1. Pay attention to the structure of your screenplay. A screenplay *is* structure.
2. Use proper format, grammar, spelling, and presentation.
3. Be sure of what your lead character wants and what is standing in his or her way.
4. Write only what can be seen.
5. Make your hero flawed and wrong about something.
6. Protect your screenplay from all extraneous information and anything unrelated to advancing the plot or character development. Literally, each word needs to be relevant.
7. Characters should sometimes say things they do not mean.
8. Characters should go after goals illogically and/or not in a straight line.
9. Be sure to detail all dialogue and action. (i.e. don’t write things like “they talk about the weather” – it is your job to write out what they say.)
10. Send out the script only when it is really, truly ready.
