Go Into The Story

Confession as Narrative Device

Comparing confessions of the Protagonists in The King’s Speech and The Silence of the Lambs reveals how important they can be.

Reader Question: Should you plot out the Protagonist’s arc or just go with your gut?

Some words of wisdom from legendary Hollywood producer Max Millimeter.

Great Scene: “Up”

Carl gets the house to the top of Paradise Falls, but it’s a Pyrrhic victory.

Interview (Audio): Quentin Tarantino

An exceptional conversation with screenwriter Brian Koppelman.

Page One: “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003)

Written by Nancy Meyers

Redemption as a Movie Theme

A character seeking freedom from psychological bondage to a past event is one of the most common themes in movies.

The Power of Emotional Storytelling

“If I’m gonna dole out $20, I want to be transported.”

Script To Screen: “12 Years a Slave”

From the 2013 movie 12 Years a Slave, screenplay by John Ridley, based on a memoir by Solomon Northup.

Writing and the Creative Life: There are no useless ideas

“If it is true that the best way to come up with a good idea is to generate lots of them, that means we will intersect with plenty of ideas…

Page One: “The Social Network” (2010)

Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, book by Ben Mezrich

“Give him a dead wife.”

Please, don’t. Don’t slap on a dead wife… dead husband… dead child… just to make the character more sympathetic.

Separation as a Theme in Pixar Movies

“When we step back from the movies Pixar has produced and look at them with a meta view, it is surprisingly — and blindingly — obvious how…

Humanize Your Nemesis

We don’t need to sympathize with an Antagonist, but if we empathize with them, that makes for a more compelling character.

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs

Part 16: Preemptive Purchase

Page One: “Sneakers” (1992)

Written by Phil Alden Robinson and Lawrence Lasker & Walter F. Parkes

“The Protagonist’s Journey”

You may now preorder my book to be published this fall.

“What if I’m writing a script, but want to start another one?”

Time to stack projects… or is this simply an example of the Shiny Object Syndrome?

Character Archetype “Masks”

Any character can don the “mask” of any archetype in any scene or any relationship, but that does not change their primary archetype…

Page One: “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008)

Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, novel by Vikas Swarup

Script To Screen: “12 Monkeys”

From the 1995 movie 12 Monkeys, screenplay by David Webb Peoples and Janet Peoples.

How to Do a Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

Whether you are analyzing a movie or a screenplay, breaking it down to the granular level of its scenes can reveal much about its story…

Reader Question: How much dialogue versus description in a screenplay?

Is there some sort of key to finding a balance in a script?

Great Scene: “Whale Rider”

The 2003 movie Whale Rider is a wonderful story, aptly described in this IMDB plot summary:

Screenwriting 101: Michael Arndt

“On Tuesday, May 23, 2000, at 4:27 p.m., I sat down to write LMS [Little Miss Sunshine]. I wrote twelve pages the first day, thirty-seven…

Page One: “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993)

Screenplay by Nora Ephron and David S. Ward and Jeff Arch, story by Jeff Arch