You will sink your script if you take your alpha bro protagonist and twist him around into a self-aware gentleman scholar for five seconds to advance a plot point, or worse, keep a line a dialogue you’re proud of. All character changes must be properly and visibly motivated by what has already happened, not by…
Read moreLONG DESCRIPTIVE SLUGLINES
THE FIRST LINE OF DIALOGUE MAKES ME LAUGH
15 CHARACTERS IN THE 1ST TEN PAGES
Notes from a Screenreader: Your Tenth Idea
Notes from a Screenreader: Your Tenth Idea nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. No amount of technique can make up for a weak story. Weak stories are bland and predictable; they treat familiar themes and conflicts in familiar ways. They feel recycled. A fresh and original take on your story does 75% of the…
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CLARITY PROBLEMS
Clarity problems happen when the central conflict gets buried under an avalanche of superfluous ideas. To enhance clarity in your script, give the reader the thread early. Weight your setup to favor your protagonist and the problem, give less time to secondary characters, set atmosphere with active images instead of conversations. Keep all of your…
Read moreCHEMISTRY
Chemistry between characters needs to be built. It is not enough that they are both attractive. It is not enough that they snark at each other. Real chemistry is built in the moments when they admire each other. They don’t have to do it out loud. If you don’t carefully and deliberately build the chemistry,…
Read moreTENSION
Letting tension out in the script happens when conflicts are resolved too soon. It happens in scenes with two or three lines of wrap up dialogue that should be cut. You lose momentum when you let out tension. Keep the tension rising in your script by giving your protag more problems instead of solving them….
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When you get a lot of unencouraging feedback, you have written a script that doesn’t work yet, like every single other person who has ever tried to write one. Is it a script? Then it’s a mess. It is packed with blind spots and missed opportunities that you will never know about until someone else…
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