanics. There really are very little in terms of mechanics in screenwriting aside from font and margins. Those are there for a good reason.

So just relax. Don’t feel like you’ve got to get things in under the wire and at a certain page count. Especially don’t worry about page count either, you’ll go nuts keeping up with the Joneses. It’ll feel more like a chore than something you should be enjoying. And if you’re not enjoying it, it’ll show through in the work.

There’s some of you that will flat-out disagree with me, and that’s okay. This is one of my observations about not only myself but other writers whose work I have enjoyed reading. Give it a shot, you might be surprised at yourself.

I know I am remiss in getting this out yesterday, but now I have a few free moments to write about it.

The 48 hours went by quickly. On top of coming up with a script, real life also had its way with me. But I managed to get through it without too much difficulty, including a bout of stress-induced sickness on Sunday night (sorry, no Super Bowl for me, I just caught the highlights online.) The script’s page count came in at 95 pages, according to Final Draft. No title as of yet, but I’ll come up with something.

Now for the rest of the deal. The scripts are then swapped by the two writers, and we have until the end of the month to edit each other’s work. And, after doing this, if we think that we can do it, we start again at the beginning of March.

I’m not going to lie; this was tough, probably one of the toughest, craziest things I’ll ever do. But I also say that it was a good thing. There’s something freeing in putting yourself under such an incredible deadline. It’s not for everyone, but, if you think you can, try it. I would recommend that you find a fellow writer to challenge you with it.

Keep in mind that the point of this was not to get something written that would ultimately be produced, but to exercise the mind and spirit and get something written and completed. It is amazing to see what kind of storylines, sub-plots, and characters can come out of you in such a short period of time, sometimes without you even knowing it.

Just thought I’d drop a little update here on the 48-hour Screenplay Challenge. The coin has been flipped by our Officiator, and the decision is in:

I will write a science fiction space saga, while my counterpart will write in the fantasy genre.

From now until midnight tonight, we can prepare by outlining/characting, etc., but not a single word of script can be written until then. We did come up with a few little rule extras while I was on the phone with the Officiator and the other writer:

• Whoever got the fantasy genre must do one that is non-contemporary in nature (i.e., “no Harry Potter stuff with the real contemporary world in it”)
• The science fiction genre story must have some element of space involved in it, if not the primary setting.
• The Officiator will receive a copy of both writer’s works at or around 12:01AM, Monday morning to validate and verify completion.

As I said, I will let everyone know how it went this weekend after answering this challenge and see how well I can perform.

After a little writing exercise tonight with another writer, we’ve both decided to take on our own 48-Hour Screenwriting Challenge. It’s more of a gentleman’s wager at this point, but we’re both excited about it. The primary purpose is, of course, to see if we can do it. Of course it’s also really fun and exciting. Plus, I know from past experience that it can be done, no matter what some people may tell you about writing a script taking 3 months. This is somewhat similar to the Nanowrimo contest for novelists, but a little more compressed.

I think these kinds of challenges are good and really help a writer test their limits of creativity and imagination. It also helps build trust with another writer. The trick that I learned was to not think of the deadline or the number of pages per hour you’d have to turn out to hit your mark, but rather to put yourself into a bubble of creativity, make the script world your own world for those 2 days. Don’t even think about a mark to hit and you’ll get there. It’s a lot like love: it’ll find you when you’re not looking for it.

That’s not to say this is for everybody. There are many who do work better at a naturally slow pace, who type slowly but methodically. If that’s you, then this challenge won’t work.

I thought I would post it up here just so people can hear about trying something new. It’s informal, with only a few rules right now, but we do have some structure to it.

The rules are very simple right now:

• The challenge will begin at 12:01am on a Saturday. You must stop writing at 12:01am Monday morning, no matter what.
• Scripts must be a between 74 and 120 pages, inclusive.
• Genre of script is decided at officiation time on Friday afternoon by a third party. From that point forward until midnight, the writer may prepare for the screenplay.
• The Officiator will decide each writer’s genre by coin toss to maintain non-bias. If one or both writers cannot be present during officiation (i.e., across the country), presence by phone will suffice.
• Upon completion on Monday, each writer sends their script to the other. The rest of the month will be used to edit each other’s work.

Since this is the first time around, the other writer and I will use the J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis challenge: the flip of a coin will decide which genre each writer gets. Heads means I get fantasy, the other writer gets space saga. Tails, I get space saga and he gets fantasy.

I’ll let you know how this turns out come Monday.

 Excerpt from http://www.hollywoodscript.com, HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM CONTEST-Free MONTHLY contest for clients. Prize: free coverage–guaranteed big industry exposure. 

1. If the story doesn’t work, then the script won’t work. If at any given time, your reader is not wondering, “What’s going to happen next?”–you’ve got a problem.

2. Author Julia Cameron says, “The singular image is what haunts us and becomes art.” Think about that! At last “a place” to put all of your little insights, moments of truth, fascinations and unique experiences that previously lacked a “file.” If you access that “file” while preparing your script and use these hot little tidbits as springboards for scenes, your script is going to be buzzing with honesty and life. This is what audiences crave.

3. There is no such thing as a throwaway or a transitional scene. Scenes should not only add value to the overall story but should also have intrinsic entertainment value as well.

4. Writing a script is relatively easy. The real work is in preparing, building and “arc-ing” out the story and defining the characters. Once the “blueprint” is in place, the writing itself is usually a welcome enterprise. Many writers have trouble being patient enough with this process and it can cost them dearly in the long run.

5. There are many “techniques” for creating and developing characters some of which are effective. However, the single most important thing you can do is to have a strong emotional connection with your character. Intellectual platitudes and techniques are OK, but audiences want characters who are alive. Find your most visceral emotional connections. Don’t settle on a character until you do.

6. The difference between good and great material? SOUL. There are some fabulous technicians out there and some great storytellers too, but the bottom line is the emotional impact of a writer’s work. When a screenwriter’s vision is razor clear and deeply, exactingly rendered, it can have such impact that you the reader feel changed, personally shifted having experienced their art. GREATNESS HAUNTS.

7 “Who is your hero? What is his/her goal? Who or what is preventing her/him from reaching that goal?” (Intense pressure on your hero in an atmosphere of conflict will help keep your story mobile and entertaining).

8. When I’ve written screenplays, it always STARTED WITH WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A GREAT IDEA. Something that gnawed and nagged at me and that I felt needed to be expressed. I was savvy enough after a while to realize that sometimes you can have a great idea that has no business being developed as a screenplay, so I knew it was important to take a good long breath before investing myself in an idea that might take me the better part of the year to fully execute. After determining that it was a go, my approach would be to start collecting “hot” ideas for scenes, character elements, moments, character arcs etc. and just put them “on the board” without giving them continuity and form…yet. This process involves the collection of assets without the pressure of having to do anything else than collect them. Inevitably, these ideas would spawn more ideas, which would then spawn a sense of trajectory and order. At some point when the quiver felt full, I would get into more advanced stages of identifying placement over the acts and giving it all a sense of storytelling. I would avoid writing at all costs, letting the passion to do so percolate while I did my critical spade work. Once I had a fully developed game plan; full stories, a real sense of a beginning, middle, end and scenes that could “write themselves, “I’d happily get into the writing process as if it were my wedding night.

9. Surrender to this fact: writing is rewriting.

10. Before writing anything, you should be able to tell someone the story (and have it worked out so smoothly) that it’s practically ready to “write itself.”