The simplest way to improve your screenplay: get rid of all instances of "is."

Instead of "Gladys is standing at the bar" find the correct verb to describe HOW she is standing at the bar -- leaning, slouching, hovering....

Screenwriters reach for this construction -- called the Present Progressive -- because it implies an ongoing action -- she was standing before I got here, she is standing now, and she will be standing in a moment. But the fact is, screenplays are always insistently present tense, and the sense of immediacy will be greatly enhanced if you take the trouble to truly decide what the proper active verb should be for every gesture.

And, in addition to making any given sentence more interesting to read, it may well open up the scene, present questions you hadn't thought of, deepen the gesture in such a way that a new idea or moment or gesture will present itself.

I have never used a beat sheet. And I discourage my students from getting too wedded/dependent upon outlines.

The reason is simple: it can limit creativity if you are writing TO an outline instead of FROM an outline.

Remember that your understanding of your story and your plot should change -- be accessible to change -- as you actually compose the screenplay. So, yes, outline, internalize the beat sheet, but don't let it limit your imagination or your explorations of character.

Screenwriter's Compass

Navigating the art, craft, and business of film writing. From one who's been there and survived to tell the tale.

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