Go Into The Story

Congratulations, Brian!

Good luck with the rewrites! And on future writing projects!

Sydney, first off, kudos to your professor because I share their passion for character-driven…

In that regard, here is the definition of story that I came up with: A character we care about confronts complex challenges created by a…

Michael, “avoid boring prose” is a good rule of thumb.

But yes, overuse is a potential danger. And so much of scene description should be tied to the writer’s choice of Narrative Voice.

Ria, I tell my students much the same thing: First draft, write it however it comes out.

Thanks for your feedback and best of luck with your writing!

Gabriel,

Actually, one of the articles I quote is my own interview with Robin Swicord. If this particular piece didn’t inspire you, there are 30K+…

Great, Jeremy.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/731218807011913

David, great advice.

Thanks!

“Get the damn thing done!”

The one unalterable truth about writing a first draft.

Interview (Part 1): Karin delaPeña Collison

My interview with the 2021 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Script Analysis: “Prisoners” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

On Writing

“One of my all-time favorite jazz pianists is Thelonious Monk. Once, when someone asked him how he managed to get a certain special sound…

Page One: “Hudson Hawk” (1991)

Screenplay by Steven E. de Souzaand Daniel Waters, story by Bruce Willis & Robert Kraft

Sundays with Sidney Lumet’s “Making Movies”

A weekly series featuring reflections on filmmaking by one of the truly great movie directors.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “The Mitchells vs. The Machines”

A week-long analysis of the script for the hit animation movie. Download. Read. Discuss.

Great Scene: “There Will Be Blood”

The last scene of There Will Be Blood (2007) is one of the most gut-wrenching finales in recent film history. Written and directed by Paul…

Interview (Written): Paul Thomas Anderson

A conversation with the writer-director of his new movie Licorice Pizza.

Page One: “Hotel Rwanda” (2004)

Screenplay by Keir Pearson, Terry George

“Minimum words, maximum impact”

The origin and importance of one of the best screenwriting mantras… ever!

2022 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Story Prep — Get Your Head On Straight

A series to help prepare writers for next month’s Zero Draft Thirty writing challenge.

Script Analysis: “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” — Part 6: Takeaways

A week-long analysis of the script for the hit animation movie. Download. Read. Discuss.

Interview (Audio): Barry Jenkins

An in-depth conversation with the writer-director of Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk.

There are lots and lots of great lines and sides of dialogue, so many of them funny.

On P. 23, Rick has a moment where he's confronted by video of he and Katie when she was much younger, when their father-daughter…

Page One: “The Hours” (2002)

Screenplay by David Hare, novel by Michael Cunningham

There are several themes at work in The Mitchells, but the one I think lies at the foundation of…

An inauthentic relationship is one in which the individual does not recognize the shared humanity of the other other individual. They see…

I have this theory that there is something going on in terms of character archetypes in stories.

The Protagonist represents a forward-moving dynamic, a character or characters most often driven by a conscious goal.