| The new screenwriter tends to have a love | | | | |
| affair with is/her "baby." He's married to | | | | |
| every word and nuance he's carefully scripted | | | | |
| onto each page. Often, it reads more like a | | | | 3. Read yours again: OUT LOUD. |
| novel than a screenplay and usually it needs | | | | |
| a serious rewrite. It's time to get a | | | | |
| divorce. | | | | |
| | | | Isaac Asimov: "Either it sounds right or it |
| | | | doesn't sound right." |
| | | | |
| You must not be afraid to hack, chisel or | | | | |
| cut-out ANYTHING that does not serve to push | | | | |
| the story forward. Sooner or later, you'll | | | | You might be amazed at how you'll spot those |
| write a scene that is just plain good. You're | | | | things you know need a little extra |
| in love again and all is right with the | | | | attention. They're those things that seem |
| world. Finally, you conclude that it doesn't | | | | "odd" or don't feel "right" to you when you |
| serve the story as it should. You must get a | | | | read it out loud. You might find yourself |
| divorce and hack it out of the script. | | | | thinking that certain characters say and do |
| | | | things that don't seem to "fit" their |
| | | | backstory. You likely find this especially |
| | | | true of dialogue. Circle these dialogue |
| Remember: not every story is movie material. | | | | passages so you can come back to them later. |
| Not every story is as fascinating on the | | | | |
| screen as it is in our heads. This is | | | | |
| especially true of biographical stories. As | | | | |
| interesting as someone's true-life | | | | 4. Act it out. |
| experiences are, they rarely translate well | | | | |
| to the screen. However, it often makes an | | | | |
| excellent bestselling | | | | |
| | | | This is also an opportunity to get actor |
| book. | | | | friends to read your script. If scenes are |
| | | | awkward or don't come across as you intended, |
| | | | they need work. Stage a reading of the |
| | | | script. Make sure all of the actors get a |
| In screenwriting, you only have TWO TOOLS to | | | | list of the characters they will portray and |
| work with in a screenplay: | | | | have someone assigned to all of the lesser, |
| | | | incidental characters. Don't prep them! Let |
| | | | the actor get the information about the |
| | | | character only from the script. If he doesn't |
| DIALOGUE: that characters say | | | | get it, neither will an agent, reader or |
| | | | producer; and you need to go back the set-up |
| ACTION: a visual description of what is seen | | | | the character so he DOES get it. During the |
| on the movie screen | | | | reading, mark scenes that don't work or have |
| | | | the intended impact and come back to |
| | | | |
| | | | them later. |
| This does NOT include: | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | 5. Read it through out loud again, but only |
| * Anything anyone "knows" (i.e. "Ed heard | | | | the ACTION DESCRIPTION. |
| about Jennifer's problem at school.") | | | | |
| | | | |
| * Anything that cannot be photographed (i.e. | | | | |
| "Mary loves chocolate ice cream.") | | | | Movies are a visual medium. If your story |
| | | | isn't visual, maybe it shouldn't be a movie. |
| * Anything the audience "knows" (i.e. "This | | | | Did you get lost? Are things vague? Are the |
| is the same woman we saw earlier at the | | | | scenes not visual? Can you tell what's going |
| bar.") | | | | by the visual clues? Mark those scenes and |
| | | | come back and flush them out a little more. |
| * Any background information (i.e. "John is | | | | |
| Tom's best friend.") | | | | |
| | | | |
| * Any action description that uses '-ing' | | | | 6. One more time out loud, but this time |
| words. (i.e. "Sue is reading the newspaper." | | | | only the DIALOGUE. |
| should be "Sue reads the newspaper.") | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Do characters seem to drone on and on? Can't |
| Here's a common sense approach to | | | | tell WHAT they're talking about? Do they talk |
| self-analysis of your own screenplay: | | | | about things not essential to the scene? Mark |
| | | | these scenes and come back and rewrite them |
| | | | later. |
| | | | |
| 1. Read some FIRST-RATE scripts! | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Rule of Thumb: Scenes and dialogue should |
| | | | start at the point where, if you cut out the |
| You need outstanding examples of | | | | start of the scene, what follows doesn't make |
| well-written screenplays against which you | | | | sense any more. This also applies to movies. |
| can compare your work objectively. I | | | | Many screenplays really start around pages |
| recommend you read at least three, preferably | | | | 30-50, which means the writer spent way too |
| nine, screenplays. Here's the catch: You MUST | | | | much time setting up the story. How do you |
| read them ALL in the same week. Agents and | | | | tell? As you read, it suddenly seems as |
| development executives read 35-50 a week on | | | | though you've started a "movie in a movie" |
| their own time so I know you can read at | | | | and you like it better than the one you |
| least three. Don't look at a single page of | | | | started. Time to get divorced. Unsure? Write |
| your script until you've finished reading the | | | | a second script and see which version you |
| scripts you downloaded. Read one (or more) in | | | | like best. |
| each of the following categories: | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Writing is Rewriting |
| * One in the same genre as yours, | | | | |
| | | | |
| * One that's been made into an OSCAR-winning | | | | |
| or nominated movie, and | | | | Ernest Hemingway: "Don't get discouraged |
| | | | because there's a lot of mechanical work to |
| * One that's an all-time favorite movie of | | | | writing...I rewrote the first part of |
| yours. | | | | Farewell to Arms at least fifty times." |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| 2. Now: read your script. | | | | Paddy Chayefsky: "I'm not a great writer, |
| | | | I'm a great rewriter." |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| It might seem a little different now, but | | | | |
| that's GOOD. You're becoming a little more | | | | Good advice from two guys who ought to know. |
| objective. | | | | |