20 Things You Just Did Wrong When You Wrote Your First Screenplay

18. Nobody Wants To Read All Those "Realistic" Conversations

Screenplay 4 Yeah, we get it: you wanted to write something like the Quarter Pounder with Cheese conversation from Pulp Fiction, right? Unfortunately, you're not Quentin Tarantino, so nobody wants to read any scenes where your characters are sitting around shooting the sh*t UNLESS it advances the story. It doesn't matter how "real" or natural you think your conversations are... if it ain't relevant, CUT 'EM.

17. Writing What Can't Be Seen Or Heard

Screenwriting 5 Everything you put in your script absolutely, fundamentally has to be able to be seen or heard on the screen, so including details that only serve a purpose on the page is a big-no-no. If you start outlining your character's complicated history in the script, you're wasting your time: if the audiences can't see or hear what you've written down, it has zero place in your screenplay.
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.