Twenty One Rules for Screenwriters

1. Motivate, don't contrive.
2. Keep it visual.
3. When in doubt, simplify.
4. Characters aren't cute, they're real. They need growth.
5. The main characters in all stories must create a rooting interest.
6. The best adverary is a worthy adversary.
7. A villain is a dimensional character.
8. It it doesn't advance the story, cut it.
9. Dialogue between characters in agreement is conversation. Dialogue between characters in conflict is drama.
10. If you have problems in Act Three, go back to Act One.
11. Lead the elephant down the alley: It can't go back!
12. A hero had nothing to do but sit under a tree and strum a guitar until the villain comes along.
13. The hero must solve his/her own problem(s).
14. The strongest stories are about people in trouble, not people with troubles.
15. If you believe it, someone else might.
16. Protagonists can never come off appearing to be any better than the antagonists allow them to be.
17. Adversity builds character, adversity reveals character.
18. Always play contrasts.
19. A hundred shots, a hundred words, relieve tension -- One shot, one line breeds tension.
20. One story, one plot: Main plot determines structure.
21. Get into the scene as late as possible; exit as soon as possible.

URL:http://www.ipfw.edu/comm/courses/ Spring01/436rules.htm
Revised: 7 January 2001