The Screenwriter App Screenplay Test
You've finished the test! Here's how you scored:
Your script is 53% 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.
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 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.
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.
The word 'we' regularly appears in the action sections of my script. (for example, 'We see a huge spaceship fly into frame').
The word 'we' is always redundant. Remember, your script is a blueprint, it should be as concise as possible.
Just stick to the facts and describe them as simply as possible. Instead of 'We see the robot move across the room,' simply say, 'The robot moves across the room.' It's far more direct and keeps the reader in the story.
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 script has camera directions in the action paragraphs.
Most directors and cinematographers will want to put their stamp on the film. Also, the eventual set may be nothing like how you imagine it in your head, which will also dictate what options the crew have. Unless you intend to shoot the film yourself, there's no point specifying camera moves.
However! You can be subtle about it. Using the 'one shot per line' rule, you can surreptitiously control what gets shot. For example, 'Water spills onto the computer,' would instinctively be a close-up.