1.
A
clear setting.
When and where does the story take place? Lock that in your
very first slugline.
For example:
‘INT. CAFETERIA, SOUTH
ESSEX COLLEGE – AFTERNOON.’
2.
Describe
that setting.
When people read your script, they probably wont know the
environment you’re talking about. Describe it in a couple of short, sharp
sentences.
For example:
‘INT. CAFETERIA, SOUTH
ESSEX COLLEGE – DAY.
Bustling, busy, full
of fashionably dressed teenagers. Chrome and glass surfaces, gossip fills the
air as students talk and eat.’
3.
Introducing
characters.
Throw in a couple of vivid details to make the reader
picture the character in their head.
For example:
‘Kayla Frost, 19 –
Stick-thin, looks like she might snap at any moment. Her Levi’s might be faded,
but her eyes burn fiercely from under a gothic mop of hair.’
4.
Naming
your characters.
Make sure each character’s name is different, and looks
different when written down.
Give each character a surname, too. If they’ve only got a
first name it comes across as an incomplete identity.
5.
Conflict,
conflict, conflict.
Not only should your screenplay be based on a wider conflict
of some kind, but each character should also have internal conflicts that they
are dealing with.
Doubts, insecurities, unfinished business. None of us glide
through life without stuff boiling away inside, and your characters shouldn’t
either.
6.
She’s
filled with secrets.
Giving your characters secrets, whether big or small,
enables you to pick away layers and keeps your viewer interested along the way.
7.
Keep
it consistent.
Make sure that you keep your characters consistent in both
background and behaviour.
For example:
If Dave is an ex-con
with a violent past, make sure that he acts that way when confronted by
trouble.
8.
Dialogue
stuff: sentences.
People don’t speak in complete sentences, nor do people all
speak alike. You need to let your characters dictate where the punctuation
goes. Gaps, pauses, unfinished sentences are more realistic.
Try recording people speaking and listening to it back.
9.
Stay
away from the nose!
The phrase ‘on the nose’ refers to dialogue that states too
clearly what a character is thinking, without filtering it through their
personality and agenda.
For example:
If Dave tells his
closest friend ‘I want to be a policeman,’ the chances are that this won’t play
as well as having the application forms fall out of his gym bag might do.
10.
Keep
it unpredictable.
When Princess Leia tells Han Solo ‘I love you’ in The Empire
Strikes Back, the scene is most memorable for his response of;
‘I know.’
You want dialogue to flow, but you need to rethink
predictable exchanges. Throw away the first response you think of. Throw away
the second one too. Maybe use the third.
11.
Keep
it varied.
Does a character even need to respond verbally to a
statement? If someone says ‘goodbye’ to them, do they need to speak in return?
Couldn’t they wink instead?
Once again, predictability is your enemy.
12.
First
line.
The first line that your character speaks should sum up an
aspect of their personality. Your characters only get one chance to make a
first impression, so make sure that it packs a punch.
For example:
If you’re introducing
a party animal like Stifler from the American Pie series, his first line
wouldn’t be something mundane about being late for an appointment.
13.
Language
= life.
Make sure your character’s dialogue reflects their life
experiences.
For example:
A 70 year-old English
professor won’t speak the same way as a 25 year-old football player, and a
character born in 1960 will speak differently to one born in 1990.
Make their dialogue reflect this!
14.
Double
hyphen.
Has one character stepped on another’s line, cutting them
off before they finish speaking?
The traditional way to show this in a scrip is with a double
hyphen.
For example:
WIFE
You know, I never told you—
HUSBAND
I don’t want to hear it!
15.
Fresh
slang.
Why not make up your own slang? Using the latest words,
phrases and cultural references will date your script extremely quickly.
Writers like Joss Whedon make up their own phrases and drop
those into the script (For example: ‘What’s
the sitch?’ meaning ‘What’s the situation/What’s going on?’ originated in Buffy
The Vampire Slayer.)
An audience won’t know the difference between a slang phrase
you’ve made up and one they’ve never heard before, but they’ll certainly notice
a dated turn of phrase. You dig, man?
16.
Mix
dialogue and action.
In life, stuff happens all at once. People don’t stop
talking because a bus is about to explode; the bus explodes whilst they’re in mid-sentence.
Don’t be afraid to have action and dialogue crash into each
other, because things in real life don’t happen in a neat order.
17.
Don’t
tell me what I’ve seen!
If Debbie’s head just exploded, the viewer doesn’t need
James to tell them;
‘My God, Debbie’s head just exploded!’
They’ve already noticed. Eliminate dialogue that narrates
the action.
18.
No
place for closed questions.
If you’ve got a question that leads to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’
response in your dialogue, get rid of it. They stop the dialogue dead, and the
audience can anticipate the response.
Replace them with open questions to let your characters’
personalities shine through.
19.
Misunderstandings.
Characters should misunderstand and misinterpret at each
other, just as people do in real life.
It gives you great opportunities for conflict and comedy,
plus it makes the dialogue seem more authentic when read through.
20.
Style
stuff: present tense.
Always keep your
action descriptions in the present tense.
For example:
‘Gaby chases Fred into
the ice-cream shop.’
Not:
‘Gaby has chased Fred
into the ice-cream shop.’
You need to have the action unfold in the present as it
unfolds on the page.
21. What
not to include.
The action descriptions in your screenplay should not
include anything that can’t be shown visually, such as:
-Thoughts.
-Hopes.
-A back story.
If you want to include these things, you need to show them
through events or dialogue.
22. Keep
it clear.
‘The father of the bride, who runs a pizza restaurant’ is
ambiguous. Who sells the pizzas? The father or the bride?
Compare it to; ‘The bride, whose father runs a pizza
restaurant.’
Keep it clear - the less ambiguity, the better.
23.
‘OH
MY GOD.’
Using ALL CAPITALS in your action descriptions signifies
something important. It’s a way of making the important elements pop when
someone reads the script.
For example:
‘The whole building
EXPLODES.’
Don’t get carried away and end up with half of your action
description in caps, however. Use it sparingly.
24.
Keep
it punchy.
Break long sentences and keep your descriptions as vivid as
you can.
Is Jennie trying to keep her breathing under control as she
walks across a tightrope? Sometimes fewer words work better.
For example:
Inhale. Exhale. Jennie
steps out.
25.
Write
it first, then edit.
The script won’t be as punchy, exciting and engaging as
possible on the first draft.
Your mission on the first draft is just to get the thing
written.
Second, third, fourth and fifth drafts are the opportunity
to make your screenplay everything it can possibly be.
