I often see writers on writer-dedicated websites confess that they don’t actually enjoy reading. The inevitable question becomes, “do I have to read to write well?” The answer is a resounding “yes!” However, I am here to provide a caveat, an exception. But first, let’s start with a question: what do you love? Or maybe, why do you want to write? Because there is a reason here, and normally it boils down to the love of the story. There are a lot of ways to tell a story, a full-length novel is just one of them. If a person wants to write, hates to read, but loves movies or TV shows or plays, then my suggestion, is to write what you love: screenplays…let’s talk about screenplays.
The difference between reading and watching
When I think about the many differences between screenplays and novels. The first big thing that comes to mind is: a person is going to act out the screenplay. The actions have to be realistic. Generally speaking, you are not ‘in’ anyone’s head. The point of view is not as tight; it can follow a person, but it will not be ‘inside the mind’ of a character the same way that a novel is/can be. Formatting is majorly different than novels.
Formatting
On this website: https://dramatify.com/american-screenwriting-standard, they go into detail about what a screenplay should look like. There is a very specific standard, just like there is for novel manuscripts on what they should look like.
Some highlights are that the screenplay should be written in 12 pt. Courier on US letter paper, the headings should be in ALL CAPS and should include only six elements these are: scene heading, action, character, parenthetical, dialogue and transition.
Formatting details
More formatting details can be found here: https://www.emwelsh.com/blog/screenwriting-format-rules. According to this blog post a page of a script is a minute of action in the screenplay. Another interesting thing is that when a character is introduced for the first time, their name should be in all caps. After that, their name does not have to appear in capital letters.
Thoughts on Story
While writing a novel “show don’t tell” is something that people will say a lot. This idea takes on a whole new meaning when writing a screenplay because all of the action is literally shown. There is a difference in the way that you write when the expectation is that the audience will see the subtle motion of the character’s face as they react to another character that they dislike, or the audience will see a character tucking something into their bra. These differences mean that the story becomes felt instead of read, it’s seen and heard and maybe not written as much.
I’m not saying that the writing in a screenplay doesn’t matter; I’m saying that the point becomes subtler.