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The all-you-can-make mistake bar is open for business once again. Our list of The Ten Mistakes New Writers Always Make (even though they think they know better) now includes: #1: Going Out with your Script Before It's Ready; #2: Going Out with your Script Before YOU'RE Ready; #3: Going Out with your Scripts Before The Industry is Ready; #4: Taking the Easy Road; #5: Taking the Hard Road; #6: Not Writing From Your Heart; Mistake #7: Not Writing From Your Wallet; and Mistake #8: Not Knowing the Game.
You know how to write the script. You know what to write about. And you learned the game. Are you ready now? Almost.
Before I get to the last mistake next week (which will include a closely guarded piece of info. that people usually have to take my seminar to get) I want to step back a moment into what might seem a mundane topic to some of you. But, as I have so bluntly pointed out to you these past few weeks, it's the things you think you know that, in fact, you don't.
So your script is ready to go, right? Yes, I know, you worked your little tush off picking a story, writing and then rewriting it (several times) and working up a game plan on how to get it out to people who matter. Okay, then, let me see it. Mmm hmm...nice title, good first few pages...
Wait, what's this? A typo? All right, I'll let you have one.
Okay, here's another one, right here.
Look, right here, you have "it's," like a contraction, when it's a posessive, and should be "its."
Another typo. And look right here: do you mean to have Sheldon's name above this dialog? But you have Reginald's name there, so it looks like Reginald is arguing with himself.
Here, take this back, I'm not even going to finish it. You, my friend, in all your new-writerly zeal, have flagrantly flaunted the laws of scriptwriting and committed...
Mistake #9: Not Doing your Homework.
"Oh, big deal, so I missed a few typos. I'll fix 'em later, don't worry. And the grammar thing, I've always been bad at that, y'know. But my STORY--"
Stop right there. I don't CARE about your story. Yes, I know, typos are hard to find. But they're not impossible. First off, I'm amazed at how many people don't bother to even use their spell-checkers (and we ALL have them by now.) But beyond that, there's no excuse for the number of typos I see in what are presented to me as finished-and-ready-to-send-around scripts. They're NOT ready until the typos are gone (I'll explain why below) so GET 'EM OUT. Don't just give your manuscript a cursory proof-read on the computer. Print it out (you catch many more typos this way.) Have someone else proof it. Then proof it yourself again.
As to things like grammar, don't get me started. You say you've never been good at it. THEN DON'T CALL YOURSELF A WRITER. Or, better, LEARN IT! GO OUT TO THE BOOKSTORE AND GET A STRUNK AND WHITE'S GRAMMAR BOOK! DO YOUR HOMEWORK, FOR GOD'S SAKE!
The above applies to other things like font and type size, brads, making sure your script is clean and doesn't have coffee rings or water spots, etc. (I won't give you a list, it's in every screenwriting book.)
Why is this important? Yeah, you know why, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. It's important because READERS PICK UP ON IT! A reader sees ANY of the above, and immediately they form a picture of you-the-writer as an amateur. This is not urban legend, folks. I know MANY readers. My WIFE is a reader, and they are unanimous in this regard. And I know it myself, as a teacher, when I see this kind of thing it IMMEDIATELY PREJUDICES MY OPINION OF THE WRITER.
"But why should things like grammar matter if it's a good script?" You know why? Because it's PROBABLY NOT A GOOD SCRIPT. It's like the "broken-window" syndrome in law enforcement. Neighborhoods that tend to have high crime rates typically have things like unkempt lots, loose garbage, and broken windows. Similarly, dumb mistakes almost always correlate with dumb scripts. And you are dumb if you let your script go out with dumb mistakes, and READERS KNOW IT!
I come down hard on this one because everyone claims to know it but it's so often ignored by new writers, to their detriment. I hope now you won't be one of those.
We're almost home, kids. One more mistake to go, and a bonus prize for staying with this for so long. I'll see you next week.
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