Go Into The Story

Sundays with Stephen King’s “On Writing”

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

Script Analysis: “American Hustle” — 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 6(B): Character and Thought

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

Video: 10 Screenwriting Tips from Billy Wilder

Advice from the writer-director of such notable moves as Double Indeminty, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment.

Page One: “The Blind Side” (2009)

Screenplay by John Lee Hancock, book by Michael Lewis

Handling Rejection

It can motivate… debilitate… or take a long time to see its meaning.

Script Analysis: “All Is Lost” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

The practice of reading scripts is critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. One key to this practice is to work with a scene-by-scene…

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 6A: The Six Parts of 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…

Interview (Audio): Gennifer Hutchison

A conversation with the writer whose credits include Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series (Amazon).

Page One: “The Tomorrow War” (2021)

Written by Zach Dean

Writing Mantra: “Writing is rewriting”

Perhaps no more true than in relation to screenwriting.

After the Wedding” — Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

The practice of reading scripts is critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. One key to this practice is to work with a scene-by-scene…

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 5: Comedy and Epic Poetry

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

Writing and the Creative Life: “In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail”

When legendary football coach Vince Lombardi would speak in public, he rarely strayed far from two closely related subjects: success and…

Page One: “Annette” (2021)

Original story by Ron Mael & Russell Mael

Writing Mantra: “The story rules”

The first and last commandment of writing.

“The Aeronauts” —Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

The practice of reading scripts is critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. One key to this practice is to work with a scene-by-scene…

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 4: Poetry and the Development of 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…

The Business of Screenwriting: The Value of Three Scripts

You write, you learn. And three scripts is a minimum for knowing the craft.

Page One: “Dune” (2021)

Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth, based on the novel by Frank Herbert

Theme = Meaning

More than just the moral or premise of the story, theme can best be understood to be about what a story MEANS.

2021–2022 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 1 New Script (“Dune”), 6 Total

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

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”: Scene By Scene Breakdown

The practice of reading scripts is critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. One key to this practice is to work with a scene-by-scene…

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 3: Medium, Objects, Manner

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: “The Birds” (1963)

Screenplay by Evan Hunter, story by Daphne Du Maurier