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Wrong Form, Right Trash

By Michael Schilf · April 4, 2010

Of course, you need an original voice to tell a memorable story with interesting characters in a believable plot, but if it’s not in the right form, it might as well be written in Sanskrit.

A screenplay written with incorrect form almost always finds a home… right in the trash. Too many block pages, toss it in the trash. Lot’s of “I” pages, where’s the trash? Not enough white space – that's right, trash!

Writing in prose or anything we can’t see or hear, now that’s a federal offense – Pull out the shredder!  

Screenplay form is unique and very precise, which uses a simple framework, but to erect it well is quite difficult. The screenwriter doesn’t have the luxury to write without limits. Readers are always looking for any excuse NOT TO READ your script, so never give the reader a reason to snuff it because you haven’t written it in proper form.