Go Into The Story

Writing Tips: Make More Writing Time by Organizing Work Time

Five tips to work smarter and create more time for your writing life.

On Writing

“An idea you have might not be original — Aristotle will always have thought of it before you. But by creating a novel out of that idea…

Page One: “The Mothman Prophecies” (2002)

Screenplay by Richard Hatem, book by John A. Keel

Writing Tip: How to Handle Blocks of Scene Description

Think of each paragraph as a camera shot… with a catch.

Page One: “Mother and Child” (2009)

Written by Rodrigo García

Writing Tip : “Earn this.”

When it comes to a scene where a character makes a critical choice, it’s imperative that you — as the writer — have earned that moment.

2023 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 2 New Scripts

It’s that time of year again when studios and production companies make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season.

Page One: “The Monuments Men” (2014)

Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov, book by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter

Writing Tip: How to Decide Which Story to Write

Are you trying to figure out which of one or more stories to write next?

Screenwriting 101: Nancy Meyers

“I follow the script very, very carefully. I rarely deviate from how I describe how the scene takes place. I don’t write it as a blueprint…

Page One: “Mommie Dearest” (1981)

Screenplay by Frank Yablans & Frank Perry and Tracy Hotchner and Robert Getchell, book by Christina Crawford

“Fear”: A poem by Khalil Gibran

It describes both the Protagonist’s journey … and the writer’s journey.

Script To Screen: “Kill Bill: Vol. 1”

An action scene from early in the 2003 movie Kill Bill: Vol. 1, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Page One: “Mississippi Grind” (2015)

Written by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

Dialogue-Writing Workshop

My one-week online workshop focusing on writing dialogue begins November 13.

On Writing

“Before I write the lead of a piece, I think the hardest part is how to begin. Then, once I have that done, I think the hardest part is the…

Page One: “Miss Stevens” (2016)

Written by Julia Hart & Jordan Horowitz

2023–2024 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 3 New Scripts

It’s that time of year again when studios and production companies make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season.

A big change for the Black List annual labs

Introducing the Projects Lab and Writers Lab

Page One: “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” (2018)

Written by Christopher McQuarrie, based on the TV series created by Bruce Geller

Screenwriting Tip: How to Break Into the Film Industry Without Any Connections

The screenwriters of the smash hit movie A Quiet Place share the ins and outs of their journey to Hollywood.

Script To Screen: “L.A. Confidential”

The 1997 movie L.A. Confidential won two Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, written by Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson…

Page One: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” (2015)

Screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, story by Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pearce, based on the TV series created by Bruce Geller

Page One: “Mission: Impossible III” (2006)

Screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & J.J. Abrams, based on the TV series created by Bruce Geller

Writing Tip: Celebrate Your Victories

Based on my experiences as a screenwriter in Hollywood, there are many things I can advise you to do that are not particularly enjoyable…