The First Few Pages
Screenwriting professionals have short attention spans. Everyone has a screenplay, everyone wants someone to read it, and everyone who’s interested in working in the film industry has to pay their dues by reading a bunch of stinkers.
Opinions vary on formatting and whether or not to stick to the three acts, but what almost everyone who’s willing to spend money on a screenplay will agree to is that the first few pages HAVE to be interesting. They HAVE to grab you. They HAVE to make you want to keep turning the pages.
Sure, you can point to a few Oscar® winning screenplays that didn’t get good till about page 20 (or at all, if we’re being really honest), but first time screenwriters 1 don’t have the luxury of saying “trust me… things get better.”
All that said, here are the first few pages of The Soup Storm 2. I am biased, but I do think that the opening sequence creates enough tension and provides enough imagery to make the reader want to know more. At least it is when I play the scenes in my head.
Screenwriters out there? I’d love to hear your thoughts and read your first few pages.
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