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My POV
by Brian A. Wilson
The Basics
TOP TIPS FOR READER-PLEASING WRITING
Here's the second installment of ways you can enhance your chances of advancing your script, as seen from the reader's perspective. Naturally, there are exceptions to every observation. Extract what you can from my experiences and use the information as you see fit.
*Set your story someplace besides L.A. or New York. There are countless interesting, exotic, wonderful places in which a story can take place, yet 80% of scripts put the action in either L.A. or the Big Apple. Pick a location that enriches the story or, better yet, makes things tougher on your protagonist! Try Paris, the Sahara, another planet, the farm fields of DePere! Anything! Just shake it up and let your characters unfold and story play out in front of an original, refreshing backdrop. You'll be well on your way to setting your script apart.
*Use the English language correctly and spell your words properly. Oh yes, I know--this doesn't apply to you, and you're thinking about skipping this paragraph. Well maybe it ISN'T you, but somebody out there is submitting scripts packed with egregious grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. Had one recently wherein a person threw an egg at a car and a yoke splattered across the windshield. C'mon, people! We're writers! You're expecting someone to shell out thirty thousand, fifty thousand, a hundred thousand, up to a million dollars for your 105 page masterwork. At the very least, they should be entitled to a script with proper spelling, no typos and decent grammar. After all, you are the language expert. Show it in your work! Also, this makes for a smooth read, and a smooth read makes for a happy reader and good coverage on your script.
Run the spell check or grammar check on your computer as the last thing you do before you print your script. Reread your work after you've let it sit for a while. I got a script not long ago that had been spell-checked, but not proofread. It contained a passage about an angry painter who was threatening to moon someone. The action description said, "Claude turns around and starts to take down his paints." Had he taken down his pants, it might have been a more effective mooning, not to mention better writing.
Some people will say, "Oh, that little stuff doesn't matter. My story is what's important." Sloppy writing mars the telling of your story. Worse, it labels you as a non-expert in your chosen field. Why do that to yourself, your work and your career? Take the time to get it right. It's your job.
*Visualize your script. Write your script. Finish it. Put it in a drawer for a month. Take it out. Read it, and as you do, visualize every slugline, action description and line of dialogue you've put on the page. You may be surprised at how often you find stiff dialogue, overwritten action or that you have changed locations without changing a slug line. Your reader relies on slug lines to set the location of your story. I read one recently that had two characters talking in a car, getting out and talking on the sidewalk, then entering and being seated in a restaurant, all under the slugline INT. CAR - NIGHT. When your location changes, you slugline should as well.
Hope this helps! Good luck and keep writing. |
