5 Reasons Why Reading Scripts Will Make You a Better Writer
When your inbox is a litany of competition rejections at the start of your writing career, it’s easy to feel like giving up. But all is not lost! Sometimes, the best thing to do isn’t to rewrite – it’s to read. Here’s 5 key reasons why reading scripts and screenplays is the best remedy to get you back behind the keyboard.
Know the Rules to Break the Rules
Rules are boring, and they’re meant to be broken. But without properly understanding what the rules are, you’ll probably find you’re not breaking them, you’re shattering them. Scripts (screenplays specifically) have had an industry standard of formatting for… ever. It’s not a stylistic choice, it’s a necessary part of production. Knowing what a slugline is and where it goes is imperative for your script to fit the definition. You’ll also get an insight into the other technical elements that go into a professional screenplay:
Separating dialogue from scene descriptions
Script length (60 pages, 90-120 pages, etc)
Dual dialogue (two characters speaking simultaneously)
Title pages
Font and formatting conventions
Increasingly, visual elements
There’s also – looser – rules around plotting, sub plotting, and character arcs. These have already been bent and broken in a thousand exciting ways. Which exciting ways? Pick up a script and have a look! Personally, I’d recommend anything by Christopher Nolan as he loves to play with chronology and structure in his work.
Mostly, though, writing visually is HARD work. It’s like learning a whole new way of communicating. Nobody is happy, or sad, or has a look in their eye that speaks to a deep longing to relive the joy of their youth. Everything must be visual, vivid, but still evoke emotion.
Structure and Pace
This branch of my website is called ‘more than an anecdote’ for a reason. Anecdotes meander and disappear and are frequently endured (rather than enjoyed) as part of having a “social life”. Stories, conversely, have structure and a point to make. Reading scripts will give you an insight into how each medium executes that structure.
Get a pen and mark a paper script with where the act breaks are, where the midpoint occurs, and the moment of the dramatic climax. Don’t worry about sullying the sacred texts with pen marks, one day you’ll win an Oscar and sell that beloved script to a collector for a small fortune. Alternatively, read your favourite scripts online and either annotate or write down where all those things happen. Your call.
Pace is a hugely important component of all stories. Rising tension, emotional levity, and tightening drama all make for great stories, regardless of medium. So, whatever script you’re reading, note where the tone shifts and the drama tightens.
For a list of free screenplays, I’ve created an archive to replace the lost Script Lab library here.
A few other things to pay careful attention to when studying a scripts structure:
The first 10 pages
Dramatic turning points
A, B, C stories etc.
Act breaks (3, 5, or more acts?)
Narrative speed. Does the script plough from one moment to the next or does it have a lethargic pace?
Page count (screenplays are considered to be a page a minute on average)
Line breaks = new shots?
Great Dialogue is Written
Dialogue rarely originates in the mouth of an actor. 99% of the best dialogue you’ve ever heard was born on the page of a script. A great practice is to read while you watch. How did the actor approach what was written? A fun exercise could be to record some dialogue yourself, then see how the actor approached it. Differently, right?
Great dialogue is a nightmare. Unless it’s specifically written into the character, almost nobody ever says what they mean, yet the dialogue must push the story forward or risk being left on the cutting room floor. Subtext must be abundant in every line to justify its own existence, subtext which should also be completely distinct to the character delivering it. It needs to be impactful, even if that impact is deliberately weak.
Different mediums have different dialogue needs. A prestige drama, for example, will probably require more naturalistic dialogue choices that hide subtext in every syllable. A half-hour sitcom, conversely, will be packed with witticisms and stylistic dialogue that builds to a punchline.
You’re writing for a visual medium, but not a mute one. Striking the balance between audio and visual to create emotional drama is the hardest part of writing, but luckily, it’s been done literally thousands of times, and you can read the best successes whenever you like! How does Greta Gerwig approach exposition? How does Aaron Sorkin write characters that never shut up, but also never reveal anything?
Find out here.
Stay Motivated and Get Inspired
Let’s be fair – if you’re reading this, you’re either one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world, or you’re a writer in desperate need of motivation. Or both.
Reading scripts are a great way to stay motivated. Most novelists started life as avid childhood readers. Scriptwriters probably didn’t grow up reading screenplays, but we did grow up loving film, TV, theatre, listening to Terry Wogan’s ‘Janet and John’ on BBC Radio 2, or all the above. The thing to remember is that those films, TV shows, and plays all began somewhere. By reading the script, you’re gaining access to something truly vulnerable written by someone you admire. This writer struggled the same way you are now and look where that struggle got them! How did they do it? By doing the same thing you’re doing now, by picking up the script to a drama they loved, reading it, and being inspired.
Writing is a lonely experience. Sitting in bedrooms, offices, and coffee shops with nothing but a blank page and an overactive imagination can get you down, and when things go wrong it can be hard to know where or why it happened. Reading scripts is a great way to pull you back on the horse and inspire you to keep going.
More practically, it’ll help you keep abreast of the current writing trends, both topically and grammatically. When reading the screenplay for Heretic recently, I was inspired by the use of visuals within the screenplay itself. Have I used that tool myself yet? No. But will I? Absolutely, first chance I get. And I won’t be clumsy with it. Why? Because I’ve gained intuition from exposure to the best of the best.
Character, Character, Character
Excuse the Tony Blair-ism, but this really is at the heart of it all. No story exists without a protagonist or protagonists to drive it. Reading scripts gives you access to potentially hundreds of years of bright, shining protagonists that you can draw from.
Also, don’t forget that one day an actor will sit on a plastic chair in a musty hallway, learning lines to audition for every role you write, so make it worth their time. Study the archetypes in each script you read. Find the quirks that give the character individuality on the page and something for an actor to play with. Learn when to be explicit in characterising and when to hold back. Have a look at scripts from breakout writers and breakout actors. What drew the actor to that musty audition room? What was it about that character that caused such a stir during awards season?
By reading scripts of dramas you haven’t seen, you’ll also be exposing yourself to new characters that exist entirely outside the realms of your imagination. We all write what we know, and with every uncomfortable script you read you will know a little more.
BONUS: What NOT to Take Away
There are plenty of reasons to read scripts if you’re looking to make it as a writer. If you’re looking to make it, you haven’t made it yet, and that means there’s a few things to be wary of when exposing yourself to the best of the best.
Remember, you are reading the best of the best at the height of their success. Just because you like how they write, doesn’t mean you’ll get away with it. Their name comes with marks of confidence that your name doesn’t have yet. They can afford to write with fluffy, emotive directions probably because they’re surrounded by likeminded voices. By all means be inspired, pinch a word here or an idea there. But remember you are not Armando Iannucci, you’re you.
Another common trend in a lot of scripts that are available to read is they will be littered with camera angles and technical film language. This is the 11th Holy Commandment: Thou shall not write directorial directions into thy script. Sometimes, it’s unavoidable, but there are ways to evoke a camera angle without explicitly stating it. For example:
Icey mist begins to steam through the sewer grate. Slowly, it creeps across the tarmac, clawing its way up the walls of the alley, climbing higher and higher, billowing further and further out, freezing everything in its path. Skyscrapers become encased in ice – clouds freeze and plummet out of the sky, shattering on frozen spires and rooftops. Within a minute, the city is completely frozen solid.
Without mentioning camera work, you can easily see this is probably a single shot that starts with a closeup of a city sewer grate and pulls out to a wide shot of the city encased in ice.
BONUS BONUS: Where to Read Great Scripts and Screenplays
I’ve mentioned it a few times, but I’ve consolidated an archive of scripts you can read completely for FREE, right now! I felt I had to after the Script Lab archive of screenplays was so cruelly ripped from us.
Alternatively, if you’re made of money and like to flaunt it, you can buy play scripts from the National Theatre bookshop, online or in person. Many shows will also offer copies of the script in the foyer along with the overpriced merchandise! Or, if you happen to be in any large town or city, head to your local Waterstones and they’ll either have a drama selection or they’ll be able to order anything for you.
Legend has it that you’re never more than 100 metres from a copy of Fleabag. So, there’s really no excuse.
Conclusion
Reading scripts for writers should be the same as reading books for authors, or reading an IKEA furniture instruction manual. We can’t be the best if we don’t know what we’re aiming for. Watching TV, movies, and going to the theatre won’t make you a better writer because you’re not watching a script. You’re watching cinematography, acting, editing, directing, and special effects. To write a better script, you must READ the best scripts.
If you’re looking for comprehensive, concise, and constructive feedback on your script, check out my Fiverr profile to see how I can help, or contact me! It’s cheap as chips and may just get you that Oscar!
