How to Write Dramatic Scenes for Screenplays

Writing Sequences of Dialogue and Action to Drive the Plot in Films

Aug 21, 2009

Scenes Consist of Action and Dialogue, Zetterstrand, Bonjour Monsiour Courbet

A well-conceived plot within a screenplay will fall flat if the linking scenes of action and dialogue are poorly written.

Scenes hold the story together like links to a chain. If any are weak, poorly structured or disjointed, the chain will fall apart. Regardless of how short the scene may be, it deserves the same attention as the more important ones. This will help strengthen the overall screenplay and urge the script reader to continue to the end.

Screenwriting Guide on Writing Scenes for a Film Script

A scene describes via a mixture of action and dialogue an event set in a particular time and/or place. More often than not, there will be at least one character involved, and like the main plot, must have an opening, the main body and an ending. Each scene must serve some or all of the following points:

To drive the story forward
To reveal something about the character/s
To describe a point of tension relevant to the story
To impart important information for the audience
To control the pace of the story arc
To provide further questions for the audience

What Scenes Don’t Work

Tension is the main focus of any scene. Tension does not necessarily mean that it has to describe conflict. Tension can be many things. Ultimately, it is when something is not right. The imparting of secrets of the expression of lies, suppressed emotions and hidden motives are all forms of tension. Even comedy is a form of tension. The scene serves no purpose and requires cutting or rewriting if:

It does not move the story forward
Everyone is in accordance
Its outcome is reiterated in another part of the screenplay
There is not enough tension
Something is not revealed about the character/s
Further questions do not present themselves for the audience

Screenwriting Tips on Pacing the Story Arc

Some scenes will be shorter than others. Those that merely describe the passing of time or place are often used in montages or a series of shots. These are short clips consisting of images, and sometimes dialogue. The climatic unfolding of event should be drawn out in order to heighten the drama. In this way, the length of the scene should reflect its importance. The careful blending of short scenes with long, controls the pace of the film and serves to provide breathers between climaxes.

Screenwriting Help for Improving Scenes

A first draft can be improved with the following suggestions:

Finding ways of increasing contrast between characters, for instance, in their viewpoints and their desires
Enhancing tension by finding ways of enhancing an embarrassing situation, the suppression of emotion or the importance of a secret
Creating more contrast between what is overt and what is suppressed. This is known as subtext.
Rejigging scenes to see if it improves the sense of culmination within the story
Cutting out scenes that provide insufficient tension to make way for the possible lengthening of climatic scenes

Screenwriting Guide on Writing Compelling and Dramatic Scenes

A scene serves to describe an event set at a particular time and/or place within the story. It will often feature at least one character and portray a mixture of action and dialogue. Every scene must contain some sort of tension and move the story forward. This might be a surprising revelation, conflict, or something as small as a few words. Without well-written scenes, the screenplay will fall apart

The copyright of the article How to Write Dramatic Scenes for Screenplays in Writing Dramatic Scripts is owned by Rachel Wills. Permission to republish How to Write Dramatic Scenes for Screenplays in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.