Writing Explosive Action Lines
February 10th, 2010
Showing the story instead of telling the story is critical in the action lines of a screenplay. These lines are used to show different elements in the scene without actually directing anything or anyone. If not careful, action lines can end up looking like a paragraph out of a novel and quickly discarded by readers, producers and anyone else with a short attention span.
In order to break the rules, we must know the rules.
Rules to Action Lines:
- No directing. We are writers and not actors or directors. Let them do their job and you do yours.
- Eliminate “ings”. Everything takes place right now. If Adam is sitting, he sits. If Sandy is playing basketball, Sandy plays basketball.
- Less is more. No paragraphs. Stick to roughly four lines of text.
What makes great action lines?
Action words. Choosing the words you use is so important to a quality screenplay. Action words are those that show movement and create impact for the reader. Here’s a list of a few: chase, scream, blast, rip, and explode.
Most of those are great for action genre scripts but if the story is a drama, action words are still important. Being more creative, however, is the key. Dramas are more about the characters, generally, and using action-evoking adjectives can aid the intent of the scene or character. For example, “Sarah listens” can be expanded to “Sarah intently listens”. The second example gives a sense of action while creating subtext.
Using the action lines wisely will create a visually moving story perfect for the silver screen.
Filed under: format, screenwriting