Screenwriting Personal Statement

I wish to pursue a literary career in screenwriting—writing specifically for a film or television series. Since I began writing, I decided to one day make a living by telling a long-spun fictional story. I at first considered being a fictional novelist, but I believe that screenwriting would be a more likely goal and overall more beneficial for me. While writing a novel would be a wonderful experience, gaining money from it would only be possible on the chance that it gets published, and if it does, how many copies of it are sold. Being a novelist is also a very independent job—screenwriting, meanwhile, ensures that I would be paid per episode or movie, no matter how popular it is. Hopefully, once I graduate from high school, I can attend a

One would thus need to attend college for at least four years, if not more if they wish to have a secondary minor. On-the-job training is not required for a screenwriting position, nor is an internship or apprenticeship, although some colleges may provide opportunities for students to get their scripts published. Less technically, screenwriting requires “creativity, tenacity, and fearlessness” (Hintz), which I believe I already carry. Getting started in the business varies from writer to writer—some begin in the commercial business, some start off as an assistant writer, some turn in their scripts right off the bat, etc. Most writers began the business by selling their written scripts to

Once a writer is given their script back to them, they should revise it as they see fit, or scrap the script and move to something else. Screenwriting is not a well-advertised job position in any area, but those who succeed have remarkable success. Notable screenwriters from Mississippi include Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and most recently, Kathryn Stockett.

Screenwriters are not paid by the time that they work, but rather by-the-piece. Gawker.com tells that—depending on how long a screenplay is, from a thirty-minute episode to a full-length feature film—the salary pay can range from over four thousand dollars a week to over eight thousand a week (Gawker). “As a rule of thumb, TV writers, when given an episode, are expected to turn out their draft in one-to-two weeks” (Snoke). Although the pay may be inconsistent, it is almost assured to be fairly