How to Actually Get Better at Screenwriting

The Advice Nobody Wants to Hear

Write. Write. And write more. That's it. That's the answer.

I know... everyone says that. But the reason everyone says it is because it's the only thing that actually works, and most aspiring writers find every possible way to avoid doing it. We read about screenwriting. We watch breakdowns on YouTube. We outline. We worldbuild. We do everything except put scenes on the page.

I've been there. I still experience it to this day. Avoidance is comfortable. The blank page isn't.

Read Scripts. Obsessively.

The single fastest way to improve is to read produced screenplays. Not just scripts from films you love, but scripts from films that work structurally. Chinatown. Parasite. Get Out. The Social Network. These aren't just great movies, they're master classes in how professionals use the format to tell stories.

You can find produced scripts for free all over the internet. Read one a week minimum. Pay attention to how much is on each page. Notice when writers break formatting rules and why they get away with it. See how little dialogue some of the best scenes actually use.

Write Short First

If you're starting out, don't open with a 120-page feature. Write a five-page short. Then a ten-page short. Then another one. Constraint forces craft (I especially learned this through my acting training. My mentor would always tell us, "If you can't act/live truthfully in a two-page scene, what makes you think you can act honestly in a ten-page scene.") You can't hide weak structure in five pages the way you can in a feature. Every scene has to earn its place.

When I was starting out, most of what I wrote was not that good. Lol. That's not supposed to be discouragement... that's how it goes. Recently, I revisited a feature that I wrote 5 years ago and oh boy was that an experience. Over-parenthesize here, dialogue without a dash of subtlety there, and a story structure that would make any screenwriting professor cry. However, I saw how much I had grown. I was able to see where I had lacked and where I could improve; that came with time, experience, and continued education. Every bad script teaches you something. The writers who improve the quickest are the ones who finish things, even when they know it's not great. Finishing is a skill. Getting started is the biggest obstacle.

Study Structure, Then Forget It

Know the three-act structure. Know the Save the Cat beat sheet. Know what a midpoint is and why it matters. Learn these tools well enough that you understand what they're solving for.

Then stop thinking about them while you write.

Structure is a tool, not a blueprint. You use it after the fact to figure out why something isn't working. When you're in the scene, just be in the scene.

Get Feedback From the Right People

Not your friends. Not your family. They love you and they will tell you it's great.

Find a writers' group, a screenwriting community, or a trusted peer who will tell you the truth. Scene Zero is building up a Discord community where writers and other creatives will connect and grow with each other. Come in, share your work, get in the conversation. That feedback loop is how you improve faster than someone working in isolation.

The Most Honest Thing I Can Tell You

I'm still learning. I write, I watch what works, I tear it apart, I try again. Approach the craft with curiousity, not ego.

Use whatever helps you get pages done. Scene Zero exists to remove friction between you and the writing. The rest is on you.

Happy writing.

— Brady