10 Simple Tips To Instantly Improve Your Screenplay

9. Can You Cut Down Your General Description/Action By Half?

LETHAL-WEAPON-4 This is something of an extension to the point I just went over, though here I'm talking about all of the description and action in your entire screenplay. In this case, you don't need to necessarily go through you whole script trying to cut things down, because most of the time, you're probably find that what you've written needs to be said. But ask yourself, at least: is it possible to cut this down by half and still get the message across? This is massively important, because cutting down your description and action to its bare bones makes for a far sleeker and easier reading experience. You know when you're reading a book and you get to a huge chunk of description and you instinctively scout the page for some dialogue? That's probably the same thing that's going to happen when a reader gets ahold of your screenplay and notices endless pages packed with description. You've heard less is more, too, right? Remember that with a script, you're guiding somebody through a piece of writing that should exist to imitate the exact speed and delivery one would feel watching the same thing on the big screen. Your want the experience of actually reading this blueprint to be a relatively easy one, so cut down the big words and massive explanation-aligned paragraphs. Try and get your point over as coherently and as neatly as possible. You want somebody to keep reading because your style is making it easy for them to do so.
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