Common Screenwriting Mistakes… Part 3
Posted on July 8, 2006
Filed Under Mistakes
Format…
Remember, we’re talking spec script here… Not a shooting script. No need to include things in your scene heading like, CONTINUOUS, DUSK, MOMENTS LATER, DAWN, etc. Just use DAY or NIGHT and, while it’s acceptable to insert DAY or NIGHT after every slug line, nowdays, you only need insert it in a new slug line when it actually changes from day to night or from night to day.
Readers are smart enough to know that it’s still day or night until they see a new slug line that tells them different.
CONTINUED…
No need to use this utility in your screenwriting program. It just wastes space and we know when we finish reading a page that unless it’s the end of the script, we are continuing with the story…
CUT TO:
No need for this… Just use a new slug line to indicate a new location. If you want to show some passage of time you can use DISSOLVE TO: — FADE TO BLACK — FADE OUT — or something similar only when necessary and we won’t get it any other way…
Camera direction…
You’re trying to sell a script, not direct on paper. Get rid of it.
UPPER CASE or CAPITALIZATION…
Capitalize all sounds. Capitalize all props important to the story. Capitalize any character’s name when first introducing them but after doing so, just capitalize the first letter of their first name and the first letter of their last name IF you must use their last name when bringing them back in the story.
*NOTE: There is a movement toward NOT capitalizing props and sounds so whatever you do, be consistent throughout your screenplay.
Orphans and Widows…
Never end a page with a slug line and no action line underneath. If you’re at the bottom of a page, either skip to the next page or extend the page but don’t orphan or widow the slug line.
*NOTE: Most screenwriting programs have a utility to keep this from happening… Just check your configuration.
Character cues…
Same here. Never show a character’s name without some dialogue underneath.
Secondary slugs…
Sometimes called minor slugs… Always start a slug line with the master location and then, as you move within that location, use a secondary slug to let us know where your characters are. You can also use these secondary slugs to call attention to specific things instead of trying to use camera angles in your scene description…
For example…
EXT. COURTYARD - DAY
John stomps through the garden, reaches for the gate…
GATE
he kicks it open and off the hinges.
OR
EXT. COURTYARD - DAY
John stomps through the garden, moving closer to the gate…
HIS FOOT
kicks it open and off the hinges.
No need for an entirely new master slug line…
Page numbers…
Same font as the rest of the screenplay. Upper right hand corner. Use ‘em.
*NOTE: Again, most screenwriting programs do this automatically but you’d be surprised at how many people forget to number their pages… BIG NO-NO!
Which brings me to the FONT you should use. A lot of people say to use Courier New. Sure, go ahead and use it but it’s certainly not the only font you can use…
I personally like the older style ‘g’ so I use a font called VTScreenplayOliverB. I also use Courier Final Draft because it’s darker than Courier New. You can also tweak the darkness of your font within some screenwriting programs…
No matter what you use, it should be similar to Courier New in its look and proportion but contrary to popular belief, you do not always have to use Courier New. By the same token, you should never use a font that does not look like some kind of typewriter font. And, if you’re going to use a font that looks like a typewriter font, make sure it’s a proportional font i.e., all the letters are evenly spaced apart.
Page count…
Everybody in the business seems to love 110 pages. I know I DO! However, it’s still okay to go as high as 120 but boy that screenplay had better be outstanding! First thing everybody does is flip to the end of a script to see how many pages… Anything more than 110 gets lower on the reading priority list… LOL. By the same token, any script under 90 pages gets the immediate “NOT ENOUGH STORY” scrutiny.
Overall story…
You’ve got to put your character through obstacles, complications, twists, and reversals. These are the foundation of SHIT MOUNTAIN. Your Protagonist has to climb Shit Mountain to get to where he or she’s going… The higher he or she climbs, the shittier it gets and the harder it is to reach the top.
Consistent emotion with consistent action…
Your characters should never simply start crying or get angry unless the situation in your story calls for it. Match emotions with the situation.
Predictability…
Will I read your screenplay and know what’s going to happen next? Will I keep reading and keep being able to predict what happens next? Not good.
Hook me in 10 pages or less…
If you don’t, why do I want to read on?
Set-ups and pay-offs…
Are you using them? Are you setting something up and then failing to pay off? By the same token, are you not using this trick of the trade? If not, you should be…
Structure…
Hero’s Journey. 3 Act Structure. 4 Act Structure. 5 Act Structure. 9 Act Structure. Find one you like… Learn it and use it.
Questions and answers within the plot…
Are you raising questions and eventually answering them? Doing this is plot continuity. Do it.
Protagonist’s motivation to achieve goal…
Is it clear? Did you lock your protagonist into achieving his or her goal or can they simply run back home at any time throughout the story?
Rooting for your Protagonist…
Do we want your Protagonist to succeed? Did you make him or her sympathetic? Do we even like him or her? Do we feel for him or her? Think about it. Give your Protagonist some UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE so we feel for him or her.
Do you know the difference between ‘its’ and ‘it’s’ ??? You should… You’re a writer.
Unk
Comments
6 Responses to “Common Screenwriting Mistakes… Part 3”
Leave a Reply
Format: when a character speaks, then is interrupted by action, and I continue with his dialogue (the software inserts (cont’d) automatically). I see some are not using the cont’d anymore, what do you think? I guess if someone is to submit a screenplay using the tried and true “old style” of format, it is juts as good as the “hip modern” ones?
Yeah, the “new movement” of less is more is to NOT use the (CONT’D) or (cont’d) when action breaks the dialogue of a continuing character. It’s one of those things that most people reading a screenplay have learned to ignore anyway so I think it’s okay to go either way.
I personally like it because it does seem to keep me ON TRACK. When I see (CONT’D), I absorb the fact that only the one character is speaking.
Gotta tell ya… What is so interesting about all this is how the fucking rules change so drastically once you’ve been produced. LOL. When reading screenplays of produced writers, even SPECs, you see it all and nobody cares because everybody’s looking for the next great screenplay.
Unk
What’s your take or the ‘new movement’s’ take on numbering scenes in a spec? I always was told to refrain from doing so — or at least until its very close to becoming locked and going into production.
On the other hand, I’ve had story/notes meeting on a early draft and heard a lot of annoyed sighs as the note giver tried to find scene they had notes for, but had to say the pg. number or ‘that scene right after the big bar fight’…we always found it but felt like it might have been an easier process if a scene could be referred to by number.
For a SPEC…
NEVER number the scenes. After you’ve sold the SPEC and (hopefully) finish the rewrite, go ahead and number scenes if you want but realistically? I’d never do it. That’s somebody else’s job anyway.
When you’re already having meetings, definitely number the scenes if that’s what the meetings are about i.e., the script’s been sold.
On my current SPEC rewrite, I’ll actually be handing in two versions… One with numbered scenes — one without.
Why?
Because they asked me to… LOL.
Unk
I guess just as long as we don’t do something groundbreaking and radical like write all dialogue in haiku, or god forbid, do a whole script without sluglines at all (can you believe I saw a thread on this somewhere)
OH I BELIEVE! I used to read and critique screenplays at Zoetrope… I stopped doing that about a year and a half ago because I just couldn’t go through any more screenplays like the ones I kept getting… Characters with 3 pages of dialogue and the dialogue was OBVIOUSLY part of the writer’s agenda. LOL. Wrong fonts used all the time. NO STRUCTURE. In one of my comments to the writer, I said, there’s no structure… He replied back, “Structure? What the hell is that?” Quite a few screenplays I read there slipped in and out of proper format and on to short story format and then back again.
I know some outstanding screenplays exist on Zoetrope but I sure as hell never read any… LOL.
And no, I never uploaded a script to them and I never would and here’s why…
There’s always someone out there who can write better than YOU. Why take the chance of putting your concept into someone like that’s hands?
I take an entire month to tweak one of my concepts. I research for another 3 months. I write the first draft in a month an a half.
The last thing I need is for some really good screenwriter to read my screenplay and realize the potential of its concept and whip out a draft before I have mine in shape. And, unless this screenwriter copies everything i.e., the structure, the characters, etc., he or she did nothing wrong… All I did was give them the concept i.e., the idea they’ve been looking for to write their next screenplay.
I don’t think so… Reading scripts on TriggerStreet and Zoetrope is fine… I recommend it but “I” would never upload one of my own.
Unk