Things You'll Need:
- Computer
- Paper
- Screenplay formatting guide or script writing software
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Step 1
First and foremost, your feature screenplay story must be riveting. Your goal is to keep your audience on the edge of their seat. To accomplish this, your story must have conflict—and lots of it. The plot and subplots should continually move your story forward.
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Step 2
Give each character in your screenplay a reason to exist. Memorable, 3-dimensional characters are critical. Your audience must identify with your protagonists and feel emotion, good or bad, for your other main characters. If your main characters don’t elicit an emotional response, they need to be reworked or eliminated.
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Step 3
Dialog is one of the most important ingredients of a feature screenplay. It must sound realistic and believable. Delete trivial dialog like “hello” or “good morning” or use sparingly, as it can slow down the pace of your screenplay.
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Step 4
Narrative includes scene description, actions of the character or characters, camera directions and sound cues. Narrative passages should be no more than 4 or 5 lines each. Write narrative in present time. This means using active instead of passive voice.
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Step 5
The feature screenplay format can seem strange or even intimidating at first. Some words are capitalized, such as transitional instructions and character names. Single, double and triple spacing are all used in a feature screenplay. That’s why it’s essential to have a formatting guide handy. If you’re serious about writing feature screenplays, a script software program is a terrific investment. It will ensure that your script is being formatted correctly.
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Step 6
When you are finished writing your screenplay, revise until it's the best it can be. Hollywood rarely gives second chances.
