Go Into The Story

Daily Dialogue — October 20, 2018

“After I killed them, I dropped the gun in the Thames, washed the residue off me hands in the bathroom of a Burger King, and walked home to…

Reader Question: Do you have any time management tips on how to write while holding down a…

Some practical advice to engender productivity even while working full-time.

Scene Description Spotlight: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”

The ending sequence includes a most interesting sentence…

How To Read A Screenplay (Part 5): Metamorphosis

There are multiple layers to any story. The more you dig, the deeper your understanding.

Writing and the Creative Life: What if…

Perhaps the two most powerful words in the creative process.

Daily Dialogue — October 19, 2018

“Huh? I am not a bum. I’m a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends, and……

Reader Question: Are there differences between seeking representation with a manager versus and…

The answer is yes. As one manager put it to me: “Agents wear suits, managers wear blue jeans.” Why that makes a big difference to you.

Movie Story Types: The [Blank] From Hell

This was a popular story conceit back in the 80s and 90s.

How To Read A Screenplay (Part 4): Subplots, Relationships and Character Functions

There are multiple layers to any story. The more you dig, the deeper your understanding.

The Business of Screenwriting: “Qualify the customer”

Okay, this week’s post is a blast from the past and only comes about due to a recent revelation from a TV producer I know that she has…

Daily Dialogue — October 18, 2018

“My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be…

Reader Question: What to do with a 70 page screenplay?

Is the story ‘done’ or can it be mined for additional content?

Two Writing Functions: Receptive and Executive

One that allows your characters to come alive. One to craft sentences which draw the reader into the scene.

How To Read A Screenplay (Part 3): Plotline Points and Sequences

There are multiple layers to any story. The more you dig, the deeper your understanding.

Script To Screen: “Jaws”

It’s the movie that forever changed the business, the first true blockbuster of the modern era: Jaws (1975), screenplay by Peter Benchley…

Daily Dialogue — October 17, 2018

“Greetings, my friend! We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And…

2018 Cologne Film Festival

My keynote address on October 8, 2018 on European Series Day.

Reader Question: Is it okay to include an image in a spec script?

Revisiting this subject based on the spec script for the movie A Quiet Place.

How To Read A Screenplay (Part 2): The Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

There are multiple layers to any story. The more you dig, the deeper your understanding.

Screenwriting 101: Robin Swicord

“I think that all of this dialogue comes out of the characters themselves. What happens… there’s a kind of mystical transference that…

Daily Dialogue — October 16, 2018

“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is now lost for none now…

Writing Dialogue

There are many intangibles about the craft of screenwriting. Much of that derives from the fact that story itself is organic. Stories —…

Updated: 2018 Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference Schedule

The annual event in Austin, Texas runs from October 25 through November 1 and I’ll be there for my 5th appearance.

How To Read A Screenplay (Part 1): The First Pass

There are multiple layers to any story. The more you dig, the deeper your understanding.

On Writing

“You must read everything, and you must let it all the way into your life, all the way into the part of you that makes writing, and you…