Patrick Sweeney

Patrick Sweeney has been a storyteller all his life, from Boy Scout campfire tales to newspaper stories to flights of imagination as a game publisher. Now he has taken up the challenge of screenwriting. Patrick has more than twenty years of experience as a newspaper reporter, copy editor, and page designer. He also has more than ten years of experience as a freelance author and publisher in the hobby game industry. His games have been nominated for a number of industry awards, and he’s a past president of the Game Publishers Association. While Patrick continues to learn and grow as a screenwriter, his early scripts have advanced to the semifinals or finals of numerous contests, including the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards. When not writing, Patrick enjoys reading, hiking, rollercoasters, and games. He lives in Northern California.

Web Site: http://iblameninjas.com

Update

Nov 2, 2012

As you’ve no doubt guessed, I’m not doing much blogging these days. After reached the 2012 Page Awards finals, work on my contained horror spec Devil’s Due is going well, and I’m working on getting my scripts into circulation am...

Contests

Aug 3, 2012

After has reached the quarterfinals of the PAGE International Screenplay Awards contest so far, while the latest draft of Ghost Train reached the top 10% of entries in the Nicholl Fellowship contest. I’ve also submitted Ghost Train to Amazon Studios; you are welcome to download a copy and offer feedback if you like.

Act Three

Apr 16, 2012

I think the toughest part of any first draft for me has to be Act Three. Which seems odd, because by that point most of the character or plot pitfalls have long since been ironed out, and I’m looking at 20 to 30 blank pages as opposed to 60 or 100. On the other...

Horror

Apr 13, 2012

You know, before I really got rolling on Devil’s Due, I started to worry that maybe straight horror just wasn’t my thing – I’d had a few false starts trying to find the right characters and right premise. But I’m really having a blast working on it, and I think this is going to...

Feedback Friday

Mar 23, 2012

It’s my turn in the chute over at Feedback Friday, where each week the first 10 pages of an amateur script are posted for review. I submitted the first 10 from Devil’s Due, the found footage-contained horror feature spec I’m currently writing. (I’d tried a lot of different openings before I settled on this...

First Ten Pages

Mar 14, 2012

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the first ten pages. I recently finished rewriting the first 10 of my current project, and offering notes on a friend’s first act. Plus I submitted the first 10 of After for free notes from a coverage service I haven’t used before and started participating on the...

Characters

Mar 6, 2012

I’ve been working on a new feature spec the past few weeks while getting my two completed projects into circulation in various ways, and it’s been a reminder on the importance of strong characters. Everything else really clicks, but without solid characters scenes just lie there on the page and everything starts to feel...

Waiting for the Splash

Mar 5, 2012

Sometimes writing is like dropping a rock down a well and waiting for the splash.

In Circulation

Jan 19, 2012

I’ve sent a few scripts to production companies or studios over the years, mostly responding to inquiries following contest placements, but actively querying management agencies is something new for me. I just never felt as though I was quite ready for that step before now. I’m starting with a few agencies where I have...

Snacks

Jan 16, 2012

What do you snack on while you’re writing? I like grapes, chocolate-peanut butter malt balls, or butter toffee peanuts, although I can only eat a few of the last two – too much sugar. I normally drink ice water, sometimes caffeine-free diet root beer, but I’m trying to get away from soda. Sometimes hot...