35 Responses to “Screenwriting rules…”

1. adam on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|0431

   No rhyme, but some reason to this list. These are the things that come to mind at 6 a.m.

   Unique, ironic premise. Don’t start before you nail this.

   Make your protagonist and antagonist quintessential. If their images where on t-shirts, what would they symbolize?

   For each scene: Get in late, get out early. Same for the scene’s dialogue.

   In each scene, ask “What does the audience hope for? What does the audience fear?”

   No character should be aware that he’s a secondary character. This lessens the opportunity for conflict.

   Should a scene contain dramatic irony or surprise? (Does the audience SEE the bomb under the table or not?) Mix it up; give us a little of both.

   Subtext. Don’t let the only thing your characters say be what’s written on the page. This is easier to do in rewrites. Don’t get bogged down your first time through.

   Questions are essential to dialogue. Questions add conflict and help in the pace of “revelation” and “discovery” in your story.

   The page is a visual. Remember white space.

   High stakes.

   High Stakes.

   High Stakes.

2. Joshua James on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|0616

   No script should be handwritten in crayon on plastic butcher paper . . . scripts must be typed in the proper format. In English.

   I think that’s it. that’s the only rule I have. But I learned it the hard way.

3. Moviequill on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|0632

   Start with a figurative BANG, something exciting in the first couple of pages to snag the “reader” because you are basically trying to hook a studio reader or production executive, agent or actor to get interested in your story so he doesn’t dump it into his overflowing garbage can. Picture it visually at the same time, think of sitting in the theatre, you don’t want two minutes of nice lakefront scenery, chirping birds and lovely forest animals.. you want the echo of a rifle shot, or a rugged hunter running wildly through the bush covered in blood… NAIL THEM immediately

4. Mike on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|0844

   Unk,
   There’s only one rule in writing, one that I struggle to honor almost every day: Put your ass in the chair and bleed on the page.

5. MaryAn on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|0853

   Okay, you know what, I like the Pete McCormack one, but number six kind of made me hurl. I’m sick of reading that something needs to “shine”. Ugh.

6. Vince DC on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|1207

   My one and only rule:

   Have a kick-ass story to tell.

   The rest you can learn.

   Can I mention talent? But that’s not really a rule, it’s a prerequisite.

   Ah, what the hell…would you call the following rules?
   - Watch lots of movies, at least 3 a week. And for God’s sake, you youngsters out there, catch up on all the classics like On the Waterfront, Casablanca, Citizen Kane and at least 100 screenings of The Godfather 1 and 2. Yeah you can watch lots of TV like Lost, 24 and The Sopranos. Only problem is it’s not the same format. And by “watch” I mean absorb them through your pores. Pay attention to what makes them good…and sometimes even better, what makes them bad.
   - Read as many produced screenplays as you can get your hands on. You know where to look for them on the Net.
   - Oh all right, get all the great screenwriting books out there. I’ve done it but, keep this on the QT, you can get an entire education in the Scribosphere, just like on UNK’s blog here.
   - Read as many NOVELS as you can. Anything that’s a best seller. Anything that has left a mark on our literary heritage.
   - Get a masters degree in screenwriting only so you’re immersed in the craft every minute of your existence. Short of that, do the above during most of your waking hours.
   - Did I mention talent? You should have lots of it.
   - And finally, learn how to spell and build your vocabulary. As a development exec I have trashed countless scripts because the writer was basically illiterate. No, you don’t have to be Ernest Hemingway, just try to respect basic grammar.

   This is going to be interesting and fun. Thanks UNK! I already like the comments that have been left so far. Especially the first one from Adam.

7. Mike on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|1602

   Wanted to add this earlier, but I couldn’t find the quote while at work. This is from fiction author Gary Braunbeck (a great writer, get his work) and is a corollary to my rule: Put your ass in the chair and bleed on the page.
   “…there may very well come a time when you’ll find yourself unable to write as much as you’d like to (if you can do it at all), and you will deeply regret every second of precious writing time that you wasted…”

8. jon radar on Wednesday: 21 February 2007|1939

   Great project, UNK.

   I can think of two:

   1. Always write from a concept that excites you. (Otherwise, you’ll never finish, and if you do, it will lack energy.)

   2. Your main character should always end each scene in a different emotional state than when they began each scene. This forces the writer to continually come up with reversals, and to make sure the main character maintains forward momentum.

9. MaryAn on Thursday: 22 February 2007|1245

   Know the English language or put your pen down. If you don’t know the difference between “accept” and “except”, you aren’t ready to write.

10. Moviequill on Friday: 23 February 2007|0753

    Don’t stop writing, especially if you got a rejection or failed to place in a contest or make a sale. Keep moving forward, do not stop and become stagnant, bury the criticism you received after straining what you can out of it and write a better one… because if you don’t, and you decide to toss in the towel and lay down, I’ll gladly step over over your dead body to move one more step ahead of you up that ladder

11. scribebollywood on Friday: 23 February 2007|2009

    ass glued to chair is pretty much the only rule that makes any difference. if you can’t stick with that, all other rules are pointless.

12. D.L. White on Saturday: 24 February 2007|1614

    How about telling the truth in a dramatic context from your unique point of view? And, by truth, I mean the good truth, the bad truth and the ugly truth.

    Truth resonates…your unique point of view keeps it from being cliched. By way of example, a ‘cliche’ pyschotic killer would be Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers and so on.

    A more truthful rendition from a writer’s unique point of view would be Norman Bates, Jack Torrance (The Shining) or Hannibal Lecter.

    One path’s easy and one takes work…which one is going to stand the test of time though?

    Just my two-cents.

13. TCinLA on Saturday: 24 February 2007|2003

    1. American screenplays are written in English. You should know that the incorrect use of “apostrophe-s” is the single thing most likely to get the former English Major “D-girl/D-boy” reading your script among the 75 others they have to go through this weekend to drop yours in the round file.

    2. “Movie” is a contraction of the words “moving picture,” the medium by which the story is told – it is not told by words. Try to have some sense of “visuals” in your story-telling. You will have a much better chance of selling your script if the reader “sees” a movie while reading it.

    As a corollary – DO NOT EVER describe “shots.” Write it in such a way that the whackjob directing it can use twenty different shots you never thought of and it will still work, but they’re all shot angles he thought of while reading your movie.

    3. Screenplays are not literature, they are not novels,
    they are BLUEPRINTS.

    Finally, most important,it has no number, it is the prime directive:

    The audience will forgive everything in the first 15 minutes and NOTHING in the last 15. This is also known as “Towne’s Rule” by screenwriters who came into the business at a certain period, for that great screenwriter Robert Towne, who first enunciated it.

14. TCinLA on Saturday: 24 February 2007|2016

    another one:

    Know the difference between “character” and “caricature.”

    And for the guy who said go see a bazillion movies, I would suggest put the DVDs down before anybody gets hurt, and go out and experience LIFE – see how ACTUAL PEOPLE do things and say things, and then remember what you learned when you are following the rules and writing the movie.

    And don’t think of it as “writing a screenplay” – think of it as “writing a movie.” If you do that, and make sure you “see a movie” as you read it, the others who have to read it will too. I cannot stress how important this is. I used to tell wannabe screenwriters that the best thing they could do was go out and get a cheap camera and take pictures and learn to SEE a picture so you know it when you see it in front of you. That’s still the advice I’d give if you asked, and with digi cameras it’s easy to go out and shoot 500 pictures. Rather than read a “how to write your screenplay that sells” book, go read Henri Cartier-Bresson “On the decisive moment,” then go out and practice it, and then take your pictures and learn to describe them in words so people see what you saw.

    Trust me (I’ve been doing this for longer than some of you have been alive), if you learn to do this, you will get through the door, and people will love you, because the ability to do this is rare. But it can be learned.

    I’m not going to namedrop who it was who taught me this, but his first name started with B and his last name started with W, and most of you would consider him a Legend. When I knew him 20 years ago, I was just the only guy he knew who hadn’t heard all his stories before, but his stories were a post-grad education.

15. Vince DC on Saturday: 24 February 2007|2330

    Hey TCinLA, with all due respect because I sense you know what you’re talking about, I stick to what I said about seeing a bazillion movies — actually it’s a GAzillion, let’s get that right.

    If all you’re doing is seeing movies and reading screenplays and how-to write books, you’ll be experiencing A LOT OF LIFE whether you like it or not. Your girlfriend/wife/dog will surely dump you because you’re totally obsessed with something they can never hope to comprehend. You’ll be kicked out of your apartment because you’re late on the rent by six months. And as you sleep in your 1980 Caprice chewing on granola bars, you’ll surely experience the PAIN of living that is the fodder of any great talent. Eventually, you’ll accumulate a wealth of life experiences and you may just end up writing the GREAT AMERICAN SCREENPLAY.

    Point being, just freaking write, learn the craft and life will provide the fuel for your creativity.

16. Mystery Man on Sunday: 25 February 2007|0640

    Two rules: a writer ought to know how to @#$%ing write & a screenplay ought to look like a @#$%ing screenplay.

    Hehehe…

    -MM

17. Joshua James on Sunday: 25 February 2007|1215

    MM,

    That’s my favorite so rule far!

18. olaf legend on Sunday: 25 February 2007|1446

    Writing a hot script is same as getting to Carnegie Hall; Practice, practice, practice!!

19. TCinLA on Sunday: 25 February 2007|2230

    Vince DC:

    Yes, see movies. But if you do what I suggest, and then watch the movies, you’ll *see* them, and then they will help.

    And yes, without obsession there is no career.

20. Matt on Monday: 26 February 2007|0647

    As long as “it” works, then you can do whatever the fuck you want.

    If it doesn’t work, that’s when “it” gets picked apart.

    Personally I think “trust” is perhaps THE underrated component of screenwriting, and very few people seem to talk about.

    A screenplay that looks like a @#$%ing screenplay engenders a certain degree of trust. Proper grammar, precise word usage, and everything else that is the writing equivalent of non-verbal communication…

    I know within 2 pages of a screenplay whether or not I’m going to extend trust to the journey it’s trying to take me on. It’s not about format, or “rules”, or story, or any individual component, but rather the sum of the whole.

    There are rules, but it seems to me that perhaps the intuitive feel for when to “break” the rules, while still delivering the whole, is what separates the wheat from the chaff.

    People who know what they’re doing demonstrate that fact implicitly. It permeates the script.

21. jess on Monday: 26 February 2007|1324

    don’t rules just make you dizzy?

    i get a little faint at the sight of them. And then I need a cosmo.

22. Moviequill on Monday: 26 February 2007|1432

    MysteryMan: I think that is Gordy Hoffman’s Bluecat advice as well

23. $1000 on Tuesday: 27 February 2007|0348

    OK here they are — for what they are worth:

    1) don’t assume that because you love movies you know how to write one

    2) don’t assume that because you have an idea for a story you can write a screenplay

    3) don’t write the movie from the audience’s POV, write it as a map for the production team

    4) If you don’t know what the production team needs from the script, you’re not ready to write a script.

    5) Every scene action, every line of dialogue, every scene has to be in the film for a reason — that reason is directly related to what the audience needs to get from the scene — if you don’t know why a scene is there, then it shouldn’t be there.

    6) The first way you imagine pulling a scene together will almost always be cliched — always assume that there is a better way of telling this part of the story, if you just look for it.

    7) Don’t ever, ever put something into a script as a “tribute” to another film you liked — 99.9% of the time it will suck ass

    8) Don’t ever take advice from people who write numbered lists of rules!

    9) Show me, don’t tell me (dialogue is not the place for explaining the plot)

    10) Conflict is one device for creating drama, it is not drama — in other words, not every scene needs conflict to be a good scene.

    I think number 8 is probably the most useful

24. wcdixon on Tuesday: 27 February 2007|2154

    BTC my friends, BTC. (that’s bum to chair).

25. Checking in with the scribosphere… » The Unknown Screenwriter on Thursday: 1 March 2007|0407

    [...] I’ll probably leave Screenwriting Rules up for another week or two so if you come up with any screenwriting rules not yet thought of, be sure to leave a comment on the Screenwriting Rules page. I meant what I said about creating a PDF document that everybody can have and offer as a free download from their own web site… We’ll call it: [...]

26. Jeff on Thursday: 1 March 2007|1332

    Give people a reason to care.

    They should care about your story, your characters, about what happens next, etc.

    If you break that rule, then there’s really no reason anyone should watch your movie or read your screenplay.

    http://averageidea.com

27. mernitman on Thursday: 1 March 2007|1854

    “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.”

28. Enzio Pesta on Friday: 2 March 2007|1416

    I read somewhere in these rules that you should sit at the keyboard and bleed. Funny enough, that’s exactly what happens to me when I’m stuck, say, in Act 2 hell. Freaking nose starts gushing blood all over the place! I’m sure it’s not a medical condition. I wonder if bashing my face against my desk has anything to do with it?

29. Breaking The Rules Of Screenwriting at on Saturday: 3 March 2007|0258

    [...] Ever since I read Unk at http://www.unknownscreenwriter.com’s post “what are the rules of screenwriting?” [...]

30. Clive on Monday: 5 March 2007|0255

    Hey Unk

    I’ve been giving this lots of thought.

    And I’ve come to some conclusions — the first is the closer you get to the actual scene construction the fewere the rules.

    It seems to me that at that level, there is good practice, and stuff that has worked in the past, but no real rules that can’t and haven’t been successfully broken.

    However, I think there are rules that apply to the overall construction.

    I think the first one is:

    1) HAVE A STORY YOU CAN PITCH

    By this I mean, when someone asks what the movie is about, you should have an answer for that question — and answer that would persuade the listener to want to see the movie.

    I don’t mean (It must be high concept) high concept is just a formula that people use to work with the above rule.

    I really believe that a screenplay that isn’t pitchable isn’t going to create a movie — you might create a work of art, but not a movie.

    The next rule I’m sure is

    2) KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS

    All movies are about how specific characters react to a set of circumstances.
    The truth is, you can take a cliched plot, or cliched scene and if your character is sufficiently distinct or even unique, their reaction to the situation will be what make the scene new and fresh.

    So, I’m sure that knowing your characters in depth has to be a rule — no way around it — if you’re making a movie that is.

    3) DOES YOUR PLOT MAKE SENSE?

    I think all movies have to have some structure — I’m not advocating any particular structure, just some recognistion that stories have a start, a middle and an end — and that you deal with the audience slightly differently in each part.

    This doesn’t mean that the “real time story” has to be in that order, the start of the movie can be the end of the “real time story.”

    But the actual order in which the audience are told things/discover things is important.

    and the only real rule I could come up with was

    4) MAKE THE AUDIENCE WORK

    If your goal is to make every moment of the film compelling, then you can’t give them all the information at the start — they need to discover things, clues and work out for themselves what’s going on.
    This is the reason people say “No exposition” is a rule.

    But actually, the real rules is “keep your audience engaged.”

    I honestly think, beyond these basic concepts:

    Have a good story, have some structure, know your characters and make the telling compelling

    I think everything else is up for grabs.

    Everything else is good or bad practice.

    Unk, thanks for the prompt — it’s been good to think about this stuff.

31. Christina Shaver on Tuesday: 6 March 2007|0802

    Start by determining what emotions your _reader_ to feel should feel when _reading_ your script, your act, your scene, the beats. Go there.

    Do this, and everything else falls into place.

32. Richard on Friday: 16 March 2007|0142

    Another one…

    If you have to unload some exposition then make sure you keep up the pace and hold the audience’s interest at the same time. Distract them, have it happen in the middle of a gun fight or when something unexpected happens or at an exciting/busy location.

33. Just JOSHING Josh… Get it? » The Unknown Screenwriter on Friday: 23 March 2007|0323

    [...] Rules… Yeah, Baby… Still working on ‘em — coming along BETTER than I thought but there’s only so much time in a friggin’ day… And besides… I must have written over 60 emails in the last 24 hours. [...]

34. Just JOSHING Josh… Get it? » The Unknown Screenwriter on Saturday: 24 March 2007|0749

    [...] Rules… Yeah, Baby… Still working on ‘em — coming along BETTER than I thought but there’s only so much time in a friggin’ day… And besides… I must have written over 60 emails in the last 24 hours. [...]

35. Flukey Friday -- What else? » The Unknown Screenwriter on Friday: 18 May 2007|1839

    [...] Screenwriting Rules is almost complete and will be up pretty soon. Likewise, still putting some finishing touches on the screenwriting articles site… Look for these to be complete sometime next month. [...]

Leave a Reply