Alan Moore, the legendary writer of iconic comics like Watchmen and V for Vendetta, shares invaluable insights for screenwriters. Here are his five essential tips to elevate your writing.
Alan Moore’s 5 Essential Tips for Screenwriters
The English writer behind Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell is widely recognized among his peers as one of the best comic book writers ever. He was the first comics writer living in Britain to do prominent work in America, and his influence has bled into real life in many ways. Those Guy Fawkes masks have become worldwide symbols, and most people are familiar with many of the Watchmen memes.
He’s also influential in that he can teach us a ton about writing. He partnered with BBC Maestro to give a course on writing for different disciplines. The video below shares just a slice of what students learn. Let’s dive in.
1. Master Cinematic Language
Moore says that aspiring screenwriters must study the great directors before attempting their own work.
“Just as you should fully acquaint yourself with the English language if you wish to be a writer of any description, if you should find yourself writing for the screen, whether that be cinema or television, I would advise that you acquaint yourself with cinematic language,” he said. “The way that you do this is to study the great directors.”
He specifically recommends studying filmmakers like Orson Welles, Jean Cocteau, and Alfred Hitchcock.
2. Read Film Criticism
Moore recommends that screenwriters “absorb a few intelligent books of film criticism” to deepen their understanding of the medium. For him, one breakthrough came from reading Truffaut’s analysis of Hitchcock, which taught him how master filmmakers achieve their effects.
When you understand how filmmakers pull off those seamless, immersive experiences, you can write scripts that actually help directors instead of getting in their way. Moore’s point is, if you’re going to work in cinema, you need to respect what makes cinema work.
3. Know Your Ending Before You Begin
This is Moore’s most emphatic piece of advice for television writers, especially.
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“I knew what the last shot in the last episode of the last season was going to be,” he said about an unproduced series he wrote. “In fact, I’d known that since before I’d started the five short films and the feature film that the television series would have been a continuation of. I knew the ending before I started. And I can’t underline how important this is.”
Moore warns against the “shapeless narrative drift” that occurs when writers make things up as they go along, calling it “a terrible experience for both the writer and for the viewer.”
In another BBC Maestro clip, Moore says writers should “never, ever be completely satisfied” with their writing. But having a clear destination prevents the aimless wandering that can destroy narratives, especially long-form.
4. Craft “Continuous, Resonant Dialogue”
Moore says that every line should serve multiple purposes and maintain the audience’s attention.
“No throwaway lines that you haven’t bothered with,” he said. “Keep the dialogue sparkling all the way through. And then in those parts of the film where there isn’t much narrative action, where the viewer can see what is happening without dialogue, in those other parts of the film, you will keep the reader’s attention almost like every conversation gets structured in the same way as a joke is structured.”
He emphasizes building toward dramatic and/or comedic punchlines while avoiding clunky exposition.
5. Understand the Psychology of Visuals
Moore is a big fan of Hitchcock’s Psycho, which he uses as an example of visual storytelling psychology.
This brief analysis shows how “every angle has got a certain psychological meaning” and how images can manipulate audience emotions without dialogue. Understanding these visual fundamentals allows screenwriters to create more psychologically effective scenes. This came in handy for Moore, who worked in graphic novels. But in screenwriting, remember, you usually don’t want to include camera moves or angles in your script. Find a way to suggest these visuals through your writing, and position the reader and direct their gaze by focusing on certain details.
