Go Into The Story

How do I know if it’s too much or too little scene description?

Reader question via email from Anonymous:

Video: “Station Eleven” — How to Make an Episode

A deep dive into the creative and logistical process of bringing an episode to life, from pre-production to post-production to screen from…

Page One: “Nick of Time” (1995)

Written by Patrick Sheane Duncan

Talismans

“Any physical object which takes on symbolic meaning to a character or characters.”

Being and Writing in the Moment

Time is a mystery, especially in a screenplay. As writers, we can leap through decades from one scene to the next. Or we can stretch a…

Great Scene: “Pulp Fiction”

Does Ezekiel 25:17 ring a bell in this classic Tarantino scene?

Interview (Written): Lisa Joy

Westworld series co-creator and executive producer talks about Season 4.

Page One: “The New World” (2005)

Written by Terrence Malick

The Power of Structured Procrastination

“The beauty of the structured procrastination method is that it recognizes the extreme challenge in changing that pro-tomorrow vein, and…

The Low-Down on High Concept

A high concept screenplay must have a clean, simple, and basic idea.

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”

Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and story as psychological journey.

Writing and the Creative Life: The incurable disease of writing

“In psychological terms, it seems that drive is more important than talent in producing creative work.”

Page One: “Never Look Away” (2018)

Written by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Pixar and the Craft of Storytelling

My popular online class begins Monday, July 18, 2022.

Video: “Atonement with the Father”

Another in the terrific screenwriting series Raising the Stakes.

Action Writing in a Screenplay

“More and more, we see an embrace of scene description where the writer in effect directs the action through lines and paragraphs.”

The Business of Screenwriting: Withdrawing screen credit and pseudonyms

Let’s begin this post with a quote from arguably the dean of contemporary American screenwriters William Goldman:

Page One: “Never Let Me Go” (2010)

Screenplay by Alex Garland, novel by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reader Question: How to raise the stakes in the plot?

One suggestion: Focus on and elevate the Protagonist’s psychological stakes.

Writing Monologues

Don’t do it… unless your character mandates you do it. Then if you do it… write the ever-loving hell out of it.

Crafting an Effective Series of Shots / Montage

The subject came up recently. Here are two clips from the movie Chocolat. They’re both great and provide some good takeaways for…

Great Scene: “Fight Club”

One of the most effective ways to begin a script is to start at the ending. And one of the best scenes that opens with the ending is in the…

Page One: “The Neon Demon” (2016)

Screenplay by Nicolas Winding Refn and Mary Laws & Polly Stenham, story by Nicolas Winding Refn

Reader Question: Advice for someone wanting to give writing a full-time shot?

First and foremost, you have to want it. I mean really want it. The competition is fierce. Think of it this way: Any time you aren’t…

Go Into The Story Interview: Daniel Kunka

My conversation with the screenwriter of 2021 Black List script Lift and now in production as a Netflix movie.