FOR GOD SAKE, HELP THE READER!

I, like every screenwriter in La-La land, am often inundated with requests to read other people’s scripts.  Largely beginning writers.   And I’m constantly amazed by how often I see the same mistakes over and over and over again.

So for this blog, I thought I’d lay out the two biggest mistakes that I see constantly.  Please keep in mind, I write big studio pictures, not character pieces.  All of this is my opinion — coming from my perspective.  If you plan on writing the next My Left Foot, ignore all of this.  I would suck at writing that script and have no business offering advice.  But, if you want to write the next Terminator, I’m your guy.  Keep reading….

The two most common mistakes that I see are:

1)  Too many characters, too soon!  In fact, I read a screenplay this weekend that had 26 characters in the first 28 pages.  And this isn’t an anomaly.  This happens almost every time I read a script from a beginning writer.

The key thing to remember is – the reader is starting from scratch.  They don’t know any of your characters.  And unless you are writing something fairly wacky most of your characters are going to have semi-normal names — Chris, John, Brant, Sam, etc.  So, think about that.  You want me to remember 26 different characters in the first 28 pages?  Granted I have the short-term memory of a car crash survivor, but come on!

Just imagine your reader is like Neo in the Matrix.  He’s freaked out, doesn’t know anyone, doesn’t know where he is, doesn’t know the rules, etc.  He’s just been DROPPED into a new world.  Think carefully about what you choose to tell him and more importantly — how fast you do so.

In other words, do the reader a favor and don’t SHOTGUN everything at him/her all at once.  And specifically the characters.  The fewer in the first 20 pages…THE BETTER.

Help me, as the reader, to get oriented — to figure out who is who.  All I ask is that you do a few little things, like…

…if possible, put your main character(s) in the opening scene and let us spend a few pages with him/her/them.  Let my brain absorb that Chris is the serial killer with the harelip and Charlie is the transsexual choirboy.  Let it cement in my brain before you unload 10 other characters on me.

Then, after a little bit, throw me a couple more.  Let me sit with them for a second or two.  That’s better.  Ahhhhh…now I’m getting it!  Now I’m oriented.

Because while I’m trying to memorize 26 characters in 28 pages – I’m also trying to figure out the story at the same time.   Speaking of which, this takes us to…

2)  Have something actually HAPPEN plot-wise in the first 20 pages.  Unless you’re writing a character piece — two guys sitting at a table talking does NOT count.  You must MOVE THE PLOT.

I can’t tell you how many scripts I read where the main character’s hanging out in his apartment, talking to his girlfriend, going to work, to the store – MOVE THE PLOT!  Otherwise your reader (agent, exec, producer, etc) is going to feel like the story is floating around, rudderless.  This will lead to their eyes rolling back into their heads.

If you write down a summary of all the scenes (bullet points) in your first act and any of them sound like this — “We get to know John and Bill better.  Find out John has trust issues” – take a big black marker and SCRATCH them out.  Then run, don’t walk to your computer and delete all of those scenes.  These don’t forward the plot!

It’s not like you shouldn’t develop your characters, this is obviously important.  But you can get into your characters AND move the plot along at the same time.  You wanna tell us your protagonist wets his bed?  Fine, have him blurt it out during a car chase — while getting shot at by the guy he just robbed.

This pulls us through the story and give us some momentum.  Getting to know your characters better does NOT do this.

That’s it.  Two small things.  If you are a beginning screenwriter and you fix those two things, I promise you…you will be way ahead of the game.