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I've got top 5 tips (sigh now) on writing the 1st ten pages of your script (oh OK), based on reading for Red Planet Prize & more (fine, tell me more but spread it out for gawds sake!).
Number 1: The Core Concept
Number 1: The Core Concept
Is your idea original? Or an original twist on a familiar but popular genre? ‘Cops and Docs’ shows are always in vogue but you want to dress to impress not rehash old fashions, so what’s your take on the genre?
If your idea/genre is more ambitious, like sci-fi or supernatural or a period piece, then what is it about the idea that will get the reader excited? Does your core concept have a neat ‘irony of character’ that can generate a reliable format for returning series?
Most of the time, scripts read too samey. No idea is truly unique any more but an original take on a familiar concept will stand out. For screenwriting comps, the reader will have probably read your logline before they start your script, which conjures up some expectations.
Make sure the script starts with the right tone and approach based on the promise of the premise. Occasionally, the appeal of the core concept can take the reader beyond the first ten pages even if not much has seemingly happened in the opening scenes.
So, it’s worth spending time on your core concept. What’s the hook? What’s the genre? How will the premise/format generate story ideas beyond episode one, and beyond? It’s usually easy to say what happens in episode 2, but what happens in episode 52?
TOP TIP NUMBER 2: THE OPENING SCENES
A reader will usually know after page 1 or page 2 whether a script is going to be good and/or if the writer knows what they’re doing. So the first ten pages is a luxury, really, to show your bones.
A reader will usually know after page 1 or page 2 whether a script is going to be good and/or if the writer knows what they’re doing. So the first ten pages is a luxury, really, to show your bones.
Don’t hang around, get to the story quickly. This doesn’t mean that you have to start with a fast-paced action sequence. It’s more to do with establishing the right tone and pace, and to pique the reader’s interest.
When the reader is given too much info – characters being introduced everywhere, the action cutting between lots of plot strands with no narrative POV, or there’s just drab scenes of intro with no real drama happening – then the first ten pages become very heavy lifting indeed.
Keep things clear. Clear doesn’t necessarily mean simple. The trick is to make the script detail clear and engaging (with drama, narrative POV) rather than creating an indulgent sense of ‘stick with it, this is just the set-up’.
The reader has probably read your core concept/logline before they open your script. This means they know (or think they know) the genre of your script. The genre then raises basic expectations of tone, and perhaps certain story elements to occur.
For example, if it’s a murder mystery, then the opening scenes may be someone discovering the dead body. A perfectly fine if familiar start to this kind of story. To set it apart from the others in the pile, is there anything you can do to make the discovery more interesting?
Or something to subvert expectations but still move the story forward in a clear & compelling manner?
Storytelling is an interactive experience; the reader/audience likes to work things out rather than having their hands held all the way with dull exposition or excessive detail.
Storytelling is an interactive experience; the reader/audience likes to work things out rather than having their hands held all the way with dull exposition or excessive detail.
Keep your description short. Create a sense of visual action unfolding on screen rather than scene description that tells us non-visual information.
If something interesting and/or original is happening, and the writing is clear and engaging then the reader will be more likely to give the script a go past the first ten pages.
Oh god, there's more, *weeps* always more so-called writing advice from who are you again, damnyouinternet.
TIP THE NUMBER THREE: SET UP Vs STORY
TIP THE NUMBER THREE: SET UP Vs STORY
There’s nothing wrong with set up, as long as it’s dramatic or interesting in some way. That’s when set up becomes story, or a vital part of the plot.
In the first episode of Ashes To Ashes (the sequel to Life On Mars). Notice the tone, the pace, the cheeky way it dismisses Sam Tyler’s trademark voiceover from Life On Mars. And it immediately gets DI Drake on the scene. Set up as story.
The worst beginnings to scripts tend to start with a tame set up or familiar scenarios or, worse of all, dull character introductions. This is set up as set up, and doesn’t help the reader appreciate the tone or the story on offer, giving them an easy option to ‘pass’.
Prologues, flashbacks, flashforwards, voiceover, dreams, intercutting plot strands/characters, breaking the fourth wall etc are all useful craft to help get a script started, but don’t fall back on familiarity or cliché.
Always think of originality or subverting basic expectations; that’s a quick win to get a reader quickly engaged in your story.
If you have a deliberate slow pace at the start, that doesn’t mean you can afford to be indulgent or boring. Something in the scenes or in the scene description should engage the reader in terms of the tone, or pique their interest to continue.
