Go Into The Story

Screenwriting News (May 7-May 13, 2018)

The week’s writing deals and movie project news.

Screenwriting Lessons from Michael Arndt

Story Beginnings, Endings, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, ‘Toy Story 3’, and more.

Spec Script Deal: “Escape From the North Pole”

Filmula acquires 2017 Black List script “Escape From the North Pole” written by Paul Laudiero and Ben Baker. From Deadline:

Go Into The Story Resource: 30 Things About Screenwriting

Reflections on and basic tenets about the craft. They represent my take. If any of them resonate with you, great. If not, feel free to…

Interview (Video): Matthew Aldrich and Adrian Molina

A conversation with the co-writers of the Pixar movie Coco.

Daily Dialogue — May 13, 2018

“Yippee Ki Yay, motherfucker.”

Ticket Giveaway: “The Psychology of Story-Telling” with Lindsay Doran

She’s known as “The Script Whisperer” and unlike so-called screenwriting gurus, Lindsay Doran has the street cred to back it up. To wit:

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 341st installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Go Into The Story Resource: Story Types

With movies, there are Genres. Cross Genres. Sub-Genres. Also Story Types.

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Double Entendre

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,649 consecutive days and counting.

Daily Dialogue — May 12, 2018

“Go ahead. Make my day.”

Reader Question: What should I do if a project sells in Hollywood which is similar to a script I’m…

Before you jump, step back from the ledge, and consider the following.

Andrew Stanton TED Talk: “Clues to a Great Story”

A 10-part series analyzing the Pixar writer-director’s TED Talk.

Go Into The Story Resource: Great Characters

Need inspiration? Here are 100+ articles analyzing great movie characters.

Writing and the Creative Life: Seeing… Hearing…

One day a while ago, I was out with my family for a walk in the neighborhood. As we returned home, I noticed a speed limit sign in the…

Daily Dialogue — May 11, 2018

“I ain’t got time to bleed.”

Dan Harmon, The Hero’s Journey, and the Circle Theory of Story

From the archives, a February 2012 post featuring Dan Harmon’s ‘circle theory’ of Story. I’ve updated it with a video featuring Joseph…

Live Stream Events: In Conversation with Rainn Wilson / Q&A with Bo Burnham

Two great events — today (May 10) and tomorrow (May 11) — live streamed on YouTube as part of the DePaul University Visiting Artists…

Go Into The Story Resource: Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work

20 writing tips which actually are quite smart… because they work!

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

Part 14: Going Wide

Daily Dialogue — May 10, 2018

“You’re a funny guy, Sully, I like you. That’s why I’m going to kill you last.”

Reader Question: What is life really like for a beginning screenwriter?

For a writer who has just broken into the business?

Screenwriting Tip: Character Work as Iceberg

How much character development is enough?

Go Into The Story Resource: 100 Scene-Writing Prompts

At a fundamental level, screenwriting is scene-writing. Use these prompts to improve your scene-writing chops.

Script To Screen: “Fargo”

Here is a terrific scene from a terrific movie, the 1996 film Fargo, screenplay by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for which they won an Academy…