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Is your screenplay
ready to share?

A writer’s checklist

Ten questions to help you look at your draft with fresh eyes, before seeking feedback or submitting it professionally.

ScriptAccess 10 sections

Finishing a screenplay is an achievement. Deciding what to do with it next can be harder.

You might be considering a competition, approaching an agent or producer, or wondering whether another rewrite would help. After months inside the same story, it can be difficult to judge what a fresh reader will understand.

This checklist will help you take a closer look at your draft before seeking feedback or submitting it professionally. It cannot tell you how good your screenplay is, but it can help you identify questions worth asking.

How to use the checklist

Mark each item Yes, Unsure or Not yet. Use your answers to identify priorities, rather than calculate a score.

Your choices stay on this page and are not submitted to ScriptAccess. Refreshing the page clears them. Use Print to keep a copy.

Start the checklist

Can you describe the central story clearly?

I can explain whose story this is, what they want and what stands in their way.
I can describe what they risk losing if they fail.
My short description reflects the screenplay I have actually written.

Try explaining your story in two or three sentences. If that feels difficult, consider whether the difficulty lies in the pitch or in the draft itself. A complex story can still have a clear central thread.

Does your opening give the reader a reason to continue?

The opening establishes a distinctive situation, character, atmosphere or question.
The reader has enough information to follow what is happening.
Early scenes contribute something beyond background explanation.

Your screenplay does not need to begin with an explosion or reveal its entire premise immediately. It does need to create interest. A quiet encounter can be compelling when something meaningful is happening beneath it.

Does your central character influence what happens?

I understand what my central character wants, even if they cannot express it.
Their choices and responses, including avoidance or refusal, affect what follows.
Their responses to pressure reveal something specific about them.

Some stories follow characters who are trapped, reluctant or struggling to act. That can work. Consider how their choices, including avoidance or refusal, shape the audience’s experience.

Does the story develop as it progresses?

Important events change the situation rather than simply repeat it.
Obstacles put meaningful pressure on the characters.
Later scenes build on what has happened earlier.

Look at the middle of your screenplay. Does the audience’s understanding deepen? Do relationships shift? Do choices become harder? Development can be emotional, practical or both.

Are the character relationships doing dramatic work?

Important characters want something from one another.
Their relationships contain tension, uncertainty or change.
Supporting characters have a clear purpose beyond delivering information.

A useful question is: what becomes different because these two people share a scene? The answer might be a broken trust, a new suspicion or an unexpected moment of connection.

Can the audience see and hear the story?

Important information is communicated through filmable action, dialogue or sound.
The audience can follow essential changes without access to my private explanation.
Action descriptions make the scene easy to picture.

Check any passage describing what a character knows, remembers or feels. Is there enough on screen to communicate what matters? You do not need to spell out every emotion, but the reader needs evidence from which to understand it.

Does the dialogue serve the scene?

Characters speak with intentions, attitudes and voices that suit them.
Conversations do more than explain the plot.
I have checked for information repeated unnecessarily.

Reading dialogue aloud can reveal awkward phrasing and repetition. Also look at what characters avoid saying. Silence, evasion and conflicting intentions can carry as much weight as a direct statement.

Does the ending fulfil the story’s promise?

The ending addresses the central dramatic question, or leaves it open with a clear purpose.
The outcome grows from the characters and events already established.
The final scenes create the emotional effect I intended.

An ending can be surprising, unresolved or unsettling. Consider whether it feels earned, and whether earlier scenes give the audience enough to engage with it.

Have you checked the reading experience?

Scene headings, character names and formatting are consistent.
I have checked spelling, missing words and continuity.
Action paragraphs are readable and proportionate to what happens.
The exported PDF opens correctly and contains the intended draft.
I have checked the requirements of any competition or recipient I plan to submit to.

These checks help a reader concentrate on your story. Before uploading, open the actual PDF you intend to send and inspect the beginning, middle and end.

Do you know what you want from feedback?

I can identify the areas I am least certain about.
I am prepared to consider observations without accepting every suggested change.
I have saved a dated copy of this draft so I can track revisions.

You might want to know whether the protagonist’s motivation is clear, whether the middle sustains interest or whether the ending lands emotionally. Specific questions can make feedback easier to assess and use.

What should I do next?
YOUR NEXT STEP

What should you do with your answers?

If several questions exposed problems you already know how to fix: make a focused revision. You may gain more from feedback once those changes are in place.

If you are unsure whether something works: that uncertainty can be a good reason to seek an outside reading. You do not have to solve every problem before asking for feedback.

If you marked most items Yes: you have checked some useful foundations. That does not guarantee a strong screenplay or mean it is ready for every professional opportunity. A fresh reader may still experience it differently.

Avoid turning the checklist into a score out of ten. These questions matter in different ways for different stories, and a tick cannot measure the quality of their execution.

YOUR STORY. A FRESH PERSPECTIVE.

Ready for a fresh perspective?

When you know your story inside out, it is easy to supply connections in your head that a new reader may miss. An evaluation can help you examine the gap between what you intended and what the draft communicates.

A standard ScriptAccess evaluation costs £35 and provides structured feedback on your screenplay, with practical priorities for your next draft.

New to ScriptAccess? Check our complimentary first-evaluation offer for current availability and eligibility before submitting.

Bring your own questions to the report. Consider the evidence, challenge observations where appropriate and use the feedback to make informed decisions about your work.

Check the complimentary offer Submit your work · £35
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