Here’s a quick list of things that will impress the script reader who is assigned your screenplay. It’s all pretty basic.

1. Simple presentation

Keep the cover of your script as blank as possible. In other words: title, name, phone number.

2. An appealing first page

The first page can be about what ever the heck you want! There’s no rules! Don’t listen to those who warn that if you don’t introduce the protagonist on the first page, the actors reading it will pass if they don’t see the part they’re considering. First of all, just how in the heck do you figure an actor will be reading your script?

Polish your first page so it’s easy to read.

If you only have two or three blocks of description, you should consider revising it. What happens when a reader opens your script is the same thing that happens when you open a book or look at a new blog post: you assess whether it looks accessible and either start reading with interest, or you start reading with the realization that it’s going to take work to read.

Consider trying this experiment: Open Pride and Prejudice and read the page, Then open Harry Potter and read the first page.

You’ll probably notice that one is dense and hard to follow with ease while one practically reads itself.

One easy way to do this is to break up the description. Make it look balanced on the page.

3. Clear set up

There’s usually a lot that goes down in the first ten minutes of a film. Consider The Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Star Wars. I’m not saying the first ten pages should set everything in your story up, but rather that the first ten should give the reader a pretty clear idea where the story is heading.

If you want to count pages, a good guidline to go by when setting up your story is to jump-start the story with the inciting incident on or by page 10. Think about the first attack in Jaws. Better yet, think of the first ten minutes of The Matrix.

It’s pretty much at exactly ten minutes that Neo meets Trinity. Furthermore, notice how the set-up progresses and intensifies as the story unfolds. This also a great example of using mystery and planting questions to set up the story. Keep it clear, compelling, and moving in a focused direction.

4. Clear inciting incident

The inciting incident is the moment or action that changes the direction of the story for the protagonist. You might consider the meeting of Trinity in The Matrix the inciting inciodfent, but the scene before it, “follow the white rabbit,” works as a mini set-up for the inciting incident. It ramps up the excitement for the reader as a sort of nudge, “you ready for this?”

Think of it as a roller coaster ride. If the free-fall after the long climb up the clanky tracks is the turning point at the end of act one, then the first ten pages, or set-up, is when you’re waiting in line letting the sounds of the screams and tracks excite you. You’re not sure what the ride is going to be like, but the closer you get, the more you find out about what the ride will be like. The point you step into the ride is or course the inciting incident – the second portion of the first act is when you really get an idea for what it might be like; it’s the point where you see the ride’s surroundings, the complexity of the track, the feel of the track, and it happens to lead right into the third portion, which can be considered the climb to the turning point.

5. An interesting character

Why would we want to spend two hours with someone who isn’t? Check out the 101 for more basics on character creation.

6. A compelling turning point

This one just comes down to storytelling. Be sure your first turning point at the end of act one, page 25 – 30 if you’re counting pages, is genuinely exciting and entertaining. Beware though – it’s not enough to merely create an action sequence that flips the story away from where we were headed through the first act, it must have a clear direction; it should be heading in a direction we couldn’t have imagined, yet all the hints and mysteries throughout the first act and set-up clearly point to in hind-sight.

7. Tests, allies, and enemies

In a word: conflict. Read A Hero With A Thousand Faces for the full low-down on this portion of your screenplay. This is a mythological story technique that has pretty much been included in every movie … every good movie that is. It’s usually lives in the first half of the second act, most directly after act one, and it’s when your characters can enjoy the new world of story (think of Neo first learning that he can bend the rules of gravity), it’s when they meet allies (Trinity, Morpheus, Mouse), and it’s when they meet enemies (Agent Smith). Another good example is Star Wars of course. When Luke ventures to the Cantina with Obi-Wan, he not only sees the light-saber in action, but he meets Han Solo, and an alien who doesn’t like him very much.

8. Super-strong midpoint

You think writing the second act is tough? Try reading one! Again, follow what myth has taught us and take your reader into the deepest hole in the darkest mountain in your story — the inner most cave. In Star Wars, this was the Death Star. Memorize A Hero With A Thousand Faces.

9. Theme

It’s one of the most confusing aspects when it comes to storytelling, and also one of the most important. The theme is where your “writers voice” shines. What is your opinion on the subject you’re tackling? Is it crime or love? If so, you need to re-work it. Theme isn’t something you can sum up in one word; it’s a sentence made of two parts and best connected with “leads to.” For more on this, read The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri.

The reason you can’t sum up your theme in one word is because one word doesn’t allow for your opinion – I thought you wanted to be a writer! Instead of crime, consider (LE’s example) crime pays … and when it does, it pays big! Conversely, crime doesn’t pay. Those are two contradicting opinions you could write a screenplay about. If you wanna write about crime, write for the newspaper.

Read more about this | The Importance of Opinion and Theme – a scriptxray article.

10. Climax

This is why we’re here. This is why we’re all here. Every person making a living in show biz is working to serve that climax. It’s what audiences go to movies for. It’s what everything in your story works toward. It’s where you make your ultimate stand regarding your opinion of the theme you’re talking about. It’s where you reveal things audiences have never seen or experienced emotionally before, yet it’s where we all connect in understanding due to the human core of the story and climactic message.

Though the following video calls back to the roller coaster analogy, it’s has one of the best climactic moments a roller coaster has to offer. Notice the pacing of the ride, the structure, and the feeling after the climax. You’ll notice that during the last climb (into the third act) the ride becomes chaotic and out of control (the low point or defeat of the protagonist in the story world) until finally releasing in the climactic drop.

Now watch this climactic scene from the Matrix, and notice the moment of loss and chaos before the climactic action.

Though every screenplay is it’s own entity, I’d highly recommend using The Matrix as a guide. Follow these basic 10 tips, and you’re bound to impress your reader!

What it really comes down to is this: it’s all about the story!

11. Oh, and World of Story!

Don’t underestimate it’s importance. What makes your world, even if you’re writing a drama, different form the next script? If it takes place in Louisiana, then probably a heck of a lot. Describe it with concision.

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