Go Into The Story

My biggest takeaway is this: You can tell a story which challenges readers to have to think… to…

Love… lost love… the pain of lost love… the confusion of being in a relationship… memories… each and every emotional aspect of Eternal…

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 347th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Script Analysis: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — Part 6: Takeaways

Read the script for the critically acclaimed 2004 film and analyze it all this week.

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Alien

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,691 consecutive days and counting.

Script To Screen: “The Apartment”

A key revelation scene from my favorite movie, the 1960 The Apartment, written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. “Izzy” Diamond.

Daily Dialogue — June 23, 2018

“I’m gonna go with the picnic shoulder ‘coz I love smoking pigs.”

I’m going with this line from Joel: “Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating.”

Amen! A mantra for the modern era. Communication requires active LISTENING. The tendency to just drone on with information is the…

Excellent choices, Dave, and this one really spoke to me:

“I don’t know. I’m lost. I’m scared. I feel like I’m disappearing. I’m getting old and nothing makes any sense to me.”

Reader Question: How to build a powerful Nemesis?

Some keys for crafting a worthy Nemesis.

Script Analysis: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — Part 5: Dialogue

Read the script for the critically acclaimed 2004 film and analyze it all this week.

Go Into The Story Interview: Lisa Joy

My in-depth conversation with the creator and co-executive producer of the hit HBO series “Westworld”.

Writing and the Creative Life: “The best way to have a good idea…”

…is to have lots of ideas.” Those are the words of Linus Pauling, chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator, the only…

Daily Dialogue — June 22, 2018

Archie Gates: What’s the most important thing in life? Troy Barlow: Respect. Archie Gates: Too dependent on other people. Conrad Vig: What…

Script Analysis: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for the critically acclaimed 2004 film and analyze it all this week.

Go Into The Story Interview: Kelly Marcel

My in-depth interview with 2011 Black List screenwriter whose movie credits include Saving Mr. Banks and Fifty Shades of Grey.

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs

Part 20: The value of a spec script… if it does sell.

Daily Dialogue — June 21, 2018

Charlie Croker: Napster, Gridlock every route except the one we chose. Force that truck to go exactly where we want it to go. Handsome Rob…

As almost everything about this movie is atypical — from the concept to narrative structure — so…

Protagonist: Joel. It’s his story, told through his perspective, all the characters are somehow connected to him, and he goes through the…

Tweetstorm: On Becoming a TV Writer

A series of tweets on how to break into the business as a TV writer.

Script Analysis: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for the critically acclaimed 2004 film and analyze it all this week.

Go Into The Story Interview: Eric Heisserer (2012, 2014 Black List)

My in-depth interview with one of Hollywood’s hottest screenwriters whose credits include Arrival, Lights Out, The Thing, and Hours.

Script To Screen: “Fight Club”

The ending to the 1999 movie Fight Club, screenplay by Jim Uhls, novel by Chuck Palahniuk.

Daily Dialogue — June 20, 2018

“Five hundred thousand dollars to win. Lucky Dan. Third race at Riverside.”

Wow, had not heard of that earlier draft, Lois.

Let’s talk structure! What is it? Is it merely how the events unfold? Is it something more? This film is told non-linearly and it lends…

Script Analysis: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — Part 2: Plot

Read the script for the critically acclaimed 2004 film and analyze it all this week.