Hi there, I am working on my first screenplay. The genre of the screenplay is a crime drama For a first-time screenwriter how many pages should my screenplay be?
Screenwriting : Working on my first screenplay question by Hunter Huiet
Working on my first screenplay question
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Hi Hunter, I'm thinking for a crime drama, depending on the scale of your story, the script should be between 105 and 120 pages. Do you have an outline worked out? When writing a first draft, just know this draft will be your longest. Might I suggest https://www.scriptslug.com/, a wonderful plethora of scripts of all genres. I use this site all the time for reference. I hope this helps.
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As long as it takes to put the story across. Just don't write a bloated crime drama.
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I don't know the pages answer sorry, hopping on to say awesome link! thanks James Welday!
Jackie Tarascio you're welcome, happy to help!
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Start at page 1; when you run out of story, stop. Since this is your first the next thing you ought to do is learn the acceptable script format and then rewrite it. Keep it tight.
Industry standard is 120. ScreenCraft has an article, "What Screenwriters Are Up Against in Every Genre" That article will help guide you in the Genre you choose. Work your magic into it. The structure of the story is more important during the first draft, than spelling errors, punctuation marks. All that will come when you rewrite the script. keep writing.
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Hi it depends whether you want to write a short or feature. A short is less than 40 mins (40pages). You can create a one minute short and that would be anywhere between 1-2pages. Usually it’s 1 minute per page. A good amount of pages for a feature would be 90-120 or more depending on what the story is.
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Probably between 90-110. Since it's a crime drama, and you can concentrate on character development more, I bet you could get away with between 100-110.
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I agree with Barry above. Don't allow yourself to get caught up in the page count - it can be too distracting and stressful and therefore can seriously hamper your ability to get your script written. Just WRITE. Get what is in your head down on paper. Don't edit along the way. Just do it. And when you have a beginning, a middle and an end, let it sit awhile. Go for a walk. Take a shower. Take a nap. You will be amazed at how your brain will begin to compartmentalize and reorder things and how new ideas will begin to come to you. Then you can go back and begin editing and trimming. All the best to you.