10 VITAL Ways Green, Amateur Writers Can Avoid Amateur Mistakes

Screenwriting can be a maze, especially when you’re first starting out. When learning the ropes, it can be easy to fall into traps which will make you look like an amateur writer; stopping your script from being taken seriously.

If you’re green, you may not know all the rules and tricks that professional readers and industry members will know to look out for. This is understandable but it’s also avoidable.

So to navigate this tricky road, we’ve put together 10 tips for screenwriters to show you what NOT to do if you want your script to look professional, and avoid being seen as an amateur.

What do you need to DO and what do you need to AVOID?

1. Don’t Write Things We Can’t See or Hear
2. Sort Out Your Tenses
3. Don’t Get Carried Away With the Action
4. Stop Obsessing Over Formatting
5. Enough of the Wordy Dialogue
6. Don’t Write Without a Plan
7. Don’t Write Without a Point
8. Don’t Think You’re Too Good For Criticism
9. Respect the System
10. Don’t Send in Work That Isn’t Your Best

1. Don’t Write Things We Can’t See or Hear

A common sign of an amateur writer is one who includes things which the audience can’t see or hear. This might be, for example, particularly flowery language or acute detail about the inner workings of a character’s mind.

Detailing things which won’t actually appear on the screen may overwhelm the reader. Remember the role of the screenplay; to illustrate to the reader what is seen and heard on screen. Describing things that won’t actually be possible to see visually can be an indication that the writer is trying to impress.

Sure, one can illustrate a character’s internal conflict or feelings. However, these should always be somehow reflected by some sort of action; a way of cinematically manifesting something internal into something external. By writing description that won’t actually manifest on-screen the writer is potentially obscuring the actual action of the scene.