It can take quite a leap to get from the written word to a movie screen. A screenplay, for all its clear descriptions of where characters are and what they say, has to work hard to meet the dramatic immediacy that we expect from films. 1. Stick To The Present Tense Writing in the present tense helps, keeping the text direct and different from the prose you’ll find in most novels or short stories. 2. Add Sound Effects Sound effects can be effectively replicated on the page, using onomatopoeia such as BANGS for gunshots and SCREAMS of characters in danger.