TEN4TEN | scriptwriting-uk

Ten pages that could change your career.

The impact of the opening ten pages of any screenplay is becoming increasingly crucial. As more and more screenwriting degrees and courses become available, so the number of writers in the market grows – writers who have training, some industry-savvy and, often, production experience. And they’re all submitting their work to anyone who’s looking: agents, producers, directors, commissioners, competitions ... you name it.

This is a GOOD thing – it’s breathing new life and energy into the industry, and the amount of creativity out there is fantastic. However, it’s putting a lot of pressure on the readers and execs whose job it is to sift through material, and their time is getting even more squeezed. As a result, the BBC Writers Room will only read the first ten pages of any new submission – if the reader isn’t hooked by page ten, the script is rejected (and cannot be resubmitted).

The prestigious Red Planet prize initially judges entries on the quality of the opening ten pages – that is all you send in – and then calls for the rest of those scripts that have passed this acid test. Many other production companies, agents and execs will also judge a writer on the first ten pages of a script.

So it’s vital that those ten pages really count.

They need to set up the story, hit the ground running, show an understanding of characterization, have a strong visual element, dialogue that engages and a hook that makes you want to read on.

It doesn’t matter if you have a cracking plot twist on p.23, or a brilliant character who comes into play in the second act – if your first ten pages aren’t quite up to scratch, the reader’s not going to get that far.

The TEN4TEN service focuses only on those ten pages and will give you feedback on this vital first impression that your script makes. If you’d then like further feedback on the rest of the script, I will write a full report, for the usual fee minus the £10 that you’ve already paid.

£10 doesn’t buy an awful lot these days – a few cappuccinos, a decent bottle of wine, an M&S Dine In for Two meal deal (actually, that’s not a bad bargain), a new printer cartridge and some A4 paper – but it can buy you professional feedback on the most crucial element of your script. That’s got to be worth a tenner.