by Trevor Mayes | Jul 29, 2023 | Style, Transitions, Writing
Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking… me off I’ve been seeing a lot of these kinds of shenanigans in the scripts I’ve been reading lately: Sarah watches the front door for a few minutes, anticipating Dan’s return. A “few...
by Trevor Mayes | May 3, 2023 | Action Lines, Style, Writing
What were they thinking? In novels we become spoiled, being able to peer into a character’s mind to know what they are thinking. As a screenwriter, we don’t have that luxury. We must only write what the audience can see or hear. Otherwise, they’re...
by Trevor Mayes | Apr 18, 2019 | Quick Screenwriting Tips, Style, Words, Writing
Use the more active (simple present) form of a verb Here’s a way you can immediately improve the quality of your writing. Don’t do this: Jeremy is sprinting down the street. Do this: Jeremy sprints down the street. Not only does using the simple present...
by Trevor Mayes | Jul 8, 2018 | Style, Writing
When do you start a new paragraph? One thing that tends to confound new screenwriters is the issue of paragraphs. Some scripts have longer paragraphs. Other scripts have shorter ones — some as short as one word. So how do you decide it’s time to start a...
by Trevor Mayes | Jun 13, 2018 | Modern Craft, Style, Writing
Efficiency Screenwriting is all about efficiency. Maximum impact with the minimum number of words. So one of my biggest pet peeves is when I see the following in scripts: She shakes her head no. There are two big things wrong with that action line: Why is the word...
by Trevor Mayes | Dec 20, 2017 | Style, Words, Writing
Dude, aren’t all verbs active? Good question, smartass! The truth is, there are passive and active forms of verbs. The active form (without the “ing”) is almost always the best one to use. For example, I often see a variation of the following...
