Ten Quick Tips to Get Your Script Read
by Marla White We've all been taught never to judge a book by its cover. It's a nice philosophy but in Hollywood, appearances are everything. When an executive is faced with the task of reading upwards of twenty scripts a week, they have to judge which scripts to gamble their attention on solely by the way they look. If it looks like it's written by an amateur, then off it goes to the slush pile to be covered by an assistant or intern. Here are ten common mistakes to avoid to make sure your script gets the best shot possible.
- Brads: Two heavy-duty brads are the only way to go. Spirals, metal clips and cheap flimsy brads tend to fall apart, catch on clothing and scratch things, making the reader cranky. The cardinal rule of getting your script read is thou shalt not annoy your reader.
- Title page: The title page should include the title of the script, who it was written by and your contact information. That's it. No pictures, no colorful graphics. A picture on the front gives the impression that even the writer doesn't think this script is good enough to stand on it's own. If you feel compelled to do something special, using good quality, colored cardstock as front and back covers will do the trick in a much classier way.
- Formatting: Absolutely, positively have your script properly formatted with the correct margins. Every script-writing program will do it automatically but if you don't have one of those, most screenwriting books will tell you the proper format. Form follows function! This format is not meant to squash your artistic whim; it's there partially to help the director, producer and artists who will hopefully make your script into a movie.
- Formatting Part 2: Beyond the proper margins, there are common practices that professionals follow that make a script easier to read and are sure signs of an experienced writer. DO NOT WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS. IT FEELS LIKE THE SCRIPT IS YELLING AT YOU AND IS VERY ANNOYING. Remember your cardinal rule - do not annoy your reader. Aside from sluglines, the only time you use capitals is denoting the first time a character is introduced. As a reader, it helps you keep track of characters. If you capitalize them every time, we may not be sure if we've met them a few scenes ago or if this is the first time. Sometime readers have to put a script down and pick it up a day later so don't make it any harder by confusing them about characters, locations or dayparts.
- Script length: Roughly speaking, one script page is equal to a minute of screen time. Until you're Peter Jackson, you need to keep your script anywhere between 100 - 120 pages. Less if it's chock full of action. (The phrase "and then they fight" takes very little space but about fifteen minutes of movie.) If it's longer than that go back and edit. You'll be surprised how much better your script is anyway without the extraneous scenes you thought you couldn't live without. You aren't fooling anyone when you jimmy with the margins; people who read scripts for a living know just by looking at it that you've played around with them. It's going to end up on the cutting room floor anyway so why not be the person who decides what to cut out of your story?
Marla White is a professional script consultant and ghost writer with over 10 years experience producing for theatrical and made-for-TV movies. Her credits include "A League of Their Own", HBO's "A Private Matter", "Secret Cutting", and "Forever Love". Marla White can be contacted at www.thescriptfixer.com. |
