Can you help me? I am facing a dilemma. My very first action in a dark entrance hall could be: 'HAROLD's foot bumps into an unexpected obstacle. As he IS BLIND he does not see it is the bloody hand of a dead body."
I like to keep it short and to the point.
But I also want the reader/producer to get the whole picture and to know that Harold's clothes are soaking wet, he wears white sneakers, the hall is dirty, it stinks, the spare light is flickering, it thunders outside, his little dog howls, Harold stumbles, the setting is sinister etc. and many much more (partly essential later in the story). I need that atmosphere to make my point. So I instead of keeping it short I threaten to end up in long descriptions that slow down the read. I wrote award winning screenplays (native English translated, which does not count for this post
Write it as you want people to see it. Don’t describe it any other way.
The hall light flickers.
A hand fumbles as if the room as dark.
White sneakers squelch on filthy blood soaked carpet.
HAROLD his clothes soaked in blood, his blind not seeing the body laid out before him as he staggers into the hallway.
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Read professional screenplays.
This craft is called, "screenwriting."
Screenwriters write for the screen.