[Roderick Usher]

These comments might sound simplistic, but you have no idea how many horror scripts I read that do not even get this much right.

First - WRITE! Write a ton!

Your first script will not be good, but it must be completed in order to write the second script and the third. Mine didn't start having any redeeming qualities until my third one. I've written 24 of them now and they're starting to actually get good.

Next, start thinking about and developing a story that has a true 3-act structure... a beginning, a middle (including a second act turn where things go from bad to worse or switch directions dramatically) and a conclusion that comes as the logical end to the story - a screenplay that does not do this already has one huge strike against it. Yes it is a formula, but it is a formula that ALWAYS works.

You need a protagonist(s) and an antagonist(s) who are in direct opposition to each other.

Your hero needs to be active. He/she needs to be the one driving the story forward... not the person to whom things simply happen. A passive lead is lame and boring.

ACTION!!! Movies are called moving pictures for a reason... they move!


and I have a list of Rules that I apply to everything I write:
-Every scene must drive the story forward
-Every scene must reveal of reinforce character
-Mood and tone should be established early and reinforced often
-Exposition should be handled through or during action
-Drafts should work their way up the body:
---First draft from the gut (or lower)
---Second draft from the heart, make sure there is a strong emotional life to your characters
---Subsequent drafts are pure headwork - making characters consistent, tweaking the pacing, making sure everything flows logically