Writing a Screenplay?!?

Having given it much thought, I have decided to attempt to write a screenplay. I imagine it will be a drama/romantic comedy based on my life...with a bit of exagerration, of course. Over the years I have been in situations where I thought to myself "this would be hilarious if it was a scene in a movie" and then I would play the scene out in my head and laugh...and so the time has come...

Since I have never attempted such a task the first thing on my list is to learn how to write a screenplay. What are the rules? You can't just sit down at a computer and begin writing, I understand that, although I would love to do that instead of worrying about the procedure, structure, etc. Nevertheless, I have slowly begun my research in respect of how to approach the task of writing a screenplay, what the structure should be like, etc., as well as what type of software is out there to assist in such an endeavour.

I'm not expecting the final product to be made into a Hollywood picture or to even be read by any bigshots. This is just something that I have thought about putting together for quite a few years and I think the time has finally come for me to at least attempt to achieve this goal that has been laying dormant for so long.

So, off I go! To explore and create!