“A screenplay is not a novel that happens to have margins. It’s a VISUAL document. If your action lines read like paragraphs from a book, your script reads like a homework assignment, not a movie.”
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
The number one mistake I see from screenwriters who come from a prose background: too many words. Way too many words. Your action lines should be lean, visual, and cinematic—not dense, novelistic descriptions of what everyone is thinking and feeling internally.
Novel Writing vs. Screenplay Writing
| Novel Approach (Wrong for Screen) | Screenplay Approach (Right for Screen) |
| “She felt a deep sadness wash over her.” | “She sits alone. Picks at her food. Doesn’t eat.” |
| “He thought about all the times she’d lied.” | “He stares at an old photo. Puts it face-down.” |
| A paragraph describing the room’s atmosphere. | “Dust. Cobwebs. A single chair under a bare bulb.” |
| Internal monologue explaining motivation. | A look. A gesture. A choice that SHOWS the motivation. |
| Telling us how the music sounds. | Describing the CHARACTER’S REACTION to the music. |
Screenwriting Craft Upgrades
- Write what the CAMERA sees. If it can’t be filmed, it doesn’t belong in the script.
- Keep action lines to 3 lines max. Big white-space blocks signal a page-turner. Dense paragraphs signal a slog.
- Use active verbs. ‘She runs’ not ‘she is running.’ Active verbs create cinematic energy.
- Let silence do the heavy lifting. Some of the most powerful moments in film history have no dialogue.
- Study produced screenplays. Read the scripts of movies you love. Notice how little is on each page.
Your Move, Creative
Take your most dialogue-heavy scene and rewrite it with 50% less dialogue. Replace the cut lines with visual storytelling—actions, objects, glances, and silences. Watch it come alive cinematically.
Stop letting your stories stay stuck.
