Post by Jamison on Dec 22, 2012 12:45:12 GMT -6
BE AN ADVERB & ADJECTIVE HATER
“The Chow Chow sadly waddles up the plush scarlet-carpeted, serpentine-twisting rug, woefully stopping under the plumb Ming Dynasty vase, dumbly lifting his hind leg…”
You’re writing a script, not the Great American novel. That means not killing the reader with prose. Just because you can write effective adjectives and adverbs doesn’t mean you should. When it comes to pumping up screen direction, ask yourself: Do I need it? Ask “How does it advance character or plot?”
It’s Page 1 and you’ve got that Chow doing his business on the purple plush carpet. I know you’re going to be able to tell me how this advances the protagonist’s character, right?
This is not to say you can never use an adverb or adjective. You just have to pick your spots. If it’s a scene where a character grabs a coffee at Starbucks, as a reader, I really don’t care about the faux fireplace flame warming the caramel brulee latte drinkers. If, however, my protagonist has been estranged from his father for a decade, some extra detail setting up the scene where they reunite would be justified.
AVOID BEATS AND PAUSES
You want your script to be a visual experience. You want the reader to see the movie in your mind. Using parenthetical beats and pauses looks clunky, mechanical. It takes me out of the read, out of the visualizing of your movie. Use ellipses instead.
THE NAME DISEASE
“Abe Lincoln, I had no idea you were so obsessed with vampires…“
Are you using character names in dialogue too often? If so, you’ve got the name disease. This is a lazy writing habit. Did you use Abe’s name in dialogue three times on a single page? Cut some, or all of them. When you’re talking to someone in real life who you know, how often do you use their name?
KEEP VERBS ACTIVE
Hayley is playing on the monkey bars.
Active verbs are more direct, more assertive, and ultimately easier on the reader’s eye.
Hayley plays on the monkey bars.
Ditch the passive writing. And while we’re talking verbs…
PICK BETTER VERBS
Jimmy slowly walks down the stairs.
Anyone can write that! Want your script to stand out? Do a full spell check and proofread, yes. While you’re at it, pink highlight EVERY VERB in your script. Are they strong, action verbs? Can you make them stronger?
Challenge yourself. Pick better verbs:
Jimmy ambles-rambles-limps-saunters-wanders-stumbles-hobbles down the stairs.
Anything but walks slowly! Lastly, and perhaps most important:
FIND THE PROTAGONIST
Please don’t make the reader guess on who they’re supposed to be following. Find your protagonist as soon as possible. Does that mean we have to see the protagonist in Page 1 Scene 1? Of course not. There are no absolutes, no always or never in screenwriting.
In general take clarity over confusion. When you introduce seven named characters in the first five pages and make me guess who the story is about, it leaves me wondering. And if by page 10 I’m still wondering who the story is about, well, I may not continue.
Source: gideonsway.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/six-quick-tips-to-not-lose-the-reader-on-page-one/
“The Chow Chow sadly waddles up the plush scarlet-carpeted, serpentine-twisting rug, woefully stopping under the plumb Ming Dynasty vase, dumbly lifting his hind leg…”
You’re writing a script, not the Great American novel. That means not killing the reader with prose. Just because you can write effective adjectives and adverbs doesn’t mean you should. When it comes to pumping up screen direction, ask yourself: Do I need it? Ask “How does it advance character or plot?”
It’s Page 1 and you’ve got that Chow doing his business on the purple plush carpet. I know you’re going to be able to tell me how this advances the protagonist’s character, right?
This is not to say you can never use an adverb or adjective. You just have to pick your spots. If it’s a scene where a character grabs a coffee at Starbucks, as a reader, I really don’t care about the faux fireplace flame warming the caramel brulee latte drinkers. If, however, my protagonist has been estranged from his father for a decade, some extra detail setting up the scene where they reunite would be justified.
AVOID BEATS AND PAUSES
You want your script to be a visual experience. You want the reader to see the movie in your mind. Using parenthetical beats and pauses looks clunky, mechanical. It takes me out of the read, out of the visualizing of your movie. Use ellipses instead.
THE NAME DISEASE
“Abe Lincoln, I had no idea you were so obsessed with vampires…“
Are you using character names in dialogue too often? If so, you’ve got the name disease. This is a lazy writing habit. Did you use Abe’s name in dialogue three times on a single page? Cut some, or all of them. When you’re talking to someone in real life who you know, how often do you use their name?
KEEP VERBS ACTIVE
Hayley is playing on the monkey bars.
Active verbs are more direct, more assertive, and ultimately easier on the reader’s eye.
Hayley plays on the monkey bars.
Ditch the passive writing. And while we’re talking verbs…
PICK BETTER VERBS
Jimmy slowly walks down the stairs.
Anyone can write that! Want your script to stand out? Do a full spell check and proofread, yes. While you’re at it, pink highlight EVERY VERB in your script. Are they strong, action verbs? Can you make them stronger?
Challenge yourself. Pick better verbs:
Jimmy ambles-rambles-limps-saunters-wanders-stumbles-hobbles down the stairs.
Anything but walks slowly! Lastly, and perhaps most important:
FIND THE PROTAGONIST
Please don’t make the reader guess on who they’re supposed to be following. Find your protagonist as soon as possible. Does that mean we have to see the protagonist in Page 1 Scene 1? Of course not. There are no absolutes, no always or never in screenwriting.
In general take clarity over confusion. When you introduce seven named characters in the first five pages and make me guess who the story is about, it leaves me wondering. And if by page 10 I’m still wondering who the story is about, well, I may not continue.
Source: gideonsway.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/six-quick-tips-to-not-lose-the-reader-on-page-one/
