Go Into The Story

Tweetstorm: Mike Sweeney on Not Writing to Imagined Stats, Metrics, and Trends

Last night, screenwriter Mike Sweeney went on a Twitter rant worthy of our attention. Mike tweets of which he knows: He co-wrote (along…

Songwriters On Songwriting: Fiona Apple

I wrote my first song when I was 14 years old. Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs. It was that interest — music — that led me…

Screenwriting 101: Arash Amel

“Craft is discipline. I’m a professional. This is my job. You have a lot of hungry agents to feed and a lot of attorneys to feed. The way…

Daily Dialogue — October 30, 2018

Johnny: They’re coming to get you, Barbara! Barbara: Stop it! You’re ignorant! Johnny: They’re coming for you, Barbara! Barbara: Stop it…

Screenwriting as Scene-Writing

My unique 1-week online course begins Monday, November 5th.

Songwriters On Songwriting: Bob Dylan

I wrote my first song when I was 14 years old. Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs. It was that interest — music — that led me…

Tweetstorm: Zack Stentz on Rewriting Strategies

Zack Stentz has carved out a 15 year career both as a screenwriter and TV writer-producer. His writing credits include the movies Agent…

On Writing

“Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.”

Daily Dialogue — October 29, 2018

“Mommy got sick. And it happened just like that. There’s nothing anyone could do. It isn’t fair. There’s no reason. If we start asking why…

Screenwriting News (October 22— October 28, 2018)

The week’s writing deals and movie project news.

Great Scene: “It Happened One Night”

A classic scene from the 1934 comedy which is one of three movies to win all the Big Five Oscars: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor…

Interview (Video): Lucy Alibar

A 50 minute conversation with the screenwriter of Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Daily Dialogue — October 28, 2018

Dick Hallorann: Do you know how I knew your name was ‘Doc’? You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? I can remember when I was a little…

Spec Script Deal: Untitled Lennon & Ono Project

Universal acquires untitled John Lennon and Yoko Ono biopic project written by Anthony McCarten. From Deadline:

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Cemetery

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,817 consecutive days and counting.

Interview (Video): Mary Coleman

A 50-minute conversation with the Senior Development Executive at Pixar Animation Studios.

Daily Dialogue — October 27, 2018

“The first soap was made from heroes’ ashes, like the first monkey shot into space. Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have…

Reader Question: When is the best time to reveal a character’s backstory?

Key character revelations. When? Where? How?

Update: 2018 Award Season Screenplay Downloads — 3 New Scripts, 9 Total!

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

Writing Mantra: On the other hand…

One of the best ways for writers to combat the dreaded Voices Of Negativity.

Writing and the Creative Life: What to do when you feel out of touch with your creative energy

When a creative spark seems so very far, far… FAR… away…

Daily Dialogue — October 26, 2018

Sam: I think I’ve just been too slow to realize that people our own age with histories just like ours having gone through all that same…

Reader Question: May I deliver my scripts personally to a literary management company?

Short answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Great Scene: “Michael Clayton”

The gut-wrenching ending of the movie

The Business of Screenwriting: Research Trips

“You’re the writer. Why not pick a terrific place for your story setting? Just in case you get the chance to go on a research trip.”