Skip to main content

Making Sure Each Page Counts



We are always giving tips on how to spark writing and how to make sure a certain amount of pages gets done. But what about when you get on a roll and the pages are flying? When, maybe, you are going so fast that you might need to look back on what you are actually writing…
When we do find our writing groove, we tend to hum through pages. It's the Will Ferrell "black out" scene from Old School all over again. But looking back on those pages can sometimes prove disappointing. Our formatting is sloppy. The action lines are not crisp and concise. And the dialogue sounds terrible when read aloud. So how can we ensure that a writing mood does not produce crap writing? 
1. Go Slower Than Usual
STOP! And take each page for each page. A tip that can help this is to edit each page after you write it. If you feel yourself blowing through pages, then go back and reread the page and make sure its contents line up with that segment of your story. 
2. Print Out Your Pages More Often
This can work wonders. A printed screenplay page reads MUCH DIFFERENTLY than a page on your computer screen. The action lines and dialogue take new shape as the page is birthed from the printer. 
After each segment checkpoint you have set up be sure to print those pages off and read them aloud. Does the dialogue flow well? Are there extra action lines that need cutting? 

From <https://thescriptlab.com/screenwriting/script-tips/3203-making-sure-each-page-counts/> 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breaking up Your Story into Beats

  What scenes or story beats do you need to tell this story? You’ll add what you need to the basic framework you already have in your premises. Let’s work from the Jackie Chan Adventures premises we have so you can see how it’s done.   Basic structure of Jackie Chan Adventures: “Queen of the Shadowkhan”  Premise: •Jade, as one of the main characters, is the star of this episode. Her character fl aw is her need for peer acceptance/respect. This fl aw motivates a whole chain of problems for everyone around her. •We go to the end to see what, if anything, she learned. She learns not to succumb to peer pressure, and she realizes that indeed she did not succumb to Shendu’s pressure. (Theme: Respect earned from someone you admire is better than respect from all others!) •Jade’s initial goal is to be cool (have a tattoo) and gain respect. That snowballs as she begins to abuse the respect she gets from the ninjas. •Shendu is the villain who uses Jade in an attempt to destroy Ja...
Post a Comment
Read more

Three Acts

  “Leaves of three, let them be.” A helpful little phrase when it comes to avoiding poison oak in the woods, but when it comes to your  screenplay , three absolutely is company. This is the core of screenwriting.  Three Act Structure is your framework and the almighty epoxy of  the screenplay . These three parts, often literally taking place in different worlds – physically and/or figuratively – can work independently of each other, yet when connected, they build a solid whole. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Q&A – Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (Bob Stookey)

  Actor Lawrence Gilliard Jr., who plays Bob Stookey on AMC’s  The Walking Dead,  talks about his apocalypse-ready clarinet skills and how his character from  The Wire would react to zombies. Q: You’ve been in a lot of crime-centric shows. Were you excited to do something different on The Walking Dead ? A: Yeah absolutely. You get to play and have more fun and be more creative when you’re doing a show like this. Killing zombies — that’s what you do as a kid! Now I get to do it as a grownup. I definitely looked forward to the change and I’m having fun. Q: Your character is a medic. Do you have any skills that would be useful in the apocalypse? A: I play clarinet. I also play the drums, so I could keep the spirits lively and entertain everyone. That’s all I could do. Q: Bob is a pretty good shot. Did you do any weapons training for the role? A: None so far. When I was young, I learned to shoot, so I don’t really need any training for that. Q: You’ve...
Post a Comment
Read more