The screenplay form is today, without much doubt, the most popular creative writing pursuit that there is. Where once creative writing enthusiasts in large numbers wrote novels, today such types write screenplays. There are aspiring playwrights as well, but not nearly as many as those who write speculative screenplays. The screenwriting form is so popular now that universities throughout the United States have entire programs dedicated exclusively to writing for the screen. Though there are many possible explanations for it, the popularity of screenwriting probably comes down to two primary factors.



The primary appeal to screenwriting, to some degree or another, has to be the prospect of working in the movies. The movie industry in the United States is exceptionally high profile and has an air of glamour and prestige about it. Some of the people who work in the United States movie industry are known, literally, throughout the world and are sometimes treated as though they're exceptionally important. An industry that holds the potential for this sort of acknowledgment and star treatment has a built-in appeal which many people pursue, be it in the form of screenwriting or something else.

It's a rare thing for any person working in the film industry to find a high degree of celebrity however. Fame must be an exclusive club, because if everyone were in it then no one would really be famous. Of the people who work in the film industry, actors are the most likely to become celebrities, by a wide margin. The most apparent explanation for this is the visibility actors have: they're on the screen and get seen by everyone watching. It's very rare for a screenwriter to be established as some type of celebrity. For a screenwriter to acquire a degree of widespread notoriety would require the screenwriter to have been the primary writer on any number of commercially successful films television shows, and to be outspoken or otherwise controversial. This has happened in the past, but again, it's unusual.

Another appeal to screenwriting is the prospect for earning large sums of money. The highest paid screenwriters in the United States movie industry can earn in the vicinity of five million dollars for one script. Earning this sort of money is naturally quite appealing. The problem is that only five or so screenwriters are making this type of salary. Most screenwriters who are able to find work are probably earning less than one hundred thousand dollars per year, and probably quite a bit less than one hundred thousand dollars. Additionally the salary a screenwriter earns is guaranteed from one year to the next: screenwriters cannot rely on earning a regular salary. What a screenwriter makes in one year is in no way ensured for the following year.

While it is possible to experience glamour and fame, and to earn substantial amounts of money, working as a screenwriter, this is not the norm. The film industry as a whole is an extremely competitive industry and one that can be quite harsh. This isn't to say that one shouldn't pursue a career as a screenwriter, only that the pursuit should happen with eyes wide open.