Guidelines on Length: dialog, action, scene, and script

At my screenwriters Meetup group last night, there was some good discussion about the length of dialog and action lines, the overall duration of each scene, and the length of the screenplay as a whole.

So how long is too long?

Descriptions. Keep scene descriptions to three lines or less. Use double-spacing between paragraphs to break up longer descriptions.

Action. Similar to descriptions, keep action lines to three lines or less, and use double-spacing between paragraphs to break it up. Too many lines and I get lost in the action. As a personal rule, I break up my action lines whenever I switch focus to another character, object, or location. Use short choppy sentences to speed up fast-paced scenes, and use flowing sentences to slow down a scene.

Dialogue. Keep each character’s lines to three or less. Only go to four or five if it’s absolutely necessary! To shorten long lines of dialogue, break them up with action. This could be something as simple as basic body language, or be used for a greater purpose to show subtext. If my character is being interrogated, saying ‘her hand tremors as she lifts the glass to her lips’ tells me a lot more about her innocence or guilt than saying ‘she takes a sip of water.’ Use these small moments to give your scenes and characters color and depth.

Scenes. The ideal length of a scene is based on its significance. Important scenes can be up to four pages, but less significant scenes should average about a page and a half or less.

Script. All scripts are formatted in Courier 12 pt. font. PERIOD. Why? Because courier is a fixed-pitch font, not a proportional-spacing font. Each letter gets the same amount of space whether it’s an “I” or a “W.” This allows studios to estimate the screen time of a script at 1-minute per page. I’ve heard a lot of target page numbers thrown out from 115 to 90 to 120 pages in length. One article I came across broke it down into basic dollars and cents:

• The person at the studio who initially reads the script, gets paid by the number of scripts they read in a day. So if you’re an unknown, shoot for 105 pages to help your script float to the top of their pile.
• From a studio perspective, a 105 minute film has more run time in the theaters than a 120 minute film, which means higher box office profits.

All these restrictions may seem cumbersome now, but they will make your screenplay more readable. At my screenwriter’s Meetup last night, we read 10-pages of eight scripts. 80 pages. The ones formatted properly are quick and enjoyable. The story just flows. The ones not formatted properly take longer to read, which ultimately detracts from the story and it makes me want to stop reading. So take a moment and quickly go through your script and add strategic line breaks in any action or description that's over three lines and see for yourself the difference it makes.