This blog is not an all-purpose screenwriting blog. It is specifically for getting your spec script through the first tiers of vetting readers in competitions.
Anyone with a script and an entry fee is up for the same consideration as you are in the first round. You can game this situation for better results for yourself.
Here are some hints to improve your chances of getting through:
- Start quickly. Go over your first act a thousand times to make it pop. Every scene must make its point and move on. Be as visual as possible so you don’t get mired in setting up with dialogue. Pro tip: Make the voice in your action paragraphs match your tone.
- Land on page 20 with your compelling main conflict firmly established. Pro tip: Have a compelling central conflict.
- Stay in the now. It is a common fault of beginner spec scripts to set up a fabulous situation full of intrigue and danger and potential, then crush the reader with the haymaker; “SUPER: TWENTY YEARS LATER”, at which point the setup starts again.
- Really introduce your characters. Don’t just have them say a friendly hello, they will vanish into the wallpaper. Show them in action that defines them as people who move the story.