The Simple Rule That Will Fix Your Flat Scenes

People are always asking me what the "secret sauce" is for a great screenplay. If there was some condiment you would put on every spec to make it great, I would be slathering that stuff on everything I do.

The truth is, to write a great movie, you have to be educated to breaking and rebreaking the story as much as possible.

But there are a few things you can do that can take your "fine" script and start to elevate it.

Most of us know the basics: conflict, goals, and stakes. But what about the individual scenes?

I recently came across a video from Big Red Stripe that breaks down what they call the "First Law of Scene Writing." I thought it had some pretty good advice.

Let’s dive into why your scenes might be falling flat and how to fix them.

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The "Court Reporter" Trap

Have you ever written a scene that looks perfect on the page, but when you read it back, it just feels...dry?

Well, this is what's known as writing like a "court reporter." You’re documenting everything in the scene and getting in and out with much action or voice or flare...

The problem? When you try to serve everyone equally and deliver straight info, you end up serving no one. The reader has no anchor or idea what the scene is about, or a POV that makes them understand the wants.

That brings us to the big lesson...

The First Law: Every Scene Must Belong to Someone

This video broke this thing down in a way I had never heard before, but it clicked with me: Every scene must belong to someone.

That's right, you have to have a Point of View for each scene with some motivations and goals, so the audience understands what's going on.

Just like your entire movie belongs to a protagonist, every scene has its own "main character." And this isn't always your protagonist! It’s the person through whose eyes we are experiencing the conflict...

Make sense?

When a scene belongs to someone, the audience is in their head. We feel their tension, we interpret the other characters based on their perspective, and we filter the entire experience through their specific need.

So, does every scene in your script have a distinct POV?

Same Dialogue, Different Scene

The coolest part about this law is that it isn't about the dialogue. You can have the exact same lines of dialogue, in the exact same order, but change who the scene belongs to just with the action writing.

Let's do an example so we can see what I mean.

Think about a couple getting ready for a party -- George and Maggie.

• If it's George’s scene: We start with him rushing, checking his watch, and feeling the pressure of being late. Maggie is the obstacle in his way. She's asking him questions and being his obstacle.
• If it's Maggie’s scene: We start with her carefully applying eyeliner, trying to find a moment of peace, and then confronting George as he tries to get around her. George is the noisy distraction trying to rush her.

See, you have the same beats, but we're seeing it through someone else's eyes.

How to Use What You Learned

Okay, you have the first law in your brain. Now it's time for you to get it into your screenplays.

Before you write, decide who the scene belongs to. Usually, this means figuring out which character’s perspective offers the most tension.

Once you have that, start and end the scene with the person it belongs to. This gives you a way in and a way out of the idea. If it's George's scene, we see him enter the space first. If it's Maggie's, we find her already there. This eliminates confusion and tells the reader exactly whose experience they should be tracking.

Think of yourself as a narrator in a book. You can see everything, but you only know the internal thoughts and feelings of one character for that scene.

Again, that does not have to be the protagonist.

Wrapping Up

If your scenes don't belong to anyone, your readers will finish your script and feel... nothing. And in this business, fine is the kiss of death. No one is buying fine!

So, pick a perspective. And turn your script from a document of events into an experience people want to live through.

Happy writing.