SUMMARY So now you’ve seen how you can
double-check your work using simple rules of the road. If your
script feels flat or if you get back comments from readers who
can’t quite put their finger on it, but know
something’s wrong, here are seven easy thought-starters to
help you find the weak spot. And fix it. Ask yourself these
questions, the “Is It Broken?” Test:
- Does my
hero lead the action? Is he proactive at every stage of the game
and fired up by a desire or a goal?
- Do my
characters “talk the plot”? Am I saying things a
novelist would say through my characters instead of letting it be
seen in the action of my screenplay?
- Is the
bad guy bad enough? Does he offer my hero the right kind of
challenge? Do they both belong in this movie?
- Does my
plot move faster and grow more intense after the midpoint? Is more
revealed about the hero and the bad guy as we come in to the Act
Three finale?
- Is my
script one-note emotionally? Is it all drama? All comedy? All
sadness? All frustration? Does it feel like it needs, but does not
offer, emotion breaks?
- Is my
dialogue flat? After doing the Bad Dialogue Test does it seem like
everyone talks the same? Can I tell one character from another just
by how he or she speaks?
- Do my
minor characters stand out from each other, and are they easy to
differentiate by how they look in the mind’s eye? Is each
unique in speech, look, and manner?
- Does the
hero’s journey start as far back as it can go? Am I seeing
the entire length of the emotional growth of the hero in this
story?
- Is it
primal? Are my characters, at their core, reaching out for a primal
desire — to be loved, to survive, to protect family, to exact
revenge?
