Playbook: script a short in one pass

Scripting shorts as if they were small documentaries is why most of them die at second three. Try this structure instead. It takes minutes.
— Line one: the promise. Say what the viewer gets, in the fewest words that still make sense.
— Line two: the tension. Why it is not obvious, or what most people get wrong.
— Lines three to six: the actual thing. One step per line, no preamble, no "so basically".
— Last line: the payoff you promised in line one, delivered plainly.
Now read it out loud against a timer. If you run long, cut adjectives first, then whole steps. Never cut the payoff to make the length fit.
Two rules that save every script: no throat-clearing at the start, and nothing that announces what is coming. If you have to explain that you are about to explain, delete it.
Write the promise first. The rest is just keeping it.