Go Into The Story

Daily Dialogue — December 5, 2019

Yuppie Woman 1: Gourmet baby food! I’ve never seen this before. Yuppie Woman 2: What a fabulous idea. (to cashier) How much are they? J.C…

Interview (Audio): Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski

A two-hour conversation about the importance of research in the writing process with screenwriting duo Scott Alexander and Larry…

“Make Me Care”

It’s probably the greatest story commandment because if a script reader cares about your characters, they will buy into your story. If…

Writing Goals: 2020 [Part 3] — Where Do You Want To Go As A Writer?

10 part series for writers to consider what we did in 2019 and will do in 2020.

Update: 2019 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 2 New Scripts, 17 Total

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

Daily Dialogue — December 4, 2019

Bill: What are we really talking about here? Huh? What’s the essence of what we’re talking about? Spell it out for you if I have to.

“Earn this.”

When it comes to a scene where a character makes a critical choice, it’s imperative that you — as the writer — have earned that moment.

Writing Goals: 2020 [Part 2] — Assessing Where You Are

10 part series for writers to consider what we did in 2019 and will do in 2020.

Screenwriting 101: Alisha Brophy

“Recently, we spent months working on a feature that took us, I’d say, a paragraph to explain to people, because we’d go into the reason…

Daily Dialogue — December 3, 2019

President (V.O.): Here’s a photograph. It is a photograph of a man. His name is William Schumann. He is a Master Sergeant in the United…

Reader Question: How to handle the passage of time in a script?

Time management can be a big concern in a screenplay.

Writing Goals: 2020 [Part 1] — Looking Back

10 part series for writers to consider what we did in 2019 and will do in 2020.

On Writing

“The most important thing I’ve found about writing is that it is primarily an unconscious activity. What do I mean by this? I mean that a…

Daily Dialogue — December 2, 2019

“Refund?! Refund?! Are you crazy?! Refund?! Refund?! Refund?!”

The Theology of Cinema: Despair

“This commonly occurs at the end of Act Two — what is often called All Is Lost —  representing an existential crisis for the Protagonist.”

Script To Screen: “Dallas Buyers Club”

Ron ‘asks’ someone to shake Rayon’s hand.

Interview (Video): Lena Waithe

A conversation with the screenwriter-producer, director, and lead actors of the movie Queen & Slim.

Daily Dialogue — December 1, 2019

“We do what we do… and we do it together.”

Screenwriting Advice From The Past: Midway in the Photoplay [Part 7]

“Many amateur photoplay writers are very clever in getting their characters into terribly involved situations; but they are not so clever…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Sales

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 4,216 consecutive days and counting.

Interview (Written): Rian Johnson

A conversation with the writer-director of Knives Out.

Daily Dialogue — November 30, 2019

“A strange alchemical phenomenon seemed to have occurred. Not only Tita’s blood, but her whole being had dissolved into the rose sauce……

Reader Question: What about using a flashback / flashforward as prologue?

Reader question via comments from Neil:

Writing as Jazz, Jazz as Writing: Part 11

Words of writing wisdom gleaned from some jazz greats.

Writing and the Creative Life: Routine or Ritual?

I am fascinated by creativity, in particular how creativity manifests itself in the wide variety of people I meet or learn about. That has…