Go Into The Story

Spec Script Deal: “Flight”

Paramount Pictures acquires thriller spec script “Flight” written by Mark Chapman. Via Deadline:

The Business of Screenwriting: OWA

Three little letters: OWA. But they mean big things for Hollywood screenwriters. What do these letter stand for?

Daily Dialogue — May 21, 2020

Charles: There I was, standing there in the church, and for the first time in my whole life I realized I totally and utterly loved one…

Cameron, I promote my Screenwriting Master Class courses on average once every two weeks.

Hopefully you will find plenty of other content on the blog which is more long-form in nature.

Personally, David, I don’t like the use of a semi-colon.

As far as “beep… beep… beep…” is concerned, again, no rule. You could write it like this.

Jerry, I hope I made the point emphatically enough in the original post: There are not rules.

To your English teacher’s point, I’ve read scripts where the use of ellipses and double dashes, especially in dialogue, distracted from the…

Sharon, glad to give you a reminder about how much you love Shawshank.

Sometime, read the script while watching the movie. I’d guess there’s about 15% of script content which is cut from the film. Fun to…

Good comments, Cameron and Laura.

With that in mind, who provides opposition to Isabel?

Laura, another reason it would be interesting to compare to the Danish original is to see where…

I don’t know much about the Danish film industry, but my instinct is European films are less constrained by the conventions of Hollywood…

A Story in Six Words

That’s why I have the six-word rule. You got six words… count ‘em… one, two, three, four, five, six… six words in your logline to get my…

Go Into The Story Resource: Writing Mantras

Some writing inspiration I have picked up along the way.

Script Analysis: “After the Wedding” — Part 3: Characters

Read and analyze the script for the acclaimed drama mystery starring Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, and Billy Crudup.

Script to Screen: “48 Hrs.”

The Black Russian scene, a break-out moment for Eddie Murphy.

Daily Dialogue — May 20, 2020

“Don’t look now, but there’s something funny going on over there at the bank, George. I’ve never really seen one, but that’s got all the…

Laura, it does feel like a heroine’s journey, doesn’t it?

What I find interesting is this: Has she changed in any substantive way? J. Campbell says the whole point of the hero’s journey is the…

Great Scene: “The Shawshank Redemption”

Red’s parole board scenes — three of them — are their own mini-story.

Go Into The Story Resource: 10 Screenwriting Skills and Traits You Need

Develop your expertise in 10 areas to maximize your screenwriting potential.

Script Analysis: “After the Wedding” — Part 2: Plot

Read and analyze the script for the acclaimed drama mystery starring Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, and Billy Crudup.

Screenwriting 101: Declan O’Dwyer

“Work hard. Learn the craft. Work hard. Learn your craft. If your script is good, it gets noticed. If it doesn’t, write another fucking…

Daily Dialogue — May 19, 2020

“Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow…

The Psychopathology of Heroism

“As crazy as it sounds, there may be a closer link than most people would think between the extreme-altruistic personality and sociopathic…

Go Into The Story Resource: Writing and the Creative Life

Dozens of articles about creativity, what it is, how to nurture it, and steer our writing into the center of our creative soul.

Script Analysis: “After the Wedding” — Part 1: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

Read and analyze the script for the acclaimed drama mystery starring Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, and Billy Crudup.

On Writing

“The terror of the white page never goes away, no matter how much you publish. Do you know how terrified I was this morning, as I woke up…

Daily Dialogue — May 18, 2020

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near…