Go Into The Story

Writing and the Creative Life: Why Creative People May Feel More Anxiety

I’m even nervous posting this…

Daily Dialogue — November 9, 2018

“It didn’t work. I’m still pissed off. Maybe I need to fuck something else up, huh? Maybe I need to punch someone in the fucking face, is…

Thought on the Disunity to Unity Arc

An interesting discussion as one of my online screenwriting class members had an “aha!” moment.

Immerse yourself in cinema

If you want to write movies, you need to love movies. And that love ought to manifest itself in a thorough, longstanding and passionate…

Songwriters on Songwriting: David Byrne

“I think you have to wait for the inspiration, but unless you’re there, waiting at the bus stop… if you’re doing other things all day, a…

The Business of Screenwriting: Script readers, Hollywood’s threshold guardians

They may not get a lot of respect, but they are important to writers.

Daily Dialogue — November 8, 2018

Narrator: I’ll tell you: we’ll split up the week, okay? You take lymphoma, and tuberculosis… Marla Singer: You take tuberculosis. My…

Character Type: Orphan

“Without parents to help shape the child’s sense of self, the Orphan grows into adulthood with a pronounced need to answer the question at…

Write what they’re buying or sell them your dream

There are many writing paths. Here are two of them.

Songwriters on Songwriting: Joan Baez

“If you want to love your music, and not feel that you have to sell your ass down the river to get something going, you’re probably going…

Great Scene: “Night Shift”

“What are we really talking about here? What’s the essence of what we’re talking about? I’ll spell it out for you. PROSTITUTION!”

Daily Dialogue — November 7, 2018

“My name’s Ralph, and I’m a bad guy. Uh, let’s see… I’m nine feet tall, I weigh six hundred and forty-three pounds. Got a bit of a temper…

Reader Question: Is a character’s transformation dictated by events or reactions to them?

“Change is not just what goes on inside a character, nor just what happens in the plot. It’s both. They are inextricably linked.”

Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages.

You can learn pretty much everything you need to know about screenwriting by doing these three things:

Songwriters on Songwriting: Jackson Browne

“I relegate everything to the creative act as being what I’m here to do. And so anything that helps is something that I incorporate into my…

Screenwriting 101: Bryan Woods

“With A Quiet Place, we weren’t comfortable writing the script until we knew that the theme was going to be about communication. We liked…

Daily Dialogue — November 6, 2018

Angie: I’d just like to say that Kate is always up in my ‘bidness.’ Kate: Well, when someone falls asleep with a curling iron in their…

Songwriters on Songwriting: Donovan

“You love a song and you play it, and you love it and you keep playing it. Then absentmindedly you discover a new little note that you want…

Learn the Craft

Being a screenwriter is much more than just writing a script.

On Writing

“The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words.”

Daily Dialogue — November 5, 2018

“I’m sorry, the stupid holidays are making me feel more divorced. The songs and the constant chocolate eating.”

Screenwriting News (October 29 — November 4, 2018)

The week’s writing deals and movie project news.

The Trouble With Thinking About ‘Character Flaws’

“All too often, I read scripts where the character flaw feels slapped on.”

Spec Script Deal: “Genesis”

Make Pictures and Bad Idea acquire science fiction thriller spec script “Genesis” written by Brian Michael Scully. Via Deadline:

Interview (Video): Steve Levitan

An 80-minute conversation with Steve Levitan, writer and executive producer of the NBC comedy ‘Modern Family.’