12 Rules of Screenwriting

by Allison Burnett - Presque Isle Films

Screenwriting Lesson
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Allison Burnett’s Twelve Rules of Screenwriting

Every writer teaches himself to write. Here are some of the rules I live by.

1) Every page should be more interesting than the one before.

2) Take your time revealing who your characters are. Disclose their secrets carefully, for maximum effect. Reveals can be just as powerful as plot points.

3) Movies need movie stars, so always write a great role for a movie star. Two roles for two movie stars is even better.

4) Every speaking role, no matter how large or small, should leap off the page.

5) Begin each scene just before it starts to get interesting and cut away before it starts to bore.

6) Never reveal or even imply what is going to happen next. Keep the reader off balance. If a man asks a woman to dinner, don’t show her saying yes; just cut to the date.

7) Narration should be a last resort. If you must use it, make sure that the narrator never tells us anything that we already know or can see with our eyes.

8) Human beings in conversation rarely call each other by their names, so why should characters? Cut every name, unless absolutely necessary. They are dialogue killers.

9) Make scene descriptions terse, visual, and filmable. This is your chance to write good prose. Refrain from smart aleck asides. Never do anything to interrupt the dream.

10) Never suggest specific songs for specific moments. It’s amateurish. It’s not your job.

11) Structure is everything. Structure is logic.

12) Write and write until you discover your own rules.

Allison Burnett’s screenwriting credits include Red Meat, Autumn in New York, Feast of Love, Untraceable, Resurrecting the Champ, and Fame, among others.

His novels are the BK Troop Trilogy: Christopher (2003); The House Beautiful (2006), and Death By Sunshine (2012) -- plus Undiscovered Gyrl (2009).