John Painz, founder of the website and workshop, www.wordsfromhere.com, was kind enough to answer some questions for us about his work, his website, and the free screenplay competition WordsFromHere is hosting. What quickly emerges is the portrait of a very enthusiastic and dedicated writer:

My first real writing experience came from watching Hellraiser, when I was 12. My dad was a horror buff, and had no problems taking his kids to see movies in the theater. In the early 90's, Epic comics came out with a series of Hellraiser comics... and that's when I got the bug.

I'd written before, but nothing as all encompassing as my first Hellraiser story. At the time, I'd also wanted to be a comic illustrator. From there, I was fascinated with comics and stories... and the next leap was film scripts, novels, short stories, etc. I wrote my first script when I was nineteen, while I was in college. I wrote my first novel a few years later.

I've written 4 novels, 4 scripts, a slew of short stories. This is a funny story... I started writing a lot of my work just before Pulp Fiction came out. I wasn't too influenced by that picture... I like Reservoir Dogs more... but I was watching this guy (Tarantino), who'd written a ton of scripts before he'd ever been produced... and he was now selling everything he'd ever written. Well, after Fiction came From Dusk til Dawn, Natural Born Killers and Jackie Brown. I thought they were okay (Killer's was nothing like his original script, so I don't attribute it to him)... but what I was seeing was that Tarantino had gotten that fame bug, and lost his edge. So, I got scared. I did, I couldn't believe it, but from there on, I decided not to try and sell work, my work, until I had a substantial amount of finished work done.

Ideas kept coming, I wasn't confused or distracted, and I've been solidly writing every day, for the most part, for the last seven years. I work on a number of projects at the same time... and I can't believe how much clearer things look when you can put them on the side and come back to it six, seven months later. I finish more work that way than any other. I get re-excited about a project, and finish it in record time, the way I want.

I'm in the process of writing a non-fiction book that will be an instant seller. I'm doing research on it now, and am about to send out copies to a number of magazines for serializations. To be honest, for the most part, I'm more interested in trying to get other peoples work sold, then I am my own. Mine will sell, in time.

I started WFH in December of 2000, after having been a contestant in Project Greenlight. I found that PGL was a very flawed system with good intentions... and met a ton of wonderful writers from all over the country in the message boards they provided. I started doing reviews for people... I got up to 70 of them inside of two months, and then noticed that there was a real need for a community based site that had screenwriters helping screenwriters. I wasn't interested in making money... I don't consider myself a professional reader (which is an oxymoron if I've ever heard one). I know what I like... I know what I think are good characters, good scenes, good dialog... I've seen enough movies to know when something is original or when something is lifted. So, I guess I'm an ok judge.

I figured that I could get more people involved in reading scripts and helping others if they understood that it would be a two-way street. Help others, they'll help you. It's worked wonders for a lot of people, and I'm glad to be apart of that, more than anything else.

Competitions are too much work. Especially a free one... especially when you're doing it out of pocket. I was lucky enough, when I first started the site, to establish a relationship with a number of other movie/screenwriting sites on the internet. I wanted to be a kind of writers depot. I had never really investigated screenwriting sites, and I was sure others hadn't either, so I figured I'd try and do the work for them. Luckily, these sites were understanding and helpful and thought it was cool, what WFH was trying to accomplish, so they all jumped on the contest bandwagon and donated prizes and services for the winners. From there, well, it wasn't easy, but it was much more manageable.

I don't think that competitions should charge what they charge. I understand that they've got overhead, etc... but they're also out to make a profit. Some of these contests that get national exposure, that carry a name with them... they get thousands of entrants. And the people who enter these contests... I really don't think they're looking to win, I think they're looking for inspiration. I mean, of course they're looking to win... but there's no feedback for them, what-so-ever. Occasionally there'll be a contest out there that offers reviews of work. That is at least something for the money it costs to enter. But, otherwise, you get a rejection notice, or just a notice on the site that states who's made it to the next round.

Figure this. These contests have been happening for years, right? These people who start these contests already have the contacts. They already know people. They get some readers, they put aside the good scripts, they choose which ones are worth the time... they hand them over to these people they've known for years. Agencies, producers, production companies... no one knows where the next big thing is going to come from. And they make a profit. So, they get money from the contestant and (depending on the contest), they get a finder's fee (or some such fee) for finding this script that will be produced. They also get great publicity. I can do this for no money from the contestant. Surely, I cannot do it on such a scale. That's for certain. But, I can get those scripts into a few good hands... people who are interested in supporting screenwriters, like http://www.writersscriptnetwork.com any of the other fine donators to the contest: http://www.wordsfromhere.com/contest/contest_info.html - they all know that one thing: no one knows where that next great script is going to come from.

I think contests should be geared to inspire and elevate a writers self-esteem, not give writers false hopes and no explanation. The community feel alone at WFH is something unique you won't find other places. On our message boards, people are swapping scripts every day, for those important reads, those reviews that point out character flaws, plot holes, etc.

Character development, plot development... just a plain good story. We're more interested in someone who has a great story than we are with someone who has mastered the proper format of screenwriting. I would spend time with someone who has a fantastic story but formatted the script wrong, just to get that script finalized... and help them sell it. I think that's a great responsibility, and I'm happy to do it. There are a number of selfish reasons you could point out for someone wanting to do that... and I can offer one. If this person sells a script, if someone gets great help from the site... he or she is going to remember where that help came from. Then, that person might be able to help someone else on WFH get their script sold. If I can create a larger network like that, of people helping people... especially on that level... then the site will have really succeeded.

I'm just trying to help people. I dig that. I write... I usually write for myself... I'm just now trying to get my work out there, get it into the right hands, get it sold. I want people to be able to go to the site, get the help they need, get their work sold and to continue the... well, this might not be the right word... but the tradition of helping. It's so important not to lose sight of those people who've helped. I've been helped along the way... I think it's one of the reasons I created WFH... I'm trying to give back, as much as I can. It's a long process... but you're supposed to enjoy the process. I am. I know others are. You have to be happy about that.

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