5 Great Basic Scriptwriting Tips

Writing a script whether for television or film, can be a daunting task especially if it’s your first attempt. Here are some tips that can help ease you into the process or help you do better than your last attempt.

1. Be Clear About What You’re Writing: Are you writing a film script or a TV script? There’s a crucial difference between the two. Simply put, a film script is about the protagonist and their journey. It has a single motive line. Even if there are multiple protagonists, the motive line must be the same. There’s usually a B story in a film script, usually a love story. A TV script can have various protagonists with multiple motive lines.

2. Be Clear About Genre: There are some basic elements that define different genres. Don’t refer to your TV script as a telenovela for example, if it’s actually a drama. The same goes for film scripts. Take the time to learn the core elements of different genres to give you a clear idea of how to pace and best write your script.

3. Take Time To Develop Your Character Bibles/Character Background: Character bibles are required for TV writing while a character background is useful when writing a film. Character bibles help guide a TV show going forward as they give characters a solid voice and also make it easier to keep a show authentic even when there’s a change of writers as the character bibles give a solid description of who the characters are. Character background is useful for film as you as the writer is able to know who your characters are and write them accordingly.

4. Write A ‘Shootable’ Script: Nobody is asking you to be the producer but if you want your script to be shot, you must think like one. If you’re working with a low budget, you cannot have fifty locations and one hundred extras in your film or TV episode. It’s not workable. A great story doesn’t have to be big budget. Find a way of telling your story with the tools available to you.

5. Show Don’t Tell: This is an overused phrase but it cannot be stressed enough. Film is a visual medium. A character’s actions tell us more about them than what they say. Your descriptions shouldn’t be filled with explanations. A good example of showing not telling is, “Judah is a fat man” versus writing, “Judah’s stomach hangs to his waist.” The second example is showing. Avoid long expositions as well. If you’re motive is to reveal a character’s secret, make it over an argument with an audience, rather than a conversation between two characters.

These tips are in no way exhaustive, but will help you get started or improve in your scriptwriting. Make sure to make a habit of reading good screenplays to help you get a sense of how a good script reads and follow websites/blogs that give scriptwriting tips. Also, remember that becoming a good scriptwriter takes time and is writing and rewriting and keep at it!