Every award-winning short film begins life with a clever idea, a good story and a screenplay. Patrick Nash analyses the process of writing short film screenplays and gives advice on:

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  Story and structure

  
  


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  Ideas generation

  
  


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  Plot and pace

  
  


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  Screenplay format

  
  


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  Dos and don'ts

  
  


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  Eliciting emotion

  
  


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  Dialogue and subtext

  
  


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  Character design

  
  


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  Protagonists and antagonists

  
  


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  Character motivation and goals

  
  


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  Conflict, obstacles and stakes

  
  


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  Clichés and Stereotypes

  
  


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  Beginnings, middles and ends

  
  


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  Hooking the viewer

  
  


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  Screenplay competitions

  
  


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  Loglines, outlines and synopses

  
  


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  Rewriting and length

  
  


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  Practicalities and budgets

  
  

The book also includes a number of award-winning scripts and interviews, advice and contributions from their award-winning screenwriters and a discussion of the benefits to writers of writing short screenplays.