What is the Central Dramatic Question, and why is it essential to your movie?

If you don't have this crucial element of your story in place, your script is very unlikely to hook a reader's attention at the beginning and retain it until the last page.

Welcome to my Weekly Email Newsletter! Every Friday I do a deep dive into an aspect of the craft and business of screenwriting from a literary manager’s perspective.

Today’s post is for subscribers only. If you’re new here, I recommend checking out the free posts at this link to sample what this newsletter has to offer.

Otherwise, keep reading for my insights on the Central Dramatic Question in features.

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As a literary manager, I read a lot of screenplays.

Scripts from potential clients who want me to represent them. Scripts written by current clients who want feedback before we take their material to market. And of course, I read the screenplays of movies that I love. One of the best ways to learn about what works in a script is to read tons of examples of really strong scripts.

A disclaimer: The thesis statement of today’s post is that your script needs a Central Dramatic Question that hits a certain standard of specificity and clarity.

However, there are a ton of films out there that are exceptions.

Many movies don’t have a strong or clear CDQ.

Also, many of them do, but writers don’t yet know how to spot them.

I am not interested in hearing about examples you find in the wild that disprove this specific structural theory.

Please ignore my advice if your script is entertaining readers from beginning to end.

Ignore my advice if your readers are forwarding your script to agents, managers, producers, and friends that they know, saying “You have got to check out this amazing script I just read. You’ll love it.”

Ignore my advice if producers and/or studios have had their lawyers send you offers to buy your script, take it off the market, and finance its production.

Clearly, what you are doing is working. Keep it up.

But if your script isn’t opening doors for you, or if people keep telling you, “it’s great!” but then they don’t actually want to move forward with it, then something isn’t working.

It’s worth examining your understanding of screenplay structure. Revisit your current script and check to see if you have a Central Dramatic Question.

If you don’t know what that is, read on and I will explain!