"The first, greatest rule of screenwriting is to be realistic. Remember that even experienced screenwriters can go through up to thirty drafts before the script is ready for development (when it will be further revised). In other words, don’t get despondent!
Rule two is also simple: don't forget to read. You should be reading as many scripts as you can, good and bad - the bad ones can teach as much as the goods ones. See other advice pages on the site for book & script recommendations." -- Pauline Kiernan, screenwriter, Shakespeare scholar and WW screen guru
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Know your story!
• It sounds obvious, but it’s a common mistake among scriptwriters starting out – they often have a vague sense of what the story’s about and think they’ll just see where it leads. With film, you must have a good idea of the beginning, the middle and the end of the story, who your main character is, what’s/he wants, and why it’s going to be difficult to get it.
And if you think these are just commercial Hollywood rules - even Memento, one of the most original British films of the 90s, has a beginning, a middle and an end, a main character with a compelling goal, and overwhelming obstacles to his finding the truth. Do likewise.
Know your logline
Can you get your story into a one-or two-sentence pitch of 25 words or less. All successful scripts (arthouse or commercial) can be summed up like this. Pin your two-line pitch up on a board where you work and I promise you, it will keep you on track. Don’t be afraid of making it simple: ‘A man is out to track the villain who’s raped and killed his wife, but he faces an insurmountable obstacle - he’s lost his memory’ (Memento). Remember: main character, goal, and obstacle.
Ask your script questions
What is unique about my story? Who will want to watch it? Is it a big screen story or a small screen story? Are my characters fully individualised and compelling? Even minor ones need some defining features.
The Do’s
• Grab the reader in the first page with a hook, or at least before the end of page 3. Industry readers who aren’t grabbed by then will toss the script in the bin.
• The first ten pages need to establish the set-up, main characters, the catalyst that sends the whole story up and running, and what the story’s about. Then it’s conflict, conflict, conflict. Outer conflict, inner conflict.
• Think about pace – it needs to be varied. And with a sense of building up to a climax.
• Go into a scene late and leave early. No unnecessary description of characters leaving a house, getting into a car to go to meeting etc
• Is there a moment in my story when the audience will ‘fall in love’ with my main character? Or become utterly absorbed in what will happen to her/him?
• Have you got subtext in my script? Or is it all surface communication?
The No-Nos
• A screenplay is not photographing people talking. Use dialogue sparingly. The Screenwriters’ Mantra is: SHOW, don’t Tell.
• Avoid all on-the-nose dialogue – eg, long expositions, explaining in words what’s happening. Get that crucial information across through dramatic means.
• Characters should DO more than they SAY.
• Avoid characters giving long speeches explaining their feelings and motives, and characters explaining what is happening to another character who already know this information.
The Technicals
• Presentation – your script must be perfectly presented in industry format with no typos or errors of any kind. This applies even when sending it out to a script reader like me.
• Always check your scene headings and make sure each one clearly gives the location.
• Avoid giving camera angles – that’s the director’s job.
• Don’t tell actors where to punch a line.
• Don’t use too much description - it slows the pace. Remind yourself you’re not writing a novel. Make every word in your descriptions count. Use strong verbs that convey character or motive, or characters’ present feelings: ‘He storms/slopes/sweeps /sashaya into the room’, rather than ‘he walks into the room’.
• Don’t put things like ‘We see that X is…’ Get straight into the moment, or be there already.
Before you send the script out
• Put it away for at least ten days. Then take it out and…
• The best way to find out whether your script lives, is to have a Table Top Reading.
Get friends to read all the parts including the scene headings and descriptions.
You sit back and listen. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to find out what works, what doesn’t.
Finally
Very, very few writers - whether books or for screen - get it right first time. There is no substitute for informed, patient, professional, detailed feedback. That's why the Writers' Workshop exists. Unlike virtually every other outfit out there, we only use script readers who (1) have serious industry experience themselves, and (2) are established and succesful writers themselves. In the end, the quality of script reader determines the quality of the script development process. We genuinely aim to offer only the best.
