There is no better feeling than typing the words "fade out." It means you usually have a first draft. And that first draft is a block of marble that you have to sculpt into a story that hits the town and sells. As someone who writes a lot of coverage and reads a ton of scripts, I find that most are missing three things that prevent them from getting pushed up the ladder. So today, I want to take you through all three of those things and talk about what you can do to avoid them. Let's dive in. 1. The "Why Now?"I get annoyed when this comes up, because the reason "why now" is usually because I wrote the script now! But I also try to have a BS reason I can tell execs to make the topic feel current. What about the "Why now" on the actual page? The biggest mistake new writers make is letting the plot happen to the protagonist rather than having the protagonist drive the plot. If your main character is just reacting to external events for 100 pages, the audience will tune out.Your character needs to be active in their own story. The Fix: Every scene should be a result of a choice your character made in the previous one. No one is dragging them along. The Litmus Test: Ask yourself: "If my protagonist stayed home today, would the movie still happen?" If the answer is yes, you have a passenger, not a...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Friday, 23 January