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Writing Dialogue

My unique 1-week online course begins Monday, November 6.

2017 Austin Film Festival Wrap-up

Panels, sessions, meetups, old friends, new faces, a great writers weekend.

Script To Screen: “12 Monkeys”

From the 1995 movie 12 Monkeys, screenplay by David Webb Peoples and Janet Peoples.

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 6]

A 10-part series with the writers of The Apartment and Some Like It Hot.

On Writing

“Surely it is an odd way to spend your life — sitting alone in a room with a pen in your hand, hour after hour, day after day, year after…

Daily Dialogue — October 30, 2017

Nurse: Would you like to meet your son? Vanessa: I have a son.

Screenwriting News (October 23-October 29, 2017)

The week’s writing deals and movie project news.

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Set a deadline

Nothing like the fear of being publicly humiliated to motivate you to write.

Wanted: Daily Dialogue themes!

Your suggestions wanted in long-running blog series!

“How I Wrote ‘Arrival’ (and What I Learned Doing It)”

Screenwriter Eric Heisserer talks creative process in writing Arrival.

Interview (Written): Paul Haggis

A conversation with two-time Oscar winning writer-director.

Daily Dialogue — October 29, 2017

“Donnie. An atheist is someone who denies altogether the existence of God. You’re an agnostic. An agnostic is someone who believes that…

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Hospital

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,453 consecutive days and counting.

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Unplug your Internet!

And if you don’t have the self-control to do it, I’ve got a tip for you!

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 313th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Parts 1–5]

A 10-part series with the writers of The Apartment and Some Like It Hot.

“The Novice Screenwriter Whose Spec Script Launched an Oscar Campaign”

The amazing story of Liz Hannah and her script “The Post”.

Daily Dialogue — October 28, 2017

DR. KARL: I like to start by saying that every marriage is savable. You just need two people who are willing to work at it. Okay? Mike…

Reader Question: How to handle the passage of time in a script?

Time management can be a big concern in a screenplay.

“The Invitation”: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

A look at the story structure of the 2015 indie thriller.

Writers for Puerto Rico

An initiative launched by screenwriters Brian Duffield and Liz Hannah starts now today at 10AM PDT!

Conversations with Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond [Part 5]

A 10-part series with the writers of The Apartment and Some Like It Hot.

Writing and the Creative Life: Writing as Pilgrimage

I am a pilgrim and a stranger Traveling through this wearisome land I’ve got a home in that yonder city, good Lord And it’s not, not…

Daily Dialogue — October 27, 2017

“I didn’t have no headache. She had one. I didn’t.”

Reader Question: How do I know if it’s too much or too little scene description?

We face this issue in every single scene we write…