In a post for The Script Lab, Britton Perelman offers advice on what advice you should ignore. “Screenwriting tips are a dime a dozen — there’s the well-meaning advice, the advice you hear from every ole Joe on the street, the advice meant to scare you silly, and the advice that’s bound to make you feel like a failure, the advice that sounds good in theory but is impossible in practice, and all the other advice in between,” Perelman says.
She identifies six pieces of advice to ignore and six you should try instead:
❌ Ignore: “Write What You Know”
✅ Instead… Write Whatever You Want
“If writers only wrote what they know, almost every movie and TV show would be about writers sitting in a room and trying to come up with good story ideas,” Perelman writes. Instead, write what you know about emotions, values, and truth, and get creative with your characters content.
❌ Ignore: “Write Every Day”
✅ Instead… Write Consistently
“Every writer is different,” Perelman says. “No way is truly right or wrong, it’s just about finding what works for you. As long as you’re writing on a somewhat regular basis, that’s a win in my opinion.”
❌ Ignore: Don’t Start Writing Until…
✅ Instead… Just Start Writing
A lot of advice focuses on prep work: know your ending, understand your characters’ nuances, develop your theme, identity the inciting incident, choose the right opening. Instead, Perelman urges you to just start writing. You can always pause later to work out problems. Like they say, you can’t edit a blank page.
❌ Ignore: Never Use Flashbacks, Voiceover, Dreams, Etc. In Your Script
✅ Instead… Go with Your Gut
“Plenty of beloved, award-winning, incredible movies and TV shows use the very plot devices you’ve been told to avoid,” Perelman says. When you want to use one of these devices, ask yourself if it enhances the story. If it does, go for it.
❌ Ignore: Look for Trends in Hollywood Storytelling
✅ Instead… Write Something You Would Want to Watch
“Part of the problem with following a trend in Hollywood is that by the time the general population becomes aware of the trend, the studio execs and money-lending financiers have already moved on,” Perelman writes. “Instead of trying to be part of a trend that’s likely already on its way out the proverbial door, just write something you would actually want to watch.”
❌ Ignore: If There’s Anything Else You Could Be Happy Doing, Do It
✅ Instead… Embrace the Journey
“When someone tells you that if there’s anything else you could be happy doing other than writing, you should do it… that’s not what they really mean,” Perelman says. “What they really mean is… screenwriting is hard. But if you love it — if you love writing stories for the screen — do it. Don’t let anyone discourage you or convince you otherwise.”
