5 Mistakes Student Film Writers Make In Their First Drafts (And How A Simple Checklist can fix them)
You’ve spent days, weeks, months, crafting your story and screenplay.
Finally, you are done. You present your script to your lecturer, who takes one glance at the first 3 pages and shakes his head. Puts down the script and delivers a heavy sigh.
Your writing has already been judged and not in a good way.
I was a lecturer for screenwriting for ten years and I see mistakes made by students all the time when they submit their drafts to me. Common mistakes that give the impression of unprofessionalism and sloppiness.
Here’s a simple checklist to correct these mistakes.
Mistake #1
The writer has written in the wrong tense.
Always write your script in the PRESENT tense. When a reader reads your screenplay, a movie unspools in their head at the same time. Remember that whatever is happening on the page is happening at the same time in the mind of the reader.
Read your script after you have typed FADE OUT.
Get a friend to read it as well.
Ensure every sentence is written only and ONLY in the PRESENT tense.