Go Into The Story

2019 Spec Script Deals Analysis: Agents & Managers

We continue our week-long analysis of spec script deals in 2019. Today: Agents and Managers.

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs [Part 19]

“There’s every reason for you to have a goal of writing a spec script and selling it. Take that dream, make it your own and use it to fuel…

Daily Dialogue — February 6, 2020

“Mr. March, we’re going to play a game. It’s called ‘shut up unless you’re me.”

6 Old Grammar Rules That Are Finally Going Out of Style

Writers should feel free to write stories how the stories need to be told.

Script Analysis: “Parasite” — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for the award-winning foreign film and analyze all week.

2019 Spec Script Sales Analysis: Buyers

Yesterday, we looked at 2019 spec script deals by genre. Today, we break down the numbers per major studios, mini-majors, subsidiaries…

Great Scene: “True Grit”

A snakebit girl. A wounded lawman. A flagging horse. A desperate ride.

Daily Dialogue —February 5, 2020

Perry: My $2000 ceramic Vektor my mother got me as a special gift. You threw in the lake next to the car. What happens when they drag the…

I remember when I watched Parasite that when Mun-Kwang, the housekeeper who had been fired, shows…

I checked my watch in the theater and noted it was around the 60+ minute mark: precisely midway through the film.

2019 Spec Script Deals Analysis: Genres

By my count, Hollywood studios, production companies, and financiers acquired 32 spec scripts in 2019. During this week, I’ll be breaking…

Script Analysis: “Parasite”— Part 2: Plot

Read the script for the award-winning foreign film and analyze all week.

Screenwriting 101: Barbara Stepansky

“There’s no easy solution to rewriting. For me writing the first draft is much easier than going back and rewriting it. You see all your…

Daily Dialogue — February 4, 2020

Marty: I got a job for you. Private Detective Visser: Uh, well, if the pay’s right, and it’s legal, I’ll do it. Marty: It’s not strictly…

It’s a great script and I hope it wins Best Original Screenplay Oscar (and JoJo Rabbit wins Best…

The thing I noticed confirms my take when I watched the movie: The story shifts from Drama… to Thriller… to Horror. It does so seamlessly…

Keys to Handling Exposition

Take my 1-week online class to learn ways to make exposition entertaining.

2019 Spec Script Deal List

Every year since I launched the blog in 2008, I do a week-long analysis of the recent year in terms of spec script deals. This week, we…

Script Analysis: ‘Parasite’ — Part 1: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

Read the script for the award-winning foreign film and analyze all week.

On Writing

“First, you look for discipline and control. You want to exercise your will, bend the language your way, bend the world your way. You want…

Daily Dialogue — February 3, 2020

Philip Marlowe: You know it just happens I got a bottle of pretty good rye in my pocket. I’d rather not get wet in here. Acme Book Shop…

The Theology of Cinema: Predestination

“The story you write about your Protagonist is in some ways predestined, the specific combination of the character’s life circumstances…

Go Into The Story Interview: Renee Pillai

My interview with the 2019 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Great Scenes: “The Natural”

“He swings — violently and perfectly — the ball exploding off his bat.”

Daily Dialogue — February 2, 2020

“It’s only my imagination. Only my imagination.”

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Week 5

Writing prompts #19–20. Practice writing dialogue. Win a free class with me.

Interview (Part 6): Renee Pillai

My interview with the 2019 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.