Practical Tips For Writing A Short Film Script, By Hassan Akkad
16 Dec 2025 | Hassan Akad
Hassan Akkad is a writer and director whose work includes the short film Matar, and he worked as a producer on The Swimmers. Originally from Damascus, Syria, he now lives in London.
He recently shared his top tips for narrative storytelling on his Instagram story, and has shared his script White Stain with Short Stuff to provide a practical example of how these notes apply.
Take a read of Hassan’s tips, and then have a read of his script to see how he put them into action.
You can follow Hassan on Instagram to keep up to date with his work and any future filmmaking tips.
Make your character want something so badly then make it hard. No wants = no story. No obstacles = no tension. If success or failure doesn't hurt, we don't care. (Torture your hero)
A character is revealed under pressure. Who a character is shows up in what they do when things go wrong. Action matters way more than backstory or clever dialogue. Speaking of dialogue, the best dialogue is two monologues colliding.
A coincidence that creates a problem for your characters is great. A coincidence that solves a problem for is cheating. Bad luck is story telling. Good luck is cheating.
Plot twists should shock the readers/viewers while making perfect sense in hindsight. If it feels random or dishonest, it's not a twist. It's noise.
The ending is the whole point. Everything builds toward the ending/final act. Escalation. Convergence. Consequence. A weak ending erases a strong beginning.
Click the square full screen button in the top right corner below to read the script more easily.