Screenwriting tips.

In a round, read the beat before yours twice. A draft that ignores what came before won't win the vote.

Enter late, leave early. Start the scene as close to the turn as you can, and get out the moment it lands.

If a line of action can't be filmed, it doesn't belong in the script. Write what the camera sees and the mic hears.

Give every character a want they'd say out loud and a need they'd never admit.

Read your dialogue out loud. If you run out of breath, so will the actor.

Cut the first page of your draft and read it again. Most scripts start one page too early.

Subtext beats exposition. Let them argue about the dishes when they mean the divorce.

Use a parenthetical only when the line would be misread without it. It's a note to the reader, not the actor.

End each scene on a question the next scene has to answer.

Your protagonist should make the choice that turns the story, not have it happen to them.

White space is pacing. Short action lines read fast; a dense block slows the reader down, so use it on purpose.

Don't give two characters the same first letter. Readers skim cues, and Mark and Mike blur together.

Write the scene you're dreading first. The rest of the draft tends to organise itself around it.

Every beat should change something: a fact, a relationship, or what the audience expects next.

If two scenes do the same job, merge them. The stronger one keeps its place.

Introduce a character in CAPS once, with an age and one detail that tells us who they are, not what they wear.

Skip “we see” and “the camera pans.” Describe the image and let the director find the shot.

Give your antagonist a point. The best villains are right about something.

Finish the draft before you polish page one. A perfect opening for an unwritten ending is guesswork.

Pay off everything you set up. A gun on the wall is a promise to the reader.

Specific beats general. A chipped mug that says WORLD'S OKAYEST DAD does more work than “a mug.”

Keep dialogue under three sentences a line unless somebody is genuinely giving a speech.

You rarely need CUT TO:. A new scene heading already tells the reader we've cut.

Take a day off before you rewrite. Distance turns what you meant into what you actually wrote.

Keep scene headings short and literal: INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT. Save the poetry for the action lines.

Moving rooms without a time cut? A mini-slug like HALLWAY keeps the scene flowing.