Go Into The Story

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 12

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

Script To Screen: “Moonstruck”

A pivotal moment in the movie Moonstruck (written by John Patrick Shanley).

Daily Dialogue — January 16, 2019

“I frisked him, he’s clean.”

Reader Question: How can you make up for sending out a script that stinks?

Reader questions from James Tillery:

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 2): Formulas lead to formulaic writing

“If you go in with formula, you come out with formula. The whole thrill of being a writer is to do a prototype every time out.”

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 11

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

Screenwriting 101: James Cameron

“Writing a screenplay, for me, is like juggling. It’s like, how many balls can you get in the air at once? All those ideas have to float…

Daily Dialogue — January 15, 2019

“Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Not by the hair of your chiny-chin-chin? Well then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your…

Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets

Learn six different types of story summaries and how to use them to develop your scripted projects.

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas (Part 1): They are selling you a lie

“Instead of thinking about Story as a sort of paint-by-numbers formula, we are best served by starting here: Characters.”

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 10

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

On Writing

“If you have to find devices to coax yourself to stay focused on writing, perhaps you should not be writing what you’re writing. And if…

Daily Dialogue — January 14, 2019

March is seating in the toilet, smoking while reading a magazine. He sees a pair of feet stop in front of his stall.

Reader Question: What makes a movie a big budget and a small budget?

There are critical choices a writer can make at the script stage which directly influence a project’s budget… and its potential viability…

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “A Quiet Place”

The entire 6 part series delving into hit horror movie.

Script To Screen: “Moonrise Kingdom”

A memorable scene from the 2012 movie Moonrise Kingdom, written and directed by Wes Anderson.

Interview: M. Night Shyamalan

A 55-minute conversation with the writer-director of the movie Glass.

Daily Dialogue — January 13, 2019

Blake: You’re talking about what. You’re talking about… Bitching about that sale you shot, some sonofabitch who don’t wanna buy land, some…

“Create a solid concept, mold your believable characters, tell their story, the rest will follow.”

Yet another reason to embrace characters. They will *always* function as an audience member’s conduit *into* a story.

Adding to your observations, stories are a safe place within which to experience our deepest fears.

Here’s a thought: Imagine you are part of a tribe, it’s nighttime, and you, as an adult, are sitting there with other parents and children…

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 375th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Script Analysis: “A Quiet Place” — Part 6: Takeaways

Read the script for the hit horror movie and analyze it all this week.

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Bathroom

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,894 consecutive days and counting.

Interview: Paul Schrader

An excellent conversation with the writer-director of First Reformed.

Daily Dialogue — January 12, 2019

Tess McGill: Look, you, maybe you’ve got everyone around here fooled with this saint act you have going, but do not ever speak to me again…