Go Into The Story

Screenwriting News (January 1— January 20, 2019)

David Birke and Tony Mosher drama “Picking Cotton” at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

Character Type: Artist

“To see the world differently. To feel life fully. To immerse oneself in the experience of the creative moment. That is the domain of the…

Script To Screen: “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”

From the 1939 movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, screenplay by Sidney Buchman, story by Lewis R. Foster.

Interview: Aaron Sorkin

Conversation with the screenwriter of The Social Network.

Daily Dialogue — January 20, 2019

Arthur: Stay with me a minute, Hobson. You know I hate to be alone. Hobson: Yes, bathing is a lonely business.

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas

A five-part series with this simple point: When you think of story structure, don’t think formula. Think character.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 376th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Exercise

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,901 consecutive days and counting.

Interview: Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara

A conversation with the screenwriters of The Favourite.

Daily Dialogue — January 19, 2019

“Jesus Christ, boy! What did you eat?”

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Exercise

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,901 consecutive days and counting.

The next Go Into The Story Reading and Analysis Script: “Destroyer”

Read the script for the gritty crime drama and analyze it next week.

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 5): Times have changed and so have expectations for a…

“Almost all of the most influential screenwriting gurus developed their screenplay formulas in the 1980s and 1990s. While they may have…

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 14

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

Writing and the Creative Life: Your characters want you to tell their story

Lean into your characters. After all, it’s their story.

Daily Dialogue — January 18, 2019

Roger is sitting on a booby-trapped toilet.

Steven, I responded to your comments in thread #4 of this series, so going backward…

I have literally read scripts by writers whose ‘stories’ had nothing to them, no soul, no spice, nothing original, and frankly didn’t even…

Steven, I think you’re on target with this analysis.

At best what one can do in analyzing scripts or movies — and when discerning patterns or common narrative dynamics — is to suggest we can…

Character Type: Angel

“Angels come in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Their presence in movies and culture reflect a desire on our part to believe in an after-life…

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 4): They make the job of a screenwriter more…

“Sometimes the formula in question has been created by someone who has never sold a script or worked as a professional screenwriter.”

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 13

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

The Business of Screenwriting: There are three kinds of people in Hollywood

Story. Some get it. Some kinda get it. And some… well…

Daily Dialogue — January 17, 2019

“I took a shower washing every body part with actual soap; including all my major crevices; including inbetween my toes and in my belly…

Screenwriting Opportunity

2018 box office revenue hits new record in North America. Hollywood Reporter: “A well-received crop of movies that appealed to a divers…

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 3): They diminish the craft of screenwriting

“The most important person in the motion picture process is the writer… and we must do everything in our power to prevent them from ever…