Hey everybody,
I was recently reflecting on a massive dilemma that almost every screenwriting mentor and executive seems to weigh in on differently:
If an industry reader picks up your script, what actually hooks them more on page one? An undeniable, authentic voice, or absolute mechanical and structural perfection?
We often hear that "structure can be taught, but voice is instinctual." At the same time, a brilliant voice trapped inside an unreadable structure helps no one.
I recently interviewed Anand Saga (Lead of Creative & Business at ProducerBazaar) for my blog, Fade2stage. He brought up an incredible point about how authenticity makes a script memorable, but structure is what makes it watchable in the first place.
It got me thinking about where we, as writers, should spend the majority of our energy when polishing those crucial first 10 pages.
Where do you stand on this?
Do you prioritize bleeding your unique voice onto the first page, or do you focus on airtight, textbook pacing and formatting to prove you know the rules?
Let's discuss!
(If you want to read the full breakdown and Anand's take on how executives look at the first 10 pages for franchise potential, I'll drop the link in the comments below!)
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Well a lot rests on what you mean by "structure" and "mechanical".
If you mean "story structure", well there really isn't any way you can show story structure on page 1, and your question is restricted to page 1.
If you mean propert format, spelling, grammar, that alone is not a positivie, but it can be an automatic disqualifier. Remember the poor person reading your script has a two or three foot STACK of screenplays they have to get through, so they are looking for any way possible to disqualify your work as quickly as possible. You show them that you aren't professional enough to care about formatting, or even bother to run a spell check, that's a strong indicator that you didn't care enough to put any work into the plot, so you're gone.
Which means the only way you can really win points on page 1, and you specified page 1, is with voice and dialog. Maybe you can set up your main carachter introduction in a fresh or revealing way... which is hard because pretty much everything has been done before... or slide in a really funny quip, but one page... and your question was about just one page... isn't a lot to work with.
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Page 1 is where you show proper format, grammar, and start the flow for the reader. Format and grammar are simple yes or no, have it or don't.
However, the start of the flow... well, a good tool is the cold open, a quick scene that sets the tone. Check out the opener to Get Out. A random guy is assaulted from behind and kidnapped in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Then, we have the first scene with the two leads chatting during a ride. Without that tense and mysterious opener, it'd look like a road trip romcom. But then... they meet a racist cop... and so on and so forth and those seeds set up in the opener start to pop.
The first page has an enticement to read at least the first 10 pages, which should entice to read Act 1, which should entice to read on… til the end.
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Personally, I think it depends on the story. I love authenticity and originality, particularly if the story is character driven.
I feel structure is important too, particularly if there's more action or background involved.
At least, that's what I'm looking for when I open the first page. I had someone give me a script one time telling me it was a horror story.
I swear to god, the opening line was
Fade in: Int-bedroom at night
A fart breaks yhe silence.
Ive never closed a script faster. Even worse, they Writer couldn't understand why,
@Ronald Lester in my opinion I think the emotions that the reader feels as they sit down to read it's the most important and story structure is something that can be experimented with this is something I learned watching anime and media from Japan. Here's the link to the article by the way: https://www.fade2stage.co/post/sample