An early skill necessary for the neophyte screenwriter is the ability to write home for money. I have often heard it said derisively about a given screenwriter, “He couldn’t write home for money.” Don’t let this be said about you. Learn early on the necessary skill of composing a letter to Mom or Uncle Fulford or whomever holds the family purse strings. Strikes, executive firings, studio turnovers, or simple rejection can leave the best of screenwriters short of funds. Do not let this happen to you. Avoid the dreaded “day job” alternative by cultivating the ability to write a really compelling letter begging for necessary funds.

Because your parents or family members probably think you are insane to try to make your living as a screenwriter, you may have to make up a story to sell the necessity for funds. Being a screenwriter, you may have already cultivated that skill. It is important that your protagonist (you) be totally innocent and even heroic. In the first paragraph of your letter you must introduce a basic conflict which will drive the story. Car trouble is good, but too commonly used. Try instead inserting your hero in a situation involving espionage and national security. This will necessitate the creation of a compelling villain, a criminal mastermind with no regard for human life, a paid killer whose only allegiance is to greed. He can switch sides on a dime. Then, to really make your story compelling, give a hero a romantic interest, a beautiful woman (or handsome guy) who is in jeopardy and needs for our hero to risk his money and perhaps his life.

Then you are set up to give your story lots of action. I would suggest avoiding the overused car chase in favor of a manhunt set against a national monument. A harrowing escape, laden with close calls and breath-taking turnarounds will help the reader see the urgent nature of the emergency. In the end, make sure that your hero (you) survives, having saved the life of the romantic interest and saved the country from a band of ruthless terrorists. But the hero (you), in the process of all this heroism, had to max out his credit cards and blow all his cash JUST STAYING ALIVE!

If you compose this letter with enough corroborative detail and a lively sense of visual description, you will be well on your way to solving your problem. Next I would suggest something that you may find a trifle unorthodox, especially if you are writing the letter to your mother. Throw in lots of sex, both gratuitous and plot driven.

Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, but it is very important that you compose the letter on your computer. Save it as an RTF file, then open it in FINAL DRAFT. Fill it out with excellent dialogue and proper scene headings, and you will have a commercial screenplay which you can then go out and sell. This will save you from having to send an embarrassing letter.

Once you have turned your dilemma into good fortune using your creative skills, you will have become indeed a first class screenplay constructionist.