![]() Too many aspiring screenwriters out there start writing screenplays without having ever read a script, which always baffles me. Read as many Award Winning screenplays as you can. Also, get yourself a formatting book such as The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style by Christopher Riley and stick to it. Celtx works pretty much like Final Draft and it will make your work look professional. If you don’t have Final Draft or Movie Magic, then I recommend that you download a free screenwriting software called Celtx. out of the story and makes them mad as hell. Poorly formatted scripts piss off your reader on page one – do you really want to do that?įormatting recommendations might slightly vary from one book to another when it comes to details such as hyphen versus comma in sluglines, but they all agree on two things:ġ) CONSISTENT formatting makes scripts EASIER to readĢ) Incorrect script formatting takes readers, producers, actors, etc. So, from a formatting-your-screenplay perspective, give them cheddar! (Save the bold, exotic cheese for the actual content and approach to telling your story) 3. Would you go for your favorite stinky blue cheese, or would you rather bring cheddar everyone loves? Well, you get my point. It’s a bit like when you’re supposed to bring cheese to a potluck picnic. But until you are a writer in demand, play it safe and stick to the formatting rules. You know why? Because the Coen Brothers can do whatever they please. Inevitably, some of the cleverest clogs amongst you are going to tell me that they’ve checked famous scripts on line, that hot shot writer/directors format their work the way they want, that the Coen Brothers don’t write proper sluglines, etc. to construct the building according to the diagram the architect drew up. And that reason is that a screenplay is basically a blueprint, a technical document from which to make a movie, in the same way that architectural drawings are plans for engineers, builders, etc. Script formatting is simple and easy to learn, and has evolved in a certain way over a hundred years of cinema, for a reason. From a poorly formatted script blueprint, your investor or producer can’t visualize – let alone build – a successful movie: Or look at a very detailed BBC script format guide here*** 2. ***Download and use the script format guide here. Why would they get past page one if your script looks like a dog’s dinner? Even readers in some competitions are allowed to stop reading after ten pages if they feel the screenwriters don’t have the required level of craft necessary to be a professional, which is, after all, what you are aspiring to be. If people aren’t reading your story in order to be able to give sound advice, then they’re reading it to see if they want to buy, option, act in, direct, etc. ![]() And know to only write what a reader can see or hear. Aspects such as subtextual dialogue, “Show Don’t Tell”. Poor formatting is all the reason they need to throw your script into the trashcan.Īnd rightly so: because if the writer hasn’t taken the time to learn simple formatting rules, it’s highly likely they don’t know other aspects of the craft. And poor script formatting is the first red flag that they’re reading the work of an amateur, even if they have a good story to tell. ![]() Unless people are getting paid to read because they are hired consultants, they only read what looks professional. Poor script formatting signals an amateur writer: Here are 3 reasons why you need to get your formatting straight: 1. ![]() So I can’t say it enough: Learn and adhere to script formatting rules! It just makes scripts difficult to read and script doctors, execs and competition judges mad as hell. But do you really think I’d have made the effort if I had been reading it with my other cap on, as a development executive at Frenzy Films? Do you really think any producer or agent would have made the effort when they don’t have to? NO. I steamed my way through the script because I was being paid to analyze it, and surprisingly, this one turned out to be a fantastic story. Half the sluglines were missing, the dialogue was all over the place, and the long-winded action lines seem to be an homage to William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury.” It was so painful to read I had to take the hard copy to a bleak coffee shop with zero distraction because there was no way I could have trudged through it otherwise. I’m “Mad as Hell” and here’s why: The other day I had a script to read and I started pulling out my hair after a few pages because the writer clearly had no idea what a feature film script formatting was supposed to look like.
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