More White Space, Faster Read

The art of the white space is less art and more artifice.

White space is a clever and practical way to get the reader to turn pages: fast and furious. The fewer words used to accomplish each scene without losing the voice of the writer, the better.

It’s simple: fewer words amounts to a faster read, which almost always equates to a better script. There are, of course, a lot of keys to locking up an awesome screenplay – it must have engaging and interesting characters, a solid story concept, a clear and structured plot, and original voice in the writing – but creating white space is one important key. 

A good screenwriter writes concise action paragraphs (limited to 3 or 4 lines) that are broken up with short dialogue because he’s conscious of the white space on the page and works hard at manifest it - lots of it.