Picking an Online Screenwriting Group

A screenwriting group, forum, or community is a virtual space where folks, experienced and inexperienced, passionate about screenwriting gather to discuss and share their knowledge on all aspects of screenwriting. Just as there are thousands of websites discussing screenwriting, there’s an equal number of forums, which have a growing membership. Consider the following tips to help you make an informed decision on choosing the best online screenwriting group.

Moderator

You will want to look at who’s moderating the group. Does the person has the credentials to offer advice and guidance to community members? Is he or she a working screenwriter, a screenwriting teacher or an author of screenwriting books? As a general rule, you should avoid groups or forums where the background of the moderator is vague or nonexistent.

Discussion Quality

Once you’ve identified a screenwriting group, you should study the quality of the discussions. Do they offer anything of value that you normally won’t find in books or websites? Do they promote objective discussions or are they more of personal exchanges? In short, when deciding on the best online screenwriting group, you will want to look at the quality of the members. What kind of language do they use? Are they serious or just having fun to pass time?

Is it a vibrant group with daily postings? Does the group allow you to post samples of your writing for feedback from members?

Yahoo Groups

Searching for the best online screenwriting group through Google would leave you with hundreds of thousands of results. If you want to narrow down your search and quickly find a group that’s worth your time, head to Yahoo Groups! and do a search for screenwriting. At the time of writing, there are 1372 related groups.

When choosing a group, you should consider the number of members, when the group was created (the older the better), when the latest activity was, and whether the group is moderated. You should always choose a group that’s moderated to avoid being swamped with spam postings that have nothing to do with screenwriting.

FROM: http://www.brighthub.com/