8/4/2019 William Goldman's 10 Commandments

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Screenplays are structure

William Goldman

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

1. Thou shalt not take the crisis out of the protagonistshands.

2. Thou shalt not make life easy for the protagonist.3. Thou shalt not give exposition for expositions sake.4. Thou shalt not use false mystery or cheap surprise.5. Thou shalt respect thy audience.6. Thou shalt know thy world as God knows this one.7. Thou shalt not complicate when complexity is

better.

8. Thou shalt seek the end of the line, taking charactersto the farthest depth of the conflict imaginable

within the storys own realm of probability.

9. Thou shalt not write on the nose put a subtextunder every text.

10.Thou shalt rewrite.FromAdventures in The Screen Trade by William Goldman.