There was one script out of the hundreds I read that had a terrible first five pages, but got really good later. If your first five pages are bad, I can pretty much guarantee the rest of the script isn’t gonna magically get better. It can literally just be your main character eating soup, but if it reveals character and is interesting and well-written, I’m in. Instead of focusing on making your first five pages Exciting, focus on making them Good. Like, I read so many scripts where within the first two pages, it’s like, “The CIA needs to stop a nuclear bomb going off before the aliens come in to take over a ranch in Montana because the protagonist needed to tell his high school sweetheart that he’s always loved her.” The problem is, a lot of folks take this to the extreme. I think the conventional wisdom is “Start your script off with a bang to get the reader interested!”. The first five pages are hugely important but not in the way a lot of people think they are. So in conclusion, write what you want but you best come correct. I can also tell a lot of the times when a man is writing a woman and I’m certain that women have an even better bullshit detector than I do. It takes me out of the script and that’s not what you want. What I am saying is that as a black guy, it’s blindingly obvious when a white person who didn’t do any research writes black characters. And like, don’t yell at me in the comments talking ‘bout “aRE yoU SaYiNG I cAN’t wRIte bLAcK cHAraCTeRS iF i’M A wHitE gUY?” I’m obviously not saying that. Details like that immediately take me out of the story.Īnd if you’re writing about a race or a gender that’s not your own, you better make damn sure you get it right. It’s little things.įor example, if you’re a Brit writing a story set in America, you shouldn’t have your American characters calling the subway, “the Tube”. Most of the time, it’s not these huge, glaring errors that give it away. If you’re writing about a culture or a group of people that you don’t belong to, I beg you to do more research than you think you need. Spending some cash on a proofreader is better than having “The bride walked down the isle.” or “He opened a vile of pills” in your script. If you have to hire someone to look over your script, do it. Grammarly is great and what I myself use to check for errors. If you know you struggle with spelling and grammar, that’s fine! Just take the steps necessary to account for that weakness. But when a script is littered with typos, that’s what I take a dim view of. As long as the rest of the script is generally error-free, you’re okay. Like, if you use the wrong “they’re/their/there” once, that’s fine. Honestly, typos aren’t a huge deal if you only have a few. This is one of those things that I don’t feel guilty being annoyed at because there are plenty of resources to help you get it right. Read professional scripts, get feedback, do what you need to do to get your formatting right. THE ALLEY BEHIND THAT WEIRD MCDONALDS ON 32ND STREET - NIGHT - RAINING - SEPTEMBER 12, 2007”, I’m not going to be filled with confidence that you know what you’re doing. I am BEGGING y’all to get your formatting correct. I’m going to focus more on the nuts-and-bolts side of screenwriting in this post and less on creative storytelling decisions.ĭISCLAIMER: I 100000% agree with you that YOUR script is the exception to what I’m about to say so no need to yell at me in the comments. This is geared more towards contests though I think a lot of what I have to say is valuable for any script, contest or no. As we get into Contest Szn, I thought I’d drop by with a few tips and best practices I’ve noticed after reading literally hundreds of scripts. Hello there! I was a reader for last year’s Final Draft Big Break Contest. No Sale of Copyrighted Material or Sharing of Confidential Material Posts Made by ( u/deleted) Accounts are Subject to Removal Observe Dedicated Weekly Threads for Loglines, Memes, Etc Provide Descriptive/Informative Titles for Posts Screenplays MUST be properly formatted/Do not post your film without the screenplay. No Contest, Coverage or Service AdvertisingĬomplaints About Paid Feedback Must Include Script and Evaluations No Socks, Trolls or Shitposting, Spam or Off-Topic Postsĭon't post personal blogs, personal websites, or unapproved self-promotion. WIKI: FAQS & FORMATTING INFO AND RESOURCESĭo not personally attack fellow redditors respect privacy, be encouraging, use your manners.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |