![]() Many writers believe you have to load the first ten pages with lots of crazy action and startling events, and that’s the best way to hook your reader in. On the other hand, if your audience truly cares how the Central Dramatic Question might be answered, you’ll have them gripped until the end of your screenplay. If you haven’t hooked them in the first ten pages, all that great material will go unread. It doesn’t matter if you have a big reveal in the middle of Act Two, or a great twist at the end of Act Three. If you fail to do this, or the reader isn’t interested in finding out how this question is resolved, it is unlikely they will read any further. Once the Central Dramatic Question is answered, the audience’s attention is set free.īy page ten of your screenplay, your Central Dramatic Question needs to have been posed. ![]() Usually once the central dramatic question is answered, the story is largely over, and it’s time to wrap up your narrative. You might be able to recall a film in which the Central Dramatic Question was answered but the film just kept going and going. It is the audience’s desire or need to know how the question will be answered that keeps them tuned in. Typically the Central Dramatic Question is set up and posed in Act One, explored and exploited in Act Two, and answered in Act Three. Will Harold and Kumar break out of their loser molds and make it to White Castle for sliders and fries?.Will Frodo succeed in his effort to return “the one ring” to Mordor, or will the Dark Lord, Sauron, gain possession of it and use its power to enslave the world?.Will Rocky prove himself when he meets Apollo Creed, or will he live the rest of his life knowing he’s just another bum from the neighborhood?.Will Dorothy find her way home to Kansas, or meet her fate at the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West?. ![]() A few examples of Central Dramatic Questions: Note: sometimes the Central Dramatic Question of a story is never resolved, and it is left to the viewer to make their own judgments. A Central Dramatic Question should be included in every story regardless of genre: even comedies need to a pose a question that will keep the audience invested. This is the question that goes immediately to the heart of what your story is about, and the central question that will be investigated. The best place to start is by identifying the Central Dramatic Question of your story. But what’s the secret to crafting the first ten pages in a way that grabs the reader and doesn’t let go? Now more than ever it is crucial to hook your reader in within the first ten pages, or risk having your screenplay thrown on the rejection pile. Because they have read so many scripts over the course of their careers, they can usually tell within the first ten pages whether it’s worth reading through to the end. Managers, agents, producers and studio executives read dozens (sometimes hundreds) of screenplays every year.
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