Back in March through April of this year, I took on the daunting task of writing my first horror script. The title is “ABOLITION”. The story was inspired by none other than friends from the Writer’s Room right here at Stage 32! I was conflicted with the idea of writing a biopic about an abolitionist or a haunted house horror movie. When I posted these thoughts on Stage32, a fellow writer suggested combining the two.

What a stupid idea (ha, ha...) Right?

Wait…wait a minute…

A slavery horror script? Brilliant! I’m glad I thought of it...

“ABOLITION” is born.

So, this blog is going to discuss how I wrote the script that went on to win its very first festival...

Pre-Planning.

Abolition was one of the easiest and fastest scripts that I have written to date. At about 2 weeks to write and 2 weeks to plan. An average script usually takes me 4 weeks of planning and 4 weeks of writing with about a year to get consultations, rewrites, marketing, and contest entries submitted. The speed of planning and writing comes from a strong pre-planning process that includes idea creation, beat sheet development, scene lists, etc. Since I now work from home, I was able to tackle the writing during my working hours.

The idea creation process was easy as I used knowledge gained from years of training. Michael Hague, John Truby, Save the Cat—you name it. It was all a snap since I already had the tools necessary to create the structure and story lines for the script. The beat sheet was taken from Save the Cat and numerous other sources to develop an engaging storyline. After that, everything else was a snap.

Lessons Learned: Take courses. Take courses. Take courses. Taking as many courses at the beginning of your screenwriting career on structure, story, character, etc. will pay huge dividends in the end when you’re writing your script or you're on a deadline. Take them today and thank me in your Oscar acceptance speech later.

One of the best places to take these classes is: Stage32! You can find their massive world-leading education library by clicking HERE!

Production/Writing/Editing

Writing the script was fairly easy. I wrote during the day, the night, and on weekends. Then….BOOM!! I’m finished with a first draft that I’m pretty proud of.

Lessons Learned: Always use screenwriting software. This will save a lot of time and avoid aggravation by putting your script in the proper format for you.

Consultations/Marketing

To ensure that my script is ready for contests and doesn’t look like a five-year-old wrote it, I submitted it for professional notes and feedback. A trustworthy, and affordable, service for notes can be found right HERE on Stage 32.

Stage 32 has actual producers, agents, managers, and executives read your script and provide professional feedback based on their expertise and first-hand knowledge of the current market. Pretty cool, right? I got my script read and received notes back saying that the story, character, and premise were ready to go!

Next Up Contest & Festival Submissions…

I started submitting to film festivals to gauge the international appeal of my work and to earn the laurels if I was selected. BAM!! It worked!

Abolition was selected to, and eventually won, its first festival! I’m a winner!

So there you have it…

This is how you plan, write, and win a horror script that can gain you some attention.

My final advice to you: always work hard, outline, and DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE!!!!

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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