Go Into The Story

Daily Dialogue — January 27, 2020

“Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it…

Go Into The Story at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: January 25

Notes, reflections, and screenwriting takeaways from Park City, Utah.

The Theology of Cinema: Kingdom of God

“When the kingdom really comes, it’s as if the thing you lost and thought you’d never find again is you.”

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Week 4

Writing prompts #14–18. Practice writing dialogue. Win a free class with me.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Hustlers

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

Daily Dialogue — January 26, 2020

“Good morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test. This is rock and roll. Time to rock it from the delta to the DMZ! Is that me, or does that…

Go Into The Story at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: January 24

Notes and reflections from Park City, Utah.

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 6: Takeaways

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Basement

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 4,272 consecutive days and counting.

Interview (Audio): Craig Mazin

Q&A with the writer-producer of the acclaimed HBO mini-series Chernobyl.

Daily Dialogue — January 25, 2020

Chazz: Okay, lemme ask you a question: whose side did you take in the big David Lee Roth-Van Halen split? Chris Moore: What? Marcus: What…

Great Scene: “Michael Clayton”

Clayton confronts Crowder, then rides alone with his thoughts.

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 5: Dialogue

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 18

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

Writing and the Creative Life: Of Beginnings and Endings

Remember when you first came up with the story idea you’re currently writing? How great that felt?

Daily Dialogue — January 24, 2020

Jackie: My answer is “cock”, and I wrote it really big, so I have a “big cock!” Howard: I’m afraid you can’t say “big cock” on the air…

Movie Story Type: Spoof

“A spoof is a comic movie that parodies a specific genre of films.”

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 17

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs [Part 17]

“It’s the first rule of sales: Qualify your customer. If Hollywood is your ‘customer,’ then you find out what they are buying.”

Daily Dialogue — January 23, 2020

“The Yanks will defend their title.”

Character Type: Bully

“Why are bullies such a recurring character type in movies? First, they give an audience someone to hate, a focused object of personal…

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 16

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

Script To Screen: “Her”

Samantha tells Theodore she is leaving in this science fiction infused romance drama written and directed by Spike Jonze.