Terry Rossio's Reader Rules

[The Big Peat]

A friend of mine turned me onto these. Terry Rossio is the guy behind the screenplays for Aladdin, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean. This is the ticklist he made when working as a reader sorting through submissions, working out what had a chance and what didn't. They're a bit filmcentric but for the most part I think they're a really good list of the things that make gripping stories and questions you should ask yourself, with a few good bits of insight.

http://rafasny.org/rmm/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/02/readerrules-terryrossio.pdf

 

[Brian G Turner]

I do like this point especially, as it's something I think many people (especially myself!) have trouble with when it comes to the opening chapter:

Begin a scene as late as possible, end it as early as possible. A screenplay is like a piece of string that you can cut up and tie together -- the trick is to tell the entire story using as little string as possible.

 

[night_wrtr]

I like this one -

"#57. Run each character through as many emotions as possible -- love, hate, laugh, cry, revenge."

 

[EJDeBrun]

As a firm believer that reading screenplays is an excellent way to gain a solid narrative education, I approve of this list very much.

 

[Cathbad]

The list sounded like common sense.

 

[EJDeBrun]

The list sounded like common sense.

You'd be surprised.

 

[Cathbad]

You'd be surprised.

No I wouldn't.

Believe me, I've met the masses, and Common Sense is not common at all!

 

[EJDeBrun]

No I wouldn't.

Believe me, I've met the masses, and Common Sense is not common at all!

Forget the masses. I can't tell you how rare it is for anyone in the movie business to know any of this at all. In the VFX world it's like trying to find a jackalope among a bunch of hares.