Go Into The Story

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 29

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Conscious Goal, Unconscious Goal

A deeper examination of a character’s Want and Need.

There are no screenwriting rules

There are guidelines, conventional wisdom, patterns, and principles… but no rules.

Interview (Part 5): Grace Sherman

My interview with the 2018 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Writing and the Creative Life: Dark Places

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

Daily Dialogue — March 29, 2019

Lou: You alright there, Margie? Marge Gunderson: Oh, I just think I’m gonna barf… Marge Gunderson: [standing up again after a moment] ……

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 28

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Ways To Write: Email

How writer-director Judd Apatow emailed himself notes which became the foundation for the movie Knocked Up.

Tweetstorm: Daniel Kunka on the one thing a Hollywood writer can control

“What I have excelled at (and what keeps me from having to find a real job) is doing the one thing that you have total control over —…

Interview (Part 4): Grace Sherman

My interview with the 2018 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

The Business of Screenwriting: Trailer Moments, Set Pieces, and Bits Of Business

You may have read countless screenwriting books. Attended seminars. Taken courses. But I doubt if you have stumbled across these three…

Daily Dialogue — March 28, 2019

Axel Foley: What? Y’all the second team? Detective McCabe: We’re the first team. Detective Foster: Yeah, and we’re not gonna fall for a…

Steven, that’s my take on theme:

Theme = Meaning. Specifically Emotional Meaning. We should *feel* a story’s themes as much as connect with them intellectually. When C.C…

Point well taken, Steven.

However, that is *not* a rule, it’s just a convention. So *if* a writer has *THE* perfect song which plays to the story’s central theme…

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 27

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Screenplay as a Series of Event-Reactions

“A movie is — in a way — simply a continuous series of event-reactions / moment-responses.”

Interview (Part 3): Grace Sherman

My interview with the 2018 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Script To Screen: “Rebel Without A Cause”

Perhaps the most memorable scene from the 1955 movie Rebel Without A Cause, screenplay by Stewart Stern, adaptation by Irving Shulman…

Daily Dialogue — March 27, 2019

Bullitt: Chalmers, let us understand each other. I don’t like you. Chalmers: Come on now, don’t be naive, Lieutenant. We both know how…

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 26

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Write a Worthy Nemesis

Workshop your story’s antagonist character in my 1-week online course. Begins Monday, April 2nd.

Interview (Part 2): Grace Sherman

My interview with the 2018 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Spec Script Deal: “Out There”

Entertainment One (eOne) and The Picture Co. acquire science fiction thriller spec script “Out There” written by Ian Levy. Via Deadline:

Daily Dialogue — March 26, 2019

“King Kong ain’t got shit on me!”

2019 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 25

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.