In the competitive world of screenwriting, where there are more screenplays being put out there than there are people to read them, the first ten pages of a script become not only an essential way to get a reader interested in your story they are the main hook by which story will ever get read at all.
Joey Tuccio, CEO of educational screenwriting hub Roadmap Writers, joined the 2018 London Screenwriters’ Festival to share his experience and insights from the executives he works with to explain the things writers can do to stand out from the crowd and present a professional and compelling beginning to their script that will keep a reader reading till the end of the screenplay.
Build Relationships and Your Brand.
The industry receives a lot of scripts and before yours can even be considered it has to make it’s way through layers of readers from interns to executives who must like it and trust your writing skills enough to put your work forward to their bosses.
To becoming a working writer is to build relationships whenever you can. Befriending assistants, being personable and becoming known as a ‘go-to’ person for your genre, is about being a human being first and a writer second so that people can get to know you. Restricting your writing to a particular genre may not be your ultimate goal but initially building your reputation this way can be a great tactic to get people to think of you and your work when they’re looking for something specific. To begin, you can look at websites like The Tracking Board and others who have hit-lists of who’s buying and the kind of screenplays they’re purchasing that will help you build a list of the firms you’ll want to contact that work for your style of writing.
Make Your Voice and Tone Clear.
One of the first things you should think of in the beginning of your screenplay is your writer’s voice. Your perspective, what you’re trying to say and how you are going to say it are for you to showcase in the descriptive passages. You must be interesting, never boring and present a vibe that tells readers what kind of writer you are and they command you have of your craft.
Tone is the best way for a reader to interpret what you’re writing, and this is where having a genre brand and typecasting yourself also helps. Before you write a single thing you should have considered your tone. Tone is close to the genre of a story so looking at existing works that share the same attributes as yours will help you hone in on the tone you wish to establish. For Drama, which is less elevated than other genres, look to the human elements of your story to create tone.
Seize Attention and Be Bold!
Be interesting, never boring and take care how you present things. You want to be outside the box, bold and surprising for your writing to stand out, but being bold is not about being carelessly racist, bigoted or homophobic so take care with your words and find the line that is daring but not offensive, being particularly careful to industry sensibilities when you introduce women and minority characters. Try to include a private moment alone with your protagonist in the first 3-5 pages to make the lead character clear and anchor your story. Anchoring your story in character helps readers with short attention spans grasp who and what your script is about early on.
Executives will skim when reading, they always have too much to get through. Avoid overwriting, start a new paragraph every two to three lines. Introduce important story beats and characters at the beginning of passages so they don’t get missed. Large chunks of writing prompt readers to put your script aside ‘to read later’ which in reality means it will never get read. Writing economically is part of good presentation and introductions that are short and grab the imagination are paramount. Joey’s example from one screenplay he read introduced a character as a ‘RAW VEGAN GODDESS’ which in three words succinctly establishes strong visual image and mood and the writer’s perspective on this character.
Don’t Wait to Begin
The beginning of a screenplay is about grabbing the readers attention, getting across who and what your story is about and who you are as a writer, by using voice, tone and being clear, bold and interesting. All this needs to happen in these early pages for your script to be read.
For today’s industry, by pages five to ten of your screenplay you will want to have established tone and exciting things should be happening. Some stories begin with a slower burn but that doesn’t mean nothing is moving. Starting with a bang and getting right to the heart of the action is best, but in any case don’t wait until act two before getting to the real meat of the story. Its called the beginning for a reason.
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
