Common Screenplay Mistakes and How to Fix Them

The most common screenplay mistakes are a passive protagonist, a slow first ten pages, dialogue that explains too much, overlong action lines and formatting errors. Most can be fixed in a rewrite by focusing on what the main character wants and cutting anything the audience does not need.

• Give the protagonist a clear goal and make them act.
• Hook the reader in the first ten pages.
• Cut explanatory dialogue and dense description.

A passive protagonist

The main character reacts to events instead of driving them. Things happen to them, and they respond, but they rarely make a choice that changes the story. Readers lose interest quickly in a protagonist who does not want something.

Fix it by giving the character a clear goal and making them take action toward it in every sequence, even when that action makes things worse.

A slow start

The first ten pages set up the world in detail before anything happens. Readers decide quickly whether to keep going, so the opening needs to show the main character, their situation and a sense of what the story will be about.

Start as close to the inciting event as you can, and cut scenes that only exist to deliver background.

On-the-nose dialogue

Characters say exactly what they feel and explain things they both already know. Real people rarely do this. They avoid, deflect, joke and argue about something else entirely.

Read the dialogue aloud. If a line states the subtext directly, find a way to show it through action or let the character talk around it.

A sagging second act

The middle of the script repeats the same kind of obstacle without raising the stakes. Things happen, but nothing escalates. This is the most common structural problem in first drafts.

Map your second act as a series of turns. Each major sequence should leave the protagonist in a worse or more complicated position than before, and the midpoint should change the direction of the story.

Characters who all sound the same

Every character uses the same vocabulary, rhythm and sense of humor, usually the writer's. Cover the names on a page of dialogue. If you cannot tell who is speaking, the characters need clearer voices shaped by age, background, job and what they want.

Dense action lines and format errors

Long paragraphs of description, camera directions on every page, parentheticals under most lines, and inconsistent scene headings all make a script harder to read. Keep action paragraphs to three or four lines, cut camera directions, and let software handle the format.

An ending that does not pay off

The climax resolves the plot but not the character, or it relies on coincidence. A strong ending comes from a choice the protagonist makes, and it answers the question the opening set up. Look back at your first ten pages and make sure the ending speaks to them.

Questions

How can I spot mistakes in my own script?

Leave it for a week, then read it in one sitting, or hear it read aloud. Notes from other writers help most.

Do readers care about typos?

Yes. A few typos are forgiven, but many suggest the script is not ready.

Related course: Screenwriting 101