HOW TO WRITE A SCREENPLAY (SCRIPT) PT. 20

After printing your script, as I mentioned before, you will still finds things that you either need or want to change. Format, typos, grammar, and structure errors are a few obvious problems that will get attention.

I want to talk about repetition, specifically verbs. Many pro readers and screenwriters tell us we need to have the character moving, and to make that movement obvious, to take the reader along in the picture.

Naturally, in our present-tense sort of screenwriting style, a commonly used verb will be "goes".

He goes to the window.

And, it depends what is happening to and around our character, so we can use the proper verb to get him there.

If he heard a bomb go off, distant, outside, it might be:

He dashes to the window.
He darts to the window.
He speeds to the window.
He runs to the window.
He bolts to the window.

If he's depressed, on a gloomy day:

He trudges to the window.
He shuffles to the window.
He drags up to the window.
He wanders to the window.
He saunters to the window.

Try using different verbs for the same action, throughout your script, as one can only read "goes up" and "goes over to" so many times until it becomes boring.

At the same time, keep it easy, and sensible for the reader, it's not a novel, don't go into three line articulation for the simple process of a character going to the window.

Have a good write!