Get On With The F*ing Story, or GOWTFS, is my motto and a guide strictly for myself to keep my screenwriting focused. The faster the story moves, the more the viewer is pulled in and thrust forward to the end.

Read GARBO script by Craig K Dillon
My 12 Rules My 5 Sins About Style
Script Duels
Prologue Power Raiders of The Lost Ark vs. Passage to India
Breaking the Contract Guns of Navarone vs. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Story Cohesion Charade vs. The Truth About Charlie
Scene Rewrites
Tactical Action Transporter 2 — Opening Misfire
Exposition Economy The Matrix Reloaded — Overexposed
Structural Re-ordering Passengers — Out of Sequence

My 12 Rules to GOWTFS

These rules and sins serve a dual purpose: First- to keep quality high, and second- to increase speed of production.
01. Know Your Story: Before you write, know the story you are telling. As you write, you must know what belongs in the story, and what does not.
02. Show, Don’t Tell: Never say in dialogue what can be demonstrated visually.
03. Propel the Story: Every scene must move. If not, delete the scene.
04. Connect the Dots: Use cuts to join plot points that are related by space or time.
05. Bury the Background: World-building should be done inside active plot scenes as background information. Scenes spent solely on world-building may seem good for the story, but they are usually a huge mistake (See: A Passage to India).
06. Protect the Tone: Keep the style and tone fiercely consistent.
07. Honor Your Characters: When the motivations and actions of a character change, something definitive must happen to force that change. Main characters can have conflicting motivations that become a source of tension and plot.
08. Prioritize Suspense Over Surprise: Suspense is systematically superior to surprise. Give the audience more information than the characters have, so they actively anticipate the climax.
09. Set the Hook: Make sure the prologue grabs them right at the start.
10. Gaff the Ending: Make sure the climax hits with absolute force—whether physical, emotional, moral, psychological, or ironic.
11. Condense Your Writing: If a scene is not doing at least two things, it is not doing enough.
12. Rule for Breaking Rules: Movies are a complex art form. Every rule has situations where it can, and even should, be broken. When you do so, do it intentionally, and know exactly why.

My Five Sins That Kill

These are the sins I try to avoid, so I don't alienate an audience or sink my movie:

1. Signing a False Contract (The Tonal Squeeze)
All aspects of the film must align – the music, sound, mood, and dialogue. When they don’t, that cognitive dissonance gets the audience to check out.
2. Inviting the Crew into the Frame (Technique over Text)
The movie is the medium for a story. It is not a showcase for technical brilliance. Once the audience becomes aware of the technical magic, the magic is gone.
3. Dropping the Dead Weight
When a scene does not actively drive a character or the story forward it is fat. Cut it.
4. Hitting the Narrative Reset Button
When a scene has no effect on subsequent scenes, it is useless. If your script ignores a scene, delete it.
5. Over-using Action Lines
Action is the territory of the Director. Action lines in a script merely convey the writer’s concept of the story. They are suggestions to the director, and help the director understand the writer’s concept. Over-used, they bloat the script.

The Bottom Line: A storyteller edits only for the screen. If it doesn't land on the screen with visceral, undeniable clarity, it needs work.

On Style

Style is the territory of the director. The screenwriter brings the story.

Style is everything seen & heard that is not part of the story. Style is how the director shows what he wants to show while telling the story.

Good Style – Any style that enhances the mood and tone of the movie.

Bad Style - Any style that gets in the way of the story. Incoherent mixing of styles, and the egoism of style for style's sake are common mistakes.

Elements of Style

Music

“Silent” films were accompanied with music scores. For major releases, over 100 piece orchestras were in the pit. Theme music and mood music predated audio tracks. Truly silent films never existed. They just didn’t have an audio track.

Theme music

The industry has moved away from theme music. However, think of the atmosphere and mood established by the themes to Guns of Navarone, The Magnificent Seven, Star Wars, Jaws, The Great Escape, High Noon, Ben Hur, Spellbound, and Charade helped their success. Theme set the tone and style of the movie during the opening credits.

Mood

Mood music is subliminal music that punctuates the action and emotions on the screen. Mood music tells the audience when and how to feel. It is part of good storytelling. Mood music can be elevated when tied into good theme music, such as in Star Wars.

Costuming

Critical for defining the characters. Costuming often goes unnoticed. Its subliminal impact can be tremendous. Colors and fashions chosen can help define the character and the story. Before manners maketh the man, costuming does its job.

Sets

Sets give the texture and framework in which a story happens. The sets frame the action and dialogue. Sets get attention in epics like Ben Hur, but they are just as critical, and maybe more difficult in small films set in a room, like 12 Angry Men. When done well, the sets wordlessly and subliminally communicates mood and tone to the audience.

Lighting

Lastly, lighting is the final tool a film maker uses to tell a story. At its most basic level, the scenes are lit so the viewer can see the action. At its highest level it can set mood and tone. Be cheerful, foreboding, sad, mysterious, etc. When it advances the story, it is at its best usage, showing that the film maker knows his craft. If it merely lights the actors, the set, and the action – that’s nice.

Style Summary – Taken altogether, the elements of style can be used to create a distinctive look or even a genre. Directors can create a signature style. Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Sergio Leone, Stanley Kubrick, and others established visual styles they used throughout their careers.

Think about the movies you have seen that you regard as excellent. In all likelihood, they did outstanding jobs on most or all of the elements of style. Consider Style as the stage on which the actor acts and tells the story. When all is done right, and everything “clicks”, how much better does the story become? Or, to put it in reverse, take your favorite picture, and subtract the music, sets, costuming, and lighting. I bet you will find it flat, like day old beer.

These rules, sins, and observations are what I have learned during my screenwriting. As a craft, it must be honed by doing and learning—a process that never truly ends.