Fix This - 1.26.25

Whether you're writing a script to make yourself or you're working on a spec to sell, good writing is critical to a good screenplay. You can have a great plot, but if the writing is bad, you're in trouble.

Make sure you're not committing common screenwriting mistakes like the ones in the excerpt below.

Can you identify what needs work?

The first problem with this excerpt is it’s vague where it needs to be specific. When Caleb pulls out the photograph, you probably asked yourself, “Pulls out a photograph of what?” That detail makes a big difference. Is it a photo of his dog? His crush? A stolen car? Tell us what we need to know.

Moving on, there’s a problem with “looks confused.” Again, the writing is vague where it should be specific. When a writer says someone “looks” something or “seems” something, it makes the reader question whether or not that thing is true. Does Amir look confused or is he acting confused or is Amir actually confused? Make sure it’s clear for your reader and, ultimately, your actor.

Let’s keep going…

Strive to remove anything repetitive or unnecessary from your writing. Here, “Caleb tries to jog his memory” isn’t needed because it’s obvious from the dialogue what Caleb’s trying to do. Cut it!

A couple more changes to go…

We recommend writers try to avoid orphan words. Orphan words are words that end up on a line all by themselves. In this example, “remember” is an orphan word. You can save a lot of space in your script by rewriting lines to get rid of orphans. Sometimes, making the change isn’t worth it, but it’s always worth consideration.

One way to get rid of the orphan word in this example is simply to cut it.

One change left! It has to do with abbreviations. You want to make sure it’s clear how you want the actors to deliver your lines. That means writing abbreviations the way you want them to be said out loud. If you want the actor to say the letters in an abbreviation, make that clear with periods between the letters.

There you go! Just a few simple changes and this excerpt is more professional. For more insight on how to write fantastic scenes, sign up for our self-paced screenwriting course, Screenwriting Essentials. We’ll teach you everything you need to know to write a top-notch script.