What brands you as an amateur on page one?
I’m often asked how I can tell I’m reading an amateur writer’s script by the end of page one. Sometimes I get a pretty good idea before anyone even says a word.
Take a line like “We see two diamonds in an open till.” Try it without the first two words. “Two diamonds in an open till.” Same image. But this time, I get to the diamonds without stopping to think about the writer.
Would one “we see” make a reader put down a script? Nope. But throw in a typo in the scene heading, an eight-line paragraph, and cheated margins — all on the first page — and congrats, you’ve just tanked your chances.
Script readers are already itching to say no — don’t give them a bunch of easy reasons to.
What will Pro Check catch in your script?
I built Scriptwrecked Pro Check around the mistakes I’ve seen in two decades of proofreading and consulting on scripts. Upload your screenplay as a PDF and Pro Check runs it through dozens of my personal checks. Within about 20 minutes, you get a report that quotes the passages it flags, along with the page numbers, and gives you the recommended fixes.
Like I always say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it a good one. You’ve put all that work into your characters and plot — don’t get tripped up by a bunch of amateur tells.
Black Friday launch offer: Check your script for just $19 through November 30. After that, it’s $29.
