The story is a string of unrelated vignettes.

The script’s questions are left unanswered.

The script goes off the rails in the third act.

The script suffers from arbitrary complexity.

The ending is completely anti-climactic.

The protagonist is a standard issue hero.

The conflict is inconsequential, flash-in-the-pan.

The narrative falls into a repetitive pattern.

The villains are cartoonish, evil-for-the-sake-of-evil.

The script has a by-the-numbers execution.

The scenes are void of meaningful conflict.

The story begins too late in the script.

–Blake Snyder, Save the Cat!(2005) 5) Consider these nineteen common screenplay shortcomings

Does the hero’s journey start back as far as it can go?.

Do my minor characters stand out from each other?.

Is my script one-note emotionally? All drama or comedy?.

Does my plot move faster and grow more intense after the midpoint?.

–Richard Walter, Essentials of Screenwriting (1988) 4) Use these nine questions to pinpoint weak spots It is a short walk from praise to patronization. For though approval is a lot more fun than scorn, it can be every bit as deadly. Dumb, negative, jealous, destructive, backbiting criticism is by no means the only problem writers face. Remaining open to criticism is not the same thing as indiscriminately agreeing to any and all suggestions. Or Anywhere, New York Times, Aug3) Be selective with both positive and negative criticism Mike Birbiglia’s 6 Tips for Making It Small in Hollywood. I can take it.” That’s where I learned the most. So I’d get my friends all drunk on pizza and then ask them hard questions like: “What do you like least about the script? Be honest. I workshopped my script like the way I workshop my standup: I invited friends over to read it out loud in my living room and then fed them pizza. –Jennifer Arzt, “Revision Frenzy” 2) Invite your friends to give honest feedback Reread without editing, and just take in your script as a whole. Trust us-you don’t want to waste time correcting punctuation in a scene that may end up being cut. It’s important to look at your script with fresh eyes, as a new reader would. After a few weeks, you might even forget every word that you wrote. 1) Allow healthy separation between you and the first draftĪ bit of separation between you and your script is healthy.

Script color revisions