Screenwriting Thursday: Billy Wilder's 10 Rules for Screenwriting
August 27, 2026· Kate Gaulke
Happy Thursday!
I'm traveling this week! So let's enjoy a little wisdom from Billy Wilder instead of my typical 3-2-1 post.
On with the show -
Billy Wilder's 10 Rules for Screenwriting
I. The audience is fickle
They came to be entertained. They'll leave the second you stop earning it. Every page is a re-audition. (Especially the 1st 10 pages!)
II. Grab 'em by the throat. Never let go
Every scene. Every page. Attention is earned, then re-earned. A reader can close the script anywhere.
III. Give your lead a clean line of action
One engine. One trajectory. Fuzzy motivation reads as though you don't really know what's going on, even when it feels sophisticated in your head.
IV. Know where you're going
You don't need to know absolutely everything before you start writing, but have the end destination in mind, always. Writing into fog just produces more fog. (These are his rules, they don't have to be yours if you're not working under a deadline)
V. Hide your plot points
The more subtle your machinery, the smarter the movie feels. Readers can see the gears turning. They reward you for hiding them.
VI. If the third act is broken, the first act is the cause
Almost always Act 3 is where you find the problem. Act 1 is where the problem actually started. Set-up determines pay-off. I cite this rule all the time.
VII. Let them add up 2 + 2
A tip Wilder borrowed from Lubitsch, and one Pixar's Andrew Stanton preaches too. Trust the viewer to connect the dots. Leave them the math to do, and they'll love you forever. It turns a passive experience into a more interactive one for your audience.
VIII. Voice-over adds. It doesn't describe
If a man walks into a bar, don't tell us a man walks into a bar - we can already see that. Tell us what he's hoping for. Tell us what the bar smells like. Add something we can't get from witnessing the scene alone.
IX. The Act 2 curtain triggers the ending
Whatever happens at your second-act break determines how the story ends. Everything after it is cause and effect from that moment.
X. Build. Peak. Stop.
The third act builds in tempo and action until the last event. And then. That's it. Don't hang around.
Until next week,
Kate Gaulke