The Screenwriter App Screenplay Test
You've finished the test! Here's how you scored:
Your script is 34% good.
Before you submit it to any readers, take some time to review the report below and amend your script accordingly. Then retake the test...
Your screenplay report
I have checked the screenplay for typos.Really, there are no excuses here. Run that spellchecker and weed out those typos.
I have more than five parentheticals (wrylies) in the whole script.
Actors don't like to be told how to act. They like to get into the character and respond in natural ways. If you try to specify how they are to deliver a line through the use of wrylies, you will get their back up.
The only real legitimate use of wrylies is if the character is deliberately acting in a specific way that affects the story, or to clarify who is saying what to whom.
My action sections are littered with expletives.
This is really just a call-out to be sensitive to all the other people that will read your script. Most would accept bad language from characters, but a lot of swearing in your action sequences just makes you look potty-mouthed. Others may find that offensive.
I've read my script backwards, as well as forwards.
This is a great way to weed out plot inconsistencies. By starting with the last scene and then working backwards, your linear story-telling functions are befuddled, and quite often mistakes in plotting jump out at you.
My script has the words 'CUT TO:' at the end of every scene.
Putting CUT TO: at the end of the scene is redundant. It's the end of the scene, of course you are going to cut to something else. All you've done is add an extra page to your screenplay of useless information. Get rid of them!
I used a professional screenwriting tool, such as the Screenwriter app, Final Draft, Celtx or Movie Magic Screenwriter, to format my script
What?! Download the Screenwriter app right now! It's a fraction of the cost of the big screenwriting packages and will format your script professionally. There should be no reason to use a standard word processor.
My character and place names are consistent.
We've all done it; got half-way through an edit and thought of a more appropriate name for a character or location.
Did that happen in this draft? Have you removed all the references to the old names? It's one surefire way to confuse readers if you haven't.
My dialogue is littered with multiple exclamation marks!!!
If you listen to people when they talk, they rarely get agitated enough to exclaim something in a way that would need an exclamation mark if it were written. Yet, we all have a tendency to overdo the dialogue in our scripts. Read your dialogue aloud when you write it. Does it require three exclamation marks after it, or would one, or even none, suffice?
I try to put one shot per paragraph of action.
By breaking up your action paragraphs so each line/paragraph is one single shot, you can tell the visual story in a clear and concise way.
Multiple actions or shots within one paragraph make it harder for the reader to understand what's going on and for the crew to decide what needs to be shot.