Happy Birthday, Go Into The Story!

Launched on May 16, 2008, here we are 6,210 days of blogging later… but what does it all mean?

Seventeen years ago, I was a TV producer and had no idea that in August of that year, I would begin an eight year stint as a visiting lecturer at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in their Writing for Screen and Stage program.

I couldn’t fathom that a few years later, I along with my friend and fellow screenwriter Tom Benedek would co-found ScreenwritingMasterClass.com.

I could never have imagined I would become an assistant professor (now an associate professor) at the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts in Chicago where I am today.

It wouldn’t have remotely occurred to me how today, I would have written The Protagonist’s Journey: An Introduction to Character-Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling, an Amazon 5-Star rated #1 Best Seller.

Or that I would have been invited as a guest speaker, presenter, or mentor at writing events in Canada, England, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Greece.

But with all that, perhaps the most surprising revelation of all is the longevity and impact of Go Into The Story.

I have blogged here over 6,000 days, my consecutive day streak broken only because of shoulder surgery which meant I couldn’t type for two months. Even with that lapse in content, the site had 2M+ unique visits last year.

Through my partnership as the Official Screenwriting Blog of the Black List, I have been a mentor and workshop facilitator at every one of their feature writer labs and mini-labs, all twenty-three of them.

In 2018, Go Into The Story was named “Best of the Best” Scriptwriting Website by Writers Digest magazine.

Yeah, Go Into The Story has been good to me… but that’s not the reason I started the blog, nor continue to host it today.

That reason is you.

Having been a complete Hollywood outsider with nary a sniff of a film school education, I broke into the business by selling a spec script. Ever since, I vowed to do what I could to help others who couldn’t afford a USC MFA… whose parents weren’t studio executives… who didn’t live in the 405–10–101–110 bubble (although I’m happy to help them, too).

My vision for the blog was to create a site which updated every day with articles on the craft and business of screenwriting, features and reflection on creativity, track spec script deals, and over time create a resource rich with useful free content.

I think it’s fair to say Go Into The Story is an asset to the online screenwriting community. I know for a fact there have been dozens and dozens of writers who cite the blog as a contributing factor to their success in the business including two examples here and here.

Therefore, today is a time to celebrate 17 years of blogging, but also to look forward. The world of entertainment has changed radically over the last decade, but one thing is for sure: There has never been a better time to be a content creator and that means us — the writers.

My daily goal is to keep on keeping on and provide information, insight, and inspiration as we forge ahead into this brave new media world.

Here are some previous comments on social media about the blog.

Franklin, of course, is founder and CEO of The Black List. Don Winslow is a New York Times bestselling author.

Hardly a week goes by where I don’t receive an email or meet someone who lets me know how my blog has influenced their writing life.

Affirmations like that have sustained me over the years.

And yet …

I’ve been thinking. A lot. The film and television business has changed radically since I posted my first blog article seventeen years ago.

I’ve changed, too. In April, I turned seventy-two years old. Seventy. Two. I have more stories I want to write. At my age, time becomes a pressing reality, how it passes evermore quickly.

I sense more changes coming. I’m not sure what, but I have some thoughts including what to do here at Go Into The Story … and perhaps elsewhere.

In the next few months, I share those plans as I lock them down.

But for now and the foreseeable future, this blog … my longtime object of daily dedication to inspire writers … will chug along.

Finally, to my many followers, all the best with your creative journeys.

Remember my mantra: Begin with character. End with character. Find the story in between.