#8) To make sure your script is readable

Many screenwriters write in a vacuum.  They have nobody giving them feedback or insight on their scripts, ever.  Or, they solicit what feedback they can from friends and family, who may know little about the mechanics and art of screenwriting.  You may think you’re the greatest screenwriter in the world, (and you very well may be!) but remember – You’re not writing your script so that you can take it into a dark room, lock it away from the rest of the world, and read it to yourself for the rest of your life.  You’re writing your screenplay with the hopes that it will eventually be made into a film, so that the entire world can see it.  Your job as a screenwriter is to COMMUNICATE TO AN AUDIENCE, not to keep your script a secret while you pat yourself on the back and tell yourself how talented you are.  So get it out there in front of people and see if your script is readable.  A qualified script reader reads many scripts per week, and has a vast expertise in what separates a readable script from an unreadable script.

#7) To catch any glaring formatting errors, spelling errors, punctuation, etc.

This alone is worth the price of a script coverage.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent out scripts that are missing an entire paragaph, or have “their” and “there” mixed up in one sentence because I didn’t play close attention to the spellcheck.  Many veteran screenwriters still send out scripts that have glaring punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors, and it’s not helping their script any.  Not to mention, it’s unacceptable and completely unprofessional to send out a script which isn’t formatted in the proper film industry screenplay format.  If you’re a first time screenwriter, getting script coverage can be a much-needed cold splash of water in the face to make sure you’re making your script look as professional and as error-free as possible.

#6) To give you insight on how an anonymous script reader would react to your script

So you’re finally ready to send out your gross-out comedy script to agencies and producers.  Awesome!  Let’s say you’ve sent out 20 of them to various places across Hollywood.  Now let’s say only ONE of your scripts gets opened and placed on some assistant’s desk.  (And 1 out of 20 ain’t a bad success rate!)   But uh-oh, the assistant whose desk your script landed on isn’t into gross-out comedies.

But as a screenwriter, submitting out to agencies and producers, you have no idea who’s throwing your script away and who’s reading it, let alone what kind of scripts your reader prefers!  But let’s say you DID know that your gross-out comedy was sent to 20 agencies, and knew that of those 20, 19 of them were thrown in the trash, and then also knew that ONE of those agencies actually opened it.  Now imagine you  have a choice:  (A) Tell them “Don’t read it!”  Because the script reader doesn’t like gross-out comedies, or (B) Have the script reader who doesn’t like gross-out comedies read it anyway.  Of COURSE you’d choose B.  ANY CHANCE of having your script get read and liked is better than NO CHANCE AT ALL.

So that means your script has to be ready for anything, including the reader who may not have a predilection for your script’s genre.  When you get your script covered before you send it out, you see how an anonymous reader would react to your script.  Maybe they like your genre, maybe they don’t.  The true value in the script coverage is the insight you get from having your script get covered in as close-to-real-world circumstances as possible, which includes not necessarily being paired up with a reader who is predisposed to your particular writing style, or your particular script’s genre.

#5)  To read your script’s synopsis, as written by a total stranger

As I mentioned earlier, a typical script coverage will include a synopsis.  This is a brief summary of your script, from page 1 to THE END.  As a screenwriter, I find it massively helpful to read the synopses of my scripts, as written from total strangers.  I discover that entire story beats can be completely missed, entire sections of the script don’t make sense to the reader because they missed a certain part, or glossed over it too fast.  I use these opportunities to go back and double- and triple-ensure that the next draft of the script is SUPER CLEAR on these specific weak spots.  It’s not the reader’s job to make the script make sense.  It’s the screenwriter’s.  And if you can use their synopsis of your script as a way to strengthen your script, you’ve already gotten your money’s worth from your script coverage.

#4) To make sure your characters are likeable

You might spend a few months writing your script, or a few years, and fall completely in love with all the characters in it.  Or maybe you just fall in love with your lead.  Either way, a script reader isn’t going to spend a year with these characters, watching them get molded and sculpted into what they are.  She’s only going to read them as you have them NOW, on the page.  So whereas you might like your characters, or even love them, a script reader doing script coverage on your screenplay might not feel the same way.  Your job is to get those characters to be likeable to the totally fresh, totally new-to-your-script screenplay reader.

#3) Make sure your dialogue reads true.

One thing all script readers pick up on is the quality of your script’s dialogue.  You could have the greatest, most original story in the world, but if your dialogue lags, that’s the first thing a script reader will point out in your coverage.  Some script readers are more specific, including the page and sentence where your dialogue falls flat; others are more vague.  But if your dialogue doesn’t POP for a script reader, you know it’s not going to POP for an agent or producer.  Use their critique of your dialogue to spruce up your dialogue and make it sizzle.  Shorten it, tighten it, tweak it, slap it around.  Having a script reader nail you on dialogue in your script coverage should be looked at as an awesome opportunity to improve your screenplay.

#2) To make sure your screenplay has enough conflict

Conflict is the lifeblood of any good movie script.  And script readers know it.  Getting script coverage from a professional script reader is a great way to make sure that your script’s stakes are high enough.  Is your hero more powerful than your villain?  Then there’s no conflict!  A good script reader will include in his coverage that your conflict could use some beefing up.  Without conflict, there is no tension.  Where there is no tension, there is no interest from the audience.

#1) To see where an anonymous script reader thinks your script ranks, relative to similar scripts or films

Script readers who do script coverage on a regular basis read tons of scripts.  TONS.  And they see tons of movies.  They generally have a vast background in all things cinema, and share a massive passion for the movies.  So they can tell you where your film falls, relative to other films who may be similar.  And that can be a valuable tool to make sure that your script isn’t unwittingly copying or lifting another film’s story, characters, or elements.  Script coverage catches unoriginality before you get egg on your face by sending it to an agent.  A good screenwriter would love to have the ability to make a tweak or two to her script if she found out she’d unwittingly written a story beat that apparently plagiarized another film.  We’re all human and this is bound to happen, but by getting your script covered before you send it out, you stand a chance of catching these unintentional gaffes.

There you have it.  The top 8 reasons why all screenwriters should get their script covered before sending it out to agents and producers.  Think of script coverage as a way to quickly get a “read” on your script to make sure you’re not making any glaring goofs, OR you can think of it as just one of many steps on the road to making your script the tightest, most awesome script it’s destined to be.