After cracking hundreds of screenplays sent into the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, the same problems in the execution of the story and script continue to emerge. Here is a general overview of these persistent issues.

Do you realize what you’re saying??In the theatre, they read plays aloud over and over in the process of script development, and one of the reasons they do this is to hear the dialogue. When I hear dialogue in my head, it might sound very good, but then when I hear a person actually speak it, I often have an impulse to jump in front of a bus. And over and over and over and over, when I read screenplay entries to BlueCat, I am immediately dismayed when the characters start speaking. Excellent everything else, awful dialogue. And I often wonder if the writer has actually heard the lines they have written for their characters out loud. Either read the whole thing aloud to yourself, or even better, get a group of your friends to read it. You do not need professional actors to evaluate dialogue. Just people excited to help. Videotape it. I have videotaped readings, and then sat down and worked out an entire rewrite off the tape, addressing every single line that bothered me. Which leads me to another thing.

Ha.It’s hard to pass a screenplay on to industry contacts if an unfunny joke is sitting in the middle of page two. It’s highly difficult if there’s twelve by page five. You might have a payoff in your third act that would break my heart, but if your jokes are poor, the heart of your audience will be shot, probably resentful, and your work will be recycled. Please try your humor out. If your beats aren’t funny to some people, rewrite. Trust a truly hilarious bit is coming. Think of the patience you need to muster through this writing process as courage, because it is.

If you find you are not funny, write a script that is not funny. Many, many great scripts are not funny, as we all know.

Mispellings.Do you think the development people in Los Angeles, basically the smartest people in the film industry, will not be annoyed and continue to read your script when you have misspelled three words in the first five pages? Perhaps. How do you feel when you’re reading something and you find misspelled words? How does your attitude shift towards the author? Exactly. If you don’t think many scripts have this problem, start a screenwriting competition.

OKAY, WE GOT IT!Try to limit your scene description. When a person opens your script, how many INCHES of action slug are they looking at on page one? Is there anyway you can convey what you want us to SEE with less words? I always go back and CUT CUT CUT to prevent my screenplay from fatiguing my reader with excess words as they try to listen for my story. Do we need to know what necklace someone is wearing? We all understand making motion pictures is collaborative. I strive to let the art department and the costumer and the prop master and so on DO THEIR JOB by not making their decisions in the screenplay, because I have little passion for it and don’t do it well. They will make their own choices, and most likely better ones, so why bother? Always use fewer words to say the same thing.

It’s not show and tell, it’s show not tell.I constantly find myself being told something by the screenplay the viewer of the film will not be aware of. Screenplays are not literature. They are words assembled to describe what motion pictures will play out on the screen. Telling us a character is a jealous person is passive and dull. Showing a character in an act of jealousy is more effective and essentially cinematic. Let the words and actions of your characters carry your story. This is not easy. You want the actor or director to understand what you want and what you mean. Allow the description of physical actions and the recording of spoken words reveal the narrative to the filmmakers. The script will read faster and offers the reader a richer opportunity to imagine and discover.

The Joy of Making Things Up.I really cherish the idea, that as a writer, I can make things up. If I want the guy to say something, all I have to do is type it. But I have to fight against creating characters and interactions amongst characters derived from movies I have watched and television I have seen. I often find myself writing a scene only to realize I’m not drawing from my imagination or my own life experience or my observations of people, I’m drawing from the millions of hours of observing actors play human beings on television and in movie theaters. And because I’m writing a “MOVIE,” it is even more difficult, because I’m fighting against a subconscious or unconscious observation that this is “how people act in movies.” Stop yourself and ask, would this happen on planet Earth? Do I know how people from Miami really speak? What would a person actually say if they had a gun in their face? Can you possibly imagine what could happen? This is your opportunity to be truly imaginative. Answer your own expectations of original work. A mature writer develops a strong capacity to recognize and reject the false.

Ouch.Forced exposition. This is when a brother tells a sister on page two that he will be attending a school which dad wouldn’t pay for because he bought a farm that the whole family will be moving to tomorrow because he found that the city was a really bad place to live in after mom was really scared because of that mugging thing that happened after they came back from the sister’s graduation from high school. When characters engage in an unbelievable conversation about matters in which they would be familiar with, or when they proclaim something completely out of nowhere simply to inform the audience of key facts crucial to their understanding of the movie, you have a problem. This awkward exposition will not be seen as genuine human behavior and will detach your audience from the emotional current of your story. Exposition is necessary and difficult to execute. Be careful how you offer information crucial to your story at the start of your screenplay. This is a common problem in early drafts. Exposition needs to be seamless and graceful.

Format.You know what? Go get a script and copy what you think it looks like and you’ll be fine. Trust me. Spec scripts are sitting on desks all over Hollywood and their format is not consistent at all. Getting crazy about format sells screenwriting software. I use two tab settings and copied stuff from a book and not one person in the film industry has ever said a thing to me in ten years. But if your script looks like a book, or a poem, or a magazine article, your screenplay format is wrong. Just make it look a little like a movie script, and if it kicks ass, guess what.

So do you.

Article URL address: www.bluecatscreenplay.com/About/advice.php About the AuthorWinner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance Film Festival for LOVE LIZA, Gordy Hoffman has wrote and directed three digital shorts for Fox Searchlight. Made his feature directorial debut with his script, A COAT OF SNOW,world premiering at 2005 Locarno Intl Film Festival. Also founder of BlueCat Screenplay Competition, which provides written screenplay analysis on every entry.Gordy acts as a script consultant for screenwriters, offering personalized feedback, http://www.screenplaynotes.com.

Copyright

Your book cover is an essential marketing piece. Most readers decide to buy a book based on the cover and the table of contents. When it comes to creating the design of your book cover, there are numerous do-it-yourself software programs available. They consist of templates, which allow you to drop in an image and some sales copy and, voila, you have a book cover. Well, not quite.

CONSIDER HIRING A PROFESSIONAL BOOK-COVER DESIGNERYour cover is such an important element for the overall success of your book, unless you have a degree in graphic design from a prestigious art school, I don’t recommend designing your own book cover. Before hiring an artist, review their portfolio and make sure you understand everything that is included with their fee (will they work with your interior designer, do they provide several mock-ups to select from, how many revisions are included?) Expect to pay between 0-,000 for a professionally designed cover. The cost is well worth the investment. See the difference between using an unqualified artist and a professional book-cover designer on the “Before and After” page at George Foster’s website: fostercovers.com/before_after

Here are 12 Tips to help you create the best book cover possible:

THE FRONT COVER

1. KNOW WHAT YOUR AUDIENCE EXPECTS OF YOUR BOOK COVERBook covers for specific genres have certain similar qualities. Historical books use photographs on the cover. Medical books usually have a white background and modern lettering. Study other books in your category to get a feel for their design traits.

2. ATTRACT READERS WITH EMOTIONThe goal of the front cover is to grab a potential reader’s attention and make him want to learn more by reading the back copy and the table of contents. What attracts a reader to the cover is an emotional feeling they get from the visual elements (including the color, fonts, and images) and the title. The cover should be minimal, not chaotic, and evoke an emotional response from the reader. When the reader views your book cover do they feel comforted, peaceful, successful, motivated, inspired, hungry, secure, adventurous, interested, curious, concerned, empowered, intrigued?

3. MAKE THE FRONT COVER EASY TO READ

The front cover must stand out and be easy to read (think about what it will look like as a thumbnail on your website or Amazon.com). Place the title near the top of the cover on a clean background (NEVER place your title over a busy background). Don’t clutter the cover with several illustrations. Use one strong image that relates to the book’s content. Do not use the word “by” in front of the author’s name.

4. USE COLOR TO CONVEY THE RIGHT MESSAGEColor is a powerful tool. Choose your background color carefully to convey the right message. White conveys credibility, purity, and health. Red is warm, sexy, and exciting, and represents power, vitality, and action. Men relate blue to dependability, trustworthiness, and intelligence, while women often view it as sad and depressing. Black is authoritative, romantic, and mysterious. Yellow is joyous and energetic, often associated with home and happiness. Green conveys growth, prosperity, nature, and leisure.

5. USE FONTS TO CONVEY THE RIGHT FEELINGThe font you select for your title, subtitle and author name has a dramatic effect on the feeling of the book. Check out http://www.my-fonts.com or http://www.store.adobe.com/type where you can type in your book’s title and see how it ‘feels’ with the different fonts.

THE SPINE

6. CONSIDER USING A STACKED TITLE ON THE SPINEWhen your book is displayed in a bookstore, the first thing a potential reader will see is the book’s spine. Ensure it is attractive and legible by stacking the characters of the book title on the spine.

THE BACK COVER

7. USE BENEFITS AND PROMISES TO SELL THE BOOKYou’ve attracted a potential reader with your cover design, now you need to hook them with compelling benefits by telling the reader what’s in it for them if they buy the book. Will they become the best trout fisher they can be, learn how to navigate New York on a day, be inspired and motivated by a memoirist’s triumphant story, or discover how the founding fathers created the Declaration of Independence? Write a concise, brief (two to four sentences) statement describing the content of the book followed by several benefit bullet points and end with a ‘call to action’ that tells the potential reader why they need to buy the book. The back cover of Dara Mark’s book Inside Story concludes with: “It is a must-have book for any serious screenwriter, playwright, or novelist” – wow, if you identify yourself as any one of those, you’re going to want to purchase the book!

8. CREATE AN ARRESTING HEADLINE

Write a powerful headline addressed to the reader that helps him or her relate to, and identify with, the content. The back cover headline for Inside Story is: “What IS the secret to writing a great screenplay?” Most potential readers who pick up this book are searching for the answer to that question. The headline quickly and efficiently lets the reader know the answer is contained in the contents of the book.

9. USE ENDORSEMENTS AND QUOTESTestimonials, endorsements and quotes are a phenomenal selling tool. If someone else thinks a book is good, then it must have merit. The back cover testimonial for Inside Story reads: “Destined to become the gold standard for books on screenwriting!” That’s an impressive quote.

10. SHOW YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE EXPERT TO AUTHOR THIS BOOKAt the very bottom of the back cover (sometimes placed directly across from the ISBN), include a brief, one to two sentence only, biography highlighting why you are qualified to write this book and help the reader. This is not a full biography – you will include that in the ‘About the Author’ section inside the book. The goal here is to let the potential reader know you are an expert.

11. LIST THE BOOK CATEGORYBy listing your book’s category/subcategory (such as “true crime/current events” or “self-help/psychology”) on the upper left-hand corner of the back cover, your book will be properly categorized on the bookstore shelf (or virtual shelf, in the case of online booksellers).

12. INSERT AN ISBN & BAR CODEYou need an ISBN and Bar Code for your book to be sold through booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can purchase an ISBN at http://www.bowkerbarcode.com/barcode(you need to obtain your ISBN prior to getting your bar code.)