Go Into The Story

Page One: “Da 5 Bloods” (2020)

Written by Danny Bilson & Paul De Meo and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee

And that's it!

I'm curious. In year's past, we've actually had writers who came away from the challenge with a story they ended up writing. Did anyone…

Writing Goals: 2022 [Part 7] — Time Management

10 part series for writers to consider what we did in 2021 and will do in 2022.

Script Analysis: “Destroyer” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

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

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 15(B): The Unraveling of the Plot

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Page One: “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” (2011)

Written by Dan Fogelman

Page One: “Raising Arizona” (1987)

Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Good questions, Viridiana.

Indeed, you could write stories which play against expectations. "Oh, *that's* surprising! I didn't expect that! The story did *not• give…

Writing Goals: 2022 [Part 6] — Schedule

10 part series for writers to consider what we did in 2021 and will do in 2022.

Script Analysis: “Dallas Buyers Club” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

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

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 15(A): Four Qualities of a Tragic Hero

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

On Writing

“Slow writing — like long exposure photography — can bring about a sense of saturation in the material, where the time taken in the making…

Page One: “Miller’s Crossing” (1990)

Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Script Analysis: “Crazy Rich Asians”: Scene By Scene Breakdown

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

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 14(B): The Conditions of a Tragedy

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Sundays with Stephen King’s “On Writing”

A series featuring reflections on writing from the famed author’s memoir.

Update: 2021–2022 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 1 New Script, 17 Total

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

Page One: “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994)

Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Sam Raimi

Matt, congratulations on being productive in 2021!

If you are going to be working on multiple projects in 2022, check out — if you haven’t already — my article: Stacking Projects. That…

Thanks for this, Dan.

Thus, I advise writers to focus more on the psychology and personality of a character, when introducing them, rather than their physical…

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Get Un-Comfortable

If your writing is feeling stale, here’s an idea: Rattle your own cage!

Script Analysis: “Coco” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

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

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 14(A): Fear and Pity

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Interview (Audio): Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth

A conversation with the writing team which adapted the science fiction novel Dune for the big screen.

Page One: “Hail, Caesar!” (2016)

Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen