Why Scripts Read Differently
Segun Iwasanmi@iwasanmisegun212159
4 days ago
© Segun Iwasanmi
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One thing nobody tells young scriptwriters is this: the first thing that can destroy your script is trying too hard to sound intelligent. I know because I did it with full confidence and got humbled on WhatsApp.
I sent a script early in my career, already imagining the overwhelmed appreciation feedback in my head. The man replied few days later, "Your writing reads like prose blended with poetry, but please, what I need is action."
Ah. I was like "as how nahhh." Because in my mind I was writing beautifully. Dialogues were sweet. Descriptions were flowing like Sunday sermon. But everybody was just talking and nobody was doing anything. The script had zero movement and I didn't even notice.
That was when I understood why film people say show, don't tell. A script is not a novel. Nobody sits down to admire your grammar. Actors want movement. Directors want visuals. Even silence in film must be doing something or it has no business being there. Think about old folktales that survived for generations. Our grandparents didn't explain emotions too much. Tortoise would just carry yam and run, somebody would cry, somebody would chase him. Action first, meaning followed naturally. Human beings remember movement faster than explanation and film works exactly the same way.
Now when I work on a script, one question I always ask is simple: if I mute all the dialogue, will the story still breathe? Can you feel the tension from movement alone? Most young scriptwriters fail right there. Beautiful lines, empty scenes. A good script is like a building plan, nobody frames the blueprint and hangs it in the sitting room calling it literature. The bricklayer needs to understand it clearly enough to build from it. If your script is confusing the people meant to bring it to life, something needs fixing before it goes anywhere near a set.
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© Segun Iwasanmi | ™The Man With The Story.
Book Writer | Screen and Scriptwriter | Creative Fiction writer | Book Editor.
I help people turn rough ideas into bold stories that work
