Within the last ten years, things among writers have been changing. Around the mid-1990s is was still a goal of most writers to write the Great American Novel, to join the company of past greats.
This great desire has dropped by the wayside as now hopeful writers overwhelmingly are looking to write the next great screenplay.
Last year alone the Writers Guild of America received 40,000 screenplay for registration. Interestingly at this stage few screenwriters look for copyright protection so it is figured that there are a number of them that exceed the 40,000 figure by a large amount.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman said that "It's like an epidemic. Everyone I run into is writing a screenplay -- waiters, taxi drivers, lawyers, accountants, you name it -- and they all seem very dedicated."
Film historian Leonard Maltin added that "Cinema is our most democratic art form, everyone goes to the movies or watches DVDs, so in the same way they feel this entitles them to be a movie critic, they also feel it entitles them to be a movie writer."
With the new web technologies and sites that offer free video uploads, we are probably on the verge of a revolution in this area, far beyond Maltin's thought that every feels it "...entitles them to be a movie writer."
It think those that have this strong desire and inclination will begin to write short stories and screenplays that they can create movies of themselves. It has already begun to happen.
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