Go Into The Story

Daily Dialogue — January 1, 2018

Eve Gill: Any sign of the police? Jonathan Cooper: No, no sign. Looks like we’re getting away with it. Eve Gill: Good. Jonathan Cooper: How…

“Go within yourself…”

Words of wisdom from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.

The Business of Screenwriting

Free downloadable Go Into The Story eBook by Scott Myers.

More Movies Like This, Please: 2017 List

I started something in 2012. Whenever I saw a new movie I liked, I would jump onto Twitter, identify the movie, then simply tweet: “More…

Interview (Video): Alvin Sargent

Conversation with veteran screenwriter whose movie credits run the gamut from Paper Moon and Ordinary People to Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man…

Daily Dialogue — December 31, 2017

Ted the Bellhop: A block of wood. Chester: [raps it with his knuckles] Continue. Ted the Bellhop: Three nails. Norman: Why three nails…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Flashback

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,516 consecutive days and counting.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 322nd installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Interview (Written): Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan

A conversation with the screenwriters of the movie Chappaquiddick.

Daily Dialogue — December 30, 2017

“Ahhh! Ahhhhhh! Ahhh! Ahhhh!”

The next Go Into The Story Reading and Analysis Script: “Get Out”

Read the script for the hit “social thriller” and analyze it next week.

Interview (Audio): Guillermo del Toro

A conversation with the writer-director of ‘The Shape of Water’.

Script To Screen: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”

A great fight scene from the 2000 movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, screenplay by Hui-Ling Wang and James Schamus and Kuo Jung Tsai…

Daily Dialogue — December 29, 2017

“Everybody’s having fun out here. They drinking, they fighting, they pissing on the streets. It’s New Year’s Eve. They loving the ladies.”

Reader Question: How do I make supporting characters and interesting?

One sign of a well-written script: Strongly detailed secondary characters.

“What Being an Editor Taught Me About Writing”

Article by a Random House editor has a lot of takeaways for writers in general… and screenwriters.

Script To Screen: “Cool Hand Luke”

A key scene from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke, screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson, novel by Donn Pearce.

The Business of Screenwriting: Commencement of Principal Photography

When your movie officially starts production, that triggers a writer’s payday.

Daily Dialogue — December 28, 2017

“Oh, pardon me. Wrong girl.”

Update: Time to Read 2017 Movie Scripts

One of the best ways to learn the craft: Read scripts!

Pixar: Scrapped Film Ideas

Recently released video shows how far Pixar filmmakers are willing to go to find the right story… and we should, too.

Script To Screen: “Collateral”

A scene from the 2004 movie Collateral, written by Stuart Beattie.

How They Write a Script: Ted Tally (“The Silence of the Lambs”)

Ted Tally is yet another screenwriter who started out as a playwright. His film credits include White Palace (1990), The Juror (1996), All…

Daily Dialogue — December 27, 2017

“In the meantime, I got this plan. It’s called ‘Save Ass’. And the way it works is this — I slip outta one of these windows and I run like…

Writing Goals: 2018

Links to the entire 10 part series to take stock of your creative efforts in 2017… and commit to goals in 2018.