It’s that time of year — Hollywood shuts down, folks go home to spend time with their families… and writers work on their screenplays.
You finish that latest draft, and you start to wonder: Does the dialogue ring true? Do the character arcs work? Is it marketable? Am I on the right track or should I try a different direction? If you don’t have a manager or a network of incredibly patient friends, it can be hard to get good, honest feedback on your script.
To get to the point: I’m thinking of starting a script notes service as a companion to the blog here.
My notes would be short, around 4-5 pages. They would be cheap (after all, I’m not a famous writer, just a guy with some professional experience writing coverage). And above all, they would be honest. If you read this site you know I don’t pull any punches. My notes would be helpful, not snarky, but I wouldn’t hold back from giving you the advice you really need to hear.
Would you be interested in this kind of service? And if so, what would you want to get out of it? Let me know in the comments.
Write scripts in the same genres you watch, love, quote and buy the Criterion DVDs of. If you don’t love horror movies or romantic comedies, why are you trying to write one?
Making your protagonist a writer is rarely a good idea. (That’s one reason why all those Stephen King adaptations suck.)
I don’t think you can describe the light in a room as ‘tepid’. You know you can get dictionaries on your computer now, right?
If your protag is a criminal or an antihero, you don’t have to make him likable, you just have to make him interesting.
Know how it ends before you start writing one page.
Be subtle about your pipe-laying and foreshadowing. Don’t call attention to it with huge chunks of dialogue, or the eventual payoff won’t be a surprise.
Don’t hide thinly-veiled references to your favorite James Cameron films in your action script.
When are you going to show us what your main character actually wants? Page 1? Page 10? Page 20? Never? (Hint: It better not be never.)
And then it was gone, as quickly as it came. With a sly smile and a tip of its hat, Guest Post Week 2 vanished over the horizon and out of our lives.
Now all that’s left are the memories of the week we shared. And what memories they are! Who could forget the bold stance taken by Tip #6, the intriguing specificity of Tip #11, or the comment section controversy stirred up by the polarizing Tip #2?
Goodnight, Guest Post Week 2, wherever you are. Goodnight… and godspeed.
When two people are fighting one can’t reach for a weapon in plain view of the other.
-tip by Christian H
Nobody has a prescription for Anthrax, so when the terrorists on page 31 are stealing prescription-grade Anthrax, that doesn’t make sense. Think of another word for pure.
-tip by patrickoriley
You’re a screenwriter, not a poet. Save your best words for the dialogue.
-tip by emilyblake
“It can’t see you if you don’t move” made a T-Rex frightening once, but now it just makes your monster lame.
-tip by elias_1955
If there is any way to give your protagonist a motivation that doesn’t involve having to prove something to his/her father, please do so.
-tip by Brie