Go Into The Story — Returns!

Some changes… some questions… but still committed to providing resources for screenwriters and to promote the craft of screenwriting.

Okay, all right, returning from a two-month recovery from shoulder surgery is not exactly the same thing as Gandalf the Grey coming back from the dead as Gandalf the White…

…but still I feel at least a little bit celebratory. For background on why I had to break The Streak of 4,428 consecutive days of blogging, go here.

Sure, I’m still limited in my ability to type with both hands, but I’m getting pretty good with my voice-to-text software and one-finger pecking with my left hand. Plus, with the 2020 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge starting tomorrow, I had to return to the blog, wounded wing notwithstanding… which still hurts by the way.

While I was away, I wasn’t totally absent. I continued to post in the weekly On Writing series. I wrote about a handful of spec script deals. But now, I’m back to posting more regularly.

That said, while sprawled on my home office sleeper sofa, wearing a sling, sleeping upright, and weaning myself off opioids, I had a lot of time to reflect on this humble blog.

When I launched Go Into The Story in 2008, I had a vision of creating a site with expansive resources for screenwriters. With 29K+ articles on just about any subject related to the craft, I believe the blog has accomplished that.

I uploaded content here for 4,428 days in a row, not only to provide helpful articles to writers, but also to make a point: If I could write every day, so could you. I believe The Streak has succeeded in reinforcing that idea.

Given those accomplishments, while recuperating, I pondered some questions: What do I do now? Indeed, is there even a need for a site like this?

If the site were limping along in terms of traffic, that would be one thing, however, until my enforced departure, Go Into The Story was on target to approach 3M unique visits in 2020, a sizeable jump from last year’s total of 2.1M. Interest in the site hadn’t waned, in fact, it has continued to grow every year since I moved to Medium in 2016. That suggests there is still an interest in what goes on here at the blog.

Then something happened which clarified things for me. Seeing as I was limited in terms of my typing, I hit on an idea to do something simple on my Twitter feed (@GoIntoTheStory): The Page One series. Each day, I tweet the first page of a movie script like this:

People have responded to the series. They like seeing how screenwriters use the first page of a script to hook a reader’s attention. They enjoy comparing and contrasting scripts written today to those from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

The series has spawned some interesting and informative conversations about screenplay style and format. And there’s this: It’s fun! I enjoy digging into my movie script archives and posting Page One for people to read.

So, one thing I decided in returning to the blog: I am ending the Daily Dialogue series and replacing it with Page One. I will continue to tweet a movie script excerpt each day, then feature here at Go Into The Story.

That’s where I start this reboot of the blog. Beyond that, I don’t know where things will go. I may post something every day, I may not. I may upload multiple items at a time, I may not.

As that great screenwriting guru Obi-Wan Kenobi said, “Trust your feelings.”

And that’s what I’m going to do!

I’m also open to your suggestions, what you’d like to see on the blog, any ideas you may have.

Bottom line, I’m back and at least during September, I will be posting a daily Zero Draft Thirty Challenge article.

Finally, thanks for all the get well wishes and kind words so many of you have sent my way about what Go Into The Story means to you.

Onward!