12 story hacks a screenwriter keeps in mind when writing, creating and evaluating a story

Feeling the urge of writing down a story you have thought about for a long time? Perhaps you have an idea about a story or concept but not sure where to begin? I′ll tell you right away- I′m not a scriptwriter. I hire people that′s better than me to write scripts based on the concepts and stories I create and I do read and evaluate scripts and stories all the time. From that perspective I want to give you some pointers on how producers in general, and how you yourself can evaluate your own script and the story behind it so you can make your script more appealing for producers and other people that′s going to read and evaluate your script.

The first thing you should ask yourself is this; What makes your story so special that It should be made into a film?

1. The first thing you have to have an answer to is why your story should be made into a film or TV-series? If you don't have the answer. Then you got yourself a problem. Think of all the times you′ve seen a bad movie or TV-series. That′s not only because of a bad script. The story was probably bad as well so it′s important that you are honest about your story and the answer to why it should be made into a film or TV-series.
2. Is there anything unique about your story or the characters? Is it something the audience hasn′t seen before? You don′t have to reinvent the wheel. Just make it better.
3. A balanced story is based on two cornerstones. Entertainment and meaning. To much entertainment is not good and vice-versa with meaning. Try aiming for 50/50 in general.
4. Is your story logical? Make sure your story isn′t far fetched. I′ve met many screenwriters pitching stories and scripts that are just to complicated for their own good. Keep your story simple. Not to simple. But not to complicated either.
5. Show the audience why the characters in your story acts the way they do. It′s important that the audience knows why a character acts a certain way.
6. Evaluate the balance in your story. Look at the overall development and pace of your story as well as the development of the characters. Are they keeping pace with each other?
7. Avoid clichés.
8. How is the ending? Is there a climax? Is the audience hooked on a emotional level?
9. Analyze your target group for your project. Who are they? How old are they? What do they do for a living? What kind of movies do they like? Ask yourself. Is the script adjusted for your audience?
10. Make sure the script is adjusted and practical to shoot. This is especially important when you′re doing low-budget movies.
11. Wanna play it safe? Shorten the script. Keep it between 90-100 pages.
12. Your story is your baby. I know. But sometimes it′s better to let go. Work together and brainstorm with other people and your script and story will probably become much better than it would if you would have done the script completely on your own.

This article is written by film producer and television series creator Mikael Cross. Feel free to share this article if you liked it. For more inspiration and behind the scenes please do connect with me here on Linkedin, Facebook or Instagram !