Go Into The Story

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Screenwriting Guru

If you don’t know Zlatan, trust me… you HAVE to know Zlatan.

Interview (Part 1): Jen Bailey and Max Lance

My interview with the 2017 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners.

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 2

This is the 9th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my…

On Writing

“If you can quit, then quit. If you can’t quit, you’re a writer.”

Daily Dialogue — April 2, 2018

“Basically, Lewis Ranieri’s mortgage bonds were amazingly profitable for the big banks. They made billions and billions on their 2% fee…

Screenwriting News (March 26-April 1, 2018)

The week’s writing deals and movie project news.

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 1

This is the 9th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my…

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Mudbound”

The entire 6 part series delving into the critically acclaimed indie film.

2018 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: FADE OUT!

FADE IN. FADE OUT. 31 Days. That describes what just transpired in March. Dozens of writers from around the world dove into their script…

Daily Dialogue — April 1, 2018

“Oh man, shut your anorexic malnutrition tapeworm-having overdose on Dick Gregory Bahamian diet-drinking ass up. Leave me alone!”

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Breaking the 4th Wall

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,607 consecutive days and counting.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 335th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Script Analysis: “Mudbound” — Part 6: Takeaways

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

2018 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 31

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Edgar Wright interviews Steven Spielberg

The filmmakers talk about the movie which launched Spielberg’s career as a movie director: Duel.

Daily Dialogue — March 31, 2018

C.D. Bales: [challenged to think of twenty jokes better than “Big Nose”] Let’s start with… Obvious: ‘scuse me, is that your nose or did a…

Mudbound uses voice-over narration, but in a way that’s considerably different than what we…

Here is an especially memorable side of voice-over narration given by Hap Jackson, the father figure of the Jackson family…

Reader Question: Do all Protagonists need a character arc?

A character’s ‘arc’ is a big buzzword in Hollywood development circles.

Script Analysis: “Mudbound” — Part 5: Dialogue

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

2018 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 30

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Writing and the Creative Life: Of Beginnings and Endings

Remember when you first came up with the story idea you’re currently writing? How great that felt?

Daily Dialogue — March 30, 2018

Malibu Police Chief: Mr. Treehorn tells us that he had to eject you from his garden party. That you were drunk and abusive. The Dude: Mr…

I zero in on one theme: MUD.

Pappy is desperate to maintain some distance from The Other. But he himself is mud as well. He just doesn’t realize it.

Mark, I think your take on the pairings of characters is truly inspired.

And then there is Pappy, the ugly face of racism. He is clearly a Nemesis figure as you point out.

It’s a sprawling historical drama. Here’s what I take from the script.

The Opening: The burial sets up multiple mysteries. Why the burial? Why Jamie and Henry doing the digging? Why Jamie with a black eye and…