by Lori Crawford

Created on: January 08, 2008   Last Updated: January 28, 2009

Top Ten Things New Screenwriters Do To Get Their Script Tossed

Having been a screenwriting contest reader for a number of years, many, many scripts have passed before my eyes. As any reader will tell you, we can flip through a script and tell you if it's going to be bad in about 2 seconds. Other problems come to light as we start to actually read. Here's a list of things to avoid if you want a reader to actually pay attention to the story.

1. Big, Solid Blocks Of Text In Action Paragraphs.

Each action paragraph should be a new camera angle. Every time you look at something new as you visualize the film, make a new paragraph.

2. Camera Directions.

You don't need to say CAMERA ON or PAN TO for the simple reason stated above. If each new paragraph is a new camera angle, it's obvious that the camera should be on whatever is in the paragraph.

As for the PAN TO or other movements, that's not your job as the writer. If you're going to direct the script yourself, go for all the camera angles you want. If you're submitting the story to anyone who uses readers like me, drop them. They're not necessary if you use your paragraphs effectively and they're disruptive to the story's flow.

3. Big, Solid Blocks Of Text In Dialogue Paragraphs.

Movies are a visual medium. As such, what the characters say is a lot less interesting than what they do. At least it's supposed to be. Television is more talky, but you still can't get away with a character talking for page after page after page. A good rule of thumb is 5 lines max. Less, if possible.

Think about conversations you've had in real life. How bored do you get when somebody goes on and on and on and on

4. Pages Of Conversation Uninterrupted By Action.

Just as you don't want one character talking all the time, you don't even want two or more characters bantering back and forth for extended periods either. This is what's known as talking heads. It gets really monotonous to watch characters talk with nothing else going on in the scene around them.

5. Wasting Space On The Mundane.

Scripts are written in a very tight space. You have a lot to do developing characters, advancing the plot, etc. in a limited amount of time. Don't waste any of it with characters saying hello or goodbye or brushing their teeth or anything else that's not crucial to the plot.*

6. Over-Describing The Action.

As mentioned earlier, action paragraphs need to be broken down into shots. Taking this a bit further, you have no more than 5 lines to fully describe the shot. Less,

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