The Professional Screenwriter: Common Screenwriting Mistakes

As a story analyst at a boutique agency, I covered more than my share of bad scripts, and most of them were bad for all the same reasons. We're not talking about improper formatting or typos (although I saw plenty of both), but rather, the same fundamental story errors that kept otherwise good writers from moving on to the next level. Here is a list of common mistakes that separate the professional screenwriter from the amateur.

Nothing to Lose
In most scripts that receive a pass, the hero is not risking anything. The audience must know what the costs the hero is willing to endure to do the right thing - and whatever they are, they must be valuable to the hero. This holds true for all the characters in the script, but especially the protagonist.

Clichéd Characters
This is another one of those seemingly contradictory rules in screenwriting. The characters must be familiar, but they must not be too familiar. It's up to you as the screenwriter to give your familiar characters some sort of twist. Familiar character types provide a base for you to sculpt a unique character. Without the base, the character falls down. The twist also provides an unexpected surprise, leaving the audience thinking - 'hmm... I thought I knew this person. Isn't that interesting.'

Dramatic Tension
Most screenwriters realize the need for conflict, but what separates the pros from the rest of the pack is the concept of building tension. As we move through the screenplay the stakes must get higher and higher, until ultimately the hero's core values are at stake. Don't think that putting the main character's life on the line is necessarily the ultimate stake. If we don't care about the main character, or if we think the main character is willing to die for any cause - this stake is effectively rendered useless.

Enough With Stage Direction
Many screenplays simply have too much stage direction. Only include what is relevant to the story. Set the scene. Set the characters within the scene. And pretty much that's it. Most readers, although they won't admit it, gloss over the stage directions anyway. This may seem to contradict the idea of visual storytelling, but it doesn't really. The reason most readers gloss over stage directions is that 99% of the time, they are meaningless.

Also remember that stage directions are what we see. Try not to include things we cannot see. You can get away with it occasionally - when setting a mood for example, but for the most part, just concentrate on the bare visuals necessary to move the story forward.

Sinking Subplots
In an amateur script, the subplots usually don't reflect the main plot. In these cases, the subplots are actually pulling your reader out of your story. They are a different story altogether. Because screenplays are so Spartan, you cannot afford to devote screentime to plot elements that don't more the main story forward. This is not a luxury you can afford.

Closely related to this are setups that don't have payoffs. If you set up a plot point, you have to pay it off. Otherwise, why include the set up? You could say it's a red herring, but even a red herring must have a payoff - just one that is unexpected.

Deus Ex Machina
Okay - I know this is one of those writery terms that just sounds cool - but don't do it. Don't even come close. They undermine the hero and thus your story.

The Other White Meat
Think of the villain as the other side of the hero. Without a villain, the hero is incomplete. Often in amateur scripts, villains don't have a lot to do. They are a vague threat. They show up every so often, but almost all the screentime is devoted to the hero. We need to see the villain in action to know why the hero must defeat him. Just remember to construct your villain as the dark side of the hero. Then when you are writing the villain's scenes, in effect you are writing the hero's scenes.

No Opposition
If a candidate for elected office is running without opposition, would you watch the election results? Obviously not - there would be no point. The same holds true for your stories. If the hero has no real opposition or is never in any genuine peril, there's no point in watching.

The bottom line is to examine your script for any of these potential pitfalls and fix them before you submit the script. Always remember there are no steadfast rules. There are, however, overriding tendencies that will help improve your chances of success.

To further those chances you may wish to read Top Five Ways to Ensure Your Screenplay Never Sells.