P.S. I am the worse speller but John is right about professionalism. At the very least get to know someone who is a really good speller and have them check before submitting.

I am a 20 year old communications major who is just now on his second year of digital film making, learning studio work, been out in the field etc. I started the work on my own and learned it on my own.

Film making consumes my life.

That’s a problem because it means I learn less about life and more about film making. The strength of that is that I can look at everyday situations and talk about them as film, but it also makes a weakness in the communication to some people- I don’t think in linear conversation, I think in movie angle vision, always trying to throw people off.

My point is it wasn’t until last summer where I literally just dicked around in my car, had no money, met with a bunch of younger people (and same aged and older) who were just sitting around, doing and selling drugs, fighting each other and trying to cause problems in the most white-bread area ever, that I learned where my Voice comes from.

You need to find your voice. I pray that you get out of the movie-watching business and start life watching. Otherwise you’re going to have Tarantino’s Film Voice, which while stylistically exciting, is pretty much soulless.

As others have said, go out and live your life. Experience is the best source of story ideas and even if they don’t get made into films, you’ll never lose those precious memories. I never went to school for writing but now I’m the author of a dozen novels, two non-fic books, and countless short stories that have all blossomed as a result of my experiences in life.

Never give up on your dreams. You’re at an age when the world could very well be your oyster. As you get some more years under you, other friends will abandon their dreams for the roles society tells them they “should be” playing: 9-5 workaday lives, married by XX and with kids by XX. (Nothing wrong with those, but just be sure that’s what you want, not what those around you want).

Also, never stop learning. You can literally find something in every situation or encounter that will help improve your skills. I’m learning how to write screenplays now even though books are more comfortable to me. Always keep reaching for new ground and challenge yourself to achieve more.

Best of luck with your aspirations! -Jon

Most of the directors had mastered their craft. They could move the camera and tell a story on a skill level that the working class helmer of the pre-video era couldn’t touch. They were film literate and made beautiful music videos.

But much of their work just wasn’t very good. It was dead on arrival.

The best thing that any young person interested in film can do is learn about anything else.

The technical skills of filmmaking aren’t incredibly mysterious and in a world of prosumer HD and final cut studio they’re even less of a leg up than they once were even at the beginning of the avid boom it wasn’t as if people were leaving film school with the skill set to work on studio pictures).

The rules of screenwriting don’t take very long to learn. And while internalizing and honing them with your god given talents as a writer is a lifelong process, it’s all for not if you don’t have something to say.

So learn about history. Politics, literature, sociology. Anything that interests you. Whatever interests you. Learn about a different artistic medium. Fill your life with so many experiences and view points that you can’t help but comment on them. Have something to say that’s meaningful and specific to you.

Write about something. Even tentpole films, the good ones at least, are worthwhile stories about the human experience at their core. See the world as clearly as you can. Work to understand it. Find a metaphor to tell the story and report back to us as honestly as you can.

And for goodness sakes, don’t be the 16 year-old that I was. Don’t shut yourself away with a pile of DVDs when you could be out in the world. Don’t shy away from that girl you really like for fear of rejection. Don’t do what it takes to make the grade without care for the subject matter.

Learn. Live. Experience life the way the emo rocker sings about it.

Remember what it felt like and pass it along.

The screenwriting, the filmmaking… You can’t do it well without knowing the world around you.

Even your insecurities and fears. They’re universal. Your relationships with your friends and family deserve as much study as any religion. And your findings will fuel every character you create.

The request I have is that no one question Veronica’s right to lock-down on a career at Age 16. It seems like too young an age only when you’re 39. At Age 16, it seems very difficult to take-advantage-of-all-the-million-opportunities-life-has-to-offer if you don’t know what it is you want to do with that life. Sure it changes, but it is a very irritating itch not knowing what it is you want to do.

You might want to major in something like communications, business, or marketing. That way you can get a job in the industry while you work on your screenwriting/filmmaking.

Go to a school where filmmaking can be a major.

But if you major in something else and partake in that career even a year or two after getting your degree- you can get a lot of life experience that will help you with your craft.

“Tying shoes” was not Einstein’s job. The fact he couldn’t tye his shoes had no impact on his ability to be Einstein. ;)

But spelling and punctuation are part of a writer’s job and not taking care of them will have an impact on your ability to write.