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This
week's answer:
"One
Thing-king"
Well, one thing would be for the
screenwriter not to put his or her name on the title
page. It would be hard to contact him or her to
tell him or her that a producer is interested in buying
the script (from him or her).
Assuming you're referring to what
one thing in a screenplay would prompt me to not
consider it as a viable one, I'd have to say that
there's always more than one thing about a script that
can send it not to the "consider pile."
So many story elements have to be taken into
consideration: structure, storyline, character
development, tone, pace, etc. But one major
"thing" is if the dialogue is stilted,
awkward, and generally not pleasant to the ear (or mental
ear -- whatever that is. I guess that's an ear
that really doesn't hear, but one one imagines
hears. And that last sentence is a perfect example
of "stilted" -- and even worse than
that.). Another "thing," and this is a
"thing" that many neophyte writers (no, I'm
not talking about writers who come from the planet,
Neophyte), is the mistake writers make when they
describe action without showing how characters,
especially the protagonist, react emotionally.
Also, another "thing" that exposes amateurish
writing is a lack of skill in blending narration with
dialogue. Another "thing" is the problem
of scenes not being sufficiently enthralling, often
lacking conflict, tension, and nuance. One more
"thing" that a weak screenplay will often
display is a lack of cinematic sequencing, stringing
sentences together that create the illusion for the
reader that he is feeling as though he is, in a sense,
watching a movie (a mental movie. One that can be
heard with mental ears and watched with mental eyes.)
Now all we all need is mental free
movie tickets.
DcH
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