As video quality improves over time and there's a difference between standard definition, high definition, and 4K, you end up asking, "Is it good enough?"
The same can be asked of your screenwriting. Is it good enough? Are the words you have written on your first page good enough to sell your screenplay to Hollywood?Is your script good enough?
For some, the fact that they can see what's going on through a blurry image or severe video compression (and artifacts), they feel that the message or entertainment still gets through, and they are satisfied. For others, this is a problem and distraction. Which camp does your script gatekeeper sit in?
What can you do to ensure your screenplay is good enough? How do you evaluate your screenwriting?
Before you begin your self-critical journey, the best advice is to put your screenplay away for a minimum of a week, but preferably two weeks to a month if you can. In doing so, you allow yourself distance and time to relinquish all precious hold on your writing and ideas.
On returning to your screenplay, you can be more objective and ruthless with your work and more able to "kill your darlings." This often heard phrase in writing discussions refers to the ability for a writer to cull treasured passages of writing from their work. When you are so close and involved in your screenplay, this is almost an impossible task. Deleting slow scenes or irrelevant action can be difficult.
Giving yourself a break from your script can facilitate scrutiny and allow yourself to see what's really important and relevant to moving your story forwards. Always have your log line at hand to refer to. Yes, this means you really should have written your log line BEFORE your screenplay. It dictates the story and helps you keep it on track.
When you get back to your screenplay, go over each line and see if it reads clearly and efficiently. If you can take words out and it still makes sense, then do it. Just don't ruin any flow you might already have had in your dialogue. Screen dialogue is more poetic and rhythmical than the conversations we have in the real world. If you have written good dialogue, don't cut words for the sake of cutting, unless you can retain the flow. Only look at cutting dialogue sentences altogether if they bring nothing to the exchange or story.
It is really the action description where you want to concentrate on word removal to optimize the delivery. So often a scene is poorly described or a character overly presented. You want to have clear and efficient writing to set your scenes and portray action. Sometimes you just need to rearrange a sentence to have it read better.
Remember to look over your scenes and ask yourself, "Is it good enough?" If you get to the point where you don't know, then you have reached your potential. There's a point where you no longer try squeezing more out of an exhausted brain.