As many of you probably know, I started my professional writing career first in film and then in poetry and am currently trying to publish some works of fiction. Primarily, I consider myself a screenwriter-turned-novelist. I still write screenplays and do some script consulting in my free time (feel free to reach out, I absolutely love it!) but most recently I’ve been focused more on the prose-writing side of my creative career. One thing I’ve noticed over the past few years is how many people who are primarily prose writers want to write screenplays and how many screenwriters want to write books.

I think that’s absolutely awesome! I know I love exploring all different types of creative outlets and I definitely want to encourage others to do the same. As such, I figured since I have experience in both forms of writing, I would compile a list of pitfalls to try and avoid when switching from one form to the other.

For Novelists Writing a Screenplay

• Be aware of formatting
  • This might seem a little obvious, but there are a lot more formatting rules to a screenplay than when writing a book. I personally learned from the Screenwriters Bible but there are plenty of free online resources you can use. The industry standard is also in constant flux so a quick online search may actually give you more up-to-date results than a physical book.
• Show characters names on screen
  • Whether having them said in dialogue or on a plaque on the wall, a character’s name should be given to the audience not just in the narration (and, ideally, the name should be “shown” before it is used in narration, though this isn’t always important to follow).
• Use present tense, third person, active language.
  • A script is meant to show what is happening as it happens. “He trudges down the street” is appropriate whereas “He trudged” or “he did trudge” or “Down the street, he trudges” are not.
• Sentence fragments are not only acceptable but ideal
  • A continuation of above: “He trudges down the street. Turns left. A neon sign, BAR, glows green on a building in front of him.” Is much more appropriate than “He trudges down the street and turns left, facing a neon green sign that reads BAR.” The latter isn’t necessarily wrong but oftentimes being more concise is better.
• Avoid writing transitions
  • If you’re using a software to write there will most likely be an option for “transitions” but that’s not what I’m talking about here. What I mean is avoid writing things like “Scene opens on an abandoned city street.” More often than not, writing a screenplay is like writing a book wherein you don’t want to acknowledge that it’s a screenplay. You write the story as a story. So instead you could open:

FADE IN:

EXT. CITY STREET – NIGHT

A man, ADAM (49), wearing faded jeans and a baggy sweatshirt trudges past boarded up shops. The street is empty. The sky, grey.

• Avoid “you,” “we,” “our” language
  • Just as screenplays are almost never (I hesitate to say never because I haven’t read every screenplay out there) written in first person you should also probably avoid using phrases that would include “you,” “we,” or “our.” For example, you shouldn’t include phrases such as “You see…” or “We see the man trudge” or “our view changes” or anything like that. You don’t need to say that because it’s a film, obviously we see it, and the director and crew are the ones who make decisions about what changes and what is seen when and how. Phrases like that are all implied and they’ll take the reader out of the story which, with any type of writing, is never what you want.
• Avoid mind-reading
  • Everything that you want to convey in your script has to be shown on screen. All that can be shown are physical actions, settings/props, and dialogue. You should not write that the character walks sadly down the road. How is the audience supposed to know they’re sad if they’re just walking? Instead, try trudging or dragging their feet. Something that the actor can follow physically to convey the emotion you want. While you may be able to write “walking sadly” and the actor will convey that, it’s not necessarily appropriate for the form. Every word you choose, the way you describe movement and setting, what the character says, should all be used to convey the atmosphere and emotion of the piece. Avoid saying any emotion explicitly.
• Simplify Your Characters
  • I’m not saying that characters in films are less complex than in novels—sometimes they can be more so—but I am saying that if you took your novel and turned it into a film then you would need to cut out a lot about your characters. Whether it’s part of their backstory or that one scene where you reveal why they have that little quirk that makes them so endearing, if it’s not central to the main plot then it’s probably going to make your script too long. Average length for a screenplay should be between 90–120 pages (with a little wiggle room to go shorter, not much to go longer). To fit in that, you’re better off with a central goal, a central fear/”if I fail” scenario, and only a few obstacles to play off of that. There’s a lot less room in a script than in a book so keep that in mind as you’re writing.
• Don’t tell the actors how to act
  • When you’re writing a screenplay with no deals or production offers already established then it is not the writer’s job to make directorial decisions. When it comes to dialogue, only write CHARACTER NAME then the dialogue beneath. In some cases it is important to put parentheticals indicating that there’s action going on while the character is speaking or maybe dictating that someone is yelling or whispering but they should not be used to tell the actors how to say the lines. Do not put things like (slowly) or (with anger) in the parentheticals. As with the previous point, you should convey the emotion through the narration and the dialogue by what words you choose to describe the scene. Different people may interpret the scene differently. Usually they will. That’s to be expected and, if you’re going to write screenplays, you need to be prepared for that because, more often then not, you’ll have little to no say in production decisions.
• Don’t tell the director how to direct
  • One thing that I’ve seen a lot of with beginning screenwriters is that they want to tell us where the camera is, how it moves, and even what music is playing. I’ll be blunt: those are not your decisions to make. Unless you are producing the film yourself or have a deal already hashed out then once you finish your script you will send it on to people who change it and rewrite it and then pass it on to other people who will use it and make decisions both with and in spite of it when the cameras are actually rolling. That’s not to say that you have absolutely no control. If you want there to be a close up of a characters eye, for example, you write “Her eyes widen” or “She blinks rapidly”—side note, adverbs are kind of so-so in screenwriting; sometimes they’re okay sometimes they’re not, it’s more of a less is more type thing. Basically, when writing a script you are painting the film in the director’s mind. If you want a close up of something then write the object of that close up in its own sentence or even on its own line to set it apart as a specific moment in the directors mind. If you want an arial shot then write something like “He trudges, small, down an empty city street.” The biggest tip I can give you is to practice saying exactly what you mean in concise and active language.
• Never write “The End” at the the end of your script
  • This will probably be covered in whatever formatting guides you use but I think it’s worth saying anyway. In spite of what you may see in the credits—also don’t write credits into your script at the beginning or end—it is not proper to write “The end” at the end. Instead write “FADE OUT” at the end and “FADE IN” at the beginning. In editing it may end up being a cut or a different transition but, again, that’s not your decision to make.
• Use a scriptwriting software
  • I recommend Celtx, personally, but I’ve also used Highland and know there are plenty more out there (both free and paid). You can write scripts in word but with all of the font/formatting requirements for the standard form just trust me when I say you’ll save SO much time by just using a specific software. 

That’s about all I can think of off of the top of my head for this. If you can think of anything else or want my opinion on something else in your writing that you’re not certain about just leave a comment and let me know!

Originally, I was going to include novelist to screenwriter and screenwriter to novelist in the same post but, as you can see, this first list got a bit out of hand. So I’ve decided to make this part one of two instead. Come back next month to see my advice for screenwriters wanting to write their first novel!