One key tip on how to write a screenplay is to have something exciting happen every ten pages. This is one of the simplest and most effective tips for writing a screenplay. Every ten pages, something happens that shakes up the script a bit. It doesn’t mean you have to start cutting main characters every few pages (unless you’re making a horror movie, in which case, good luck and God bless you), but it does mean you have to keep the story moving. . forward.
Think of it this way: if you’re describing a movie you just saw to a friend who has never seen it, you don’t focus on every little detail, do you? You end up telling them the main plot points, the important things. My personal suggestion would be to try writing your movie for yourself in a couple of paragraphs on a piece of paper; don’t focus on the small things, the minutiae of the characters and all the esoteric jazz of the characters; most bare bones are formed. Those events in the paragraphs that move the story forward? Those are the exciting things that you have to develop throughout the script as you learn to write a script.
I want to take a moment here to discuss structure in a broader sense, before going any further: be very, very careful how much you put into your script, especially when you’re first learning how to write a script. . I would suggest thinking about it in musical terms: most people know that it takes a lot of skill to be a classical musician, but how many people listen to classical music on a regular basis? Just because you can show off your technique or mastery of the skill doesn’t mean it will be noticed and appreciated by an audience. If you need more proof of this, let me remind you that “The Big Bang Theory,” the number one sitcom in the world, is, from a structural standpoint, one of the worst technically written things on television right now, but says much more. about the overlooked aspects of how to write a screenplay.
You have to keep in mind that while you and other writers and moviegoers may appreciate your brilliant Act 2 setup or excellent denouement, the reality is that the vast majority of audiences have no idea what the heck those terms are. I mean, they’re in a theater to be entertained, and if you’re too rigid with your structure, they’ll see everything you have in store for them from a mile away, and then no one will go home happy.