writerlyn: Remember, friends, your first draft can be crap. It’s okay. Yes! But don’t send it out that way.

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IT’S UP TO YOU

Say you’ve got 70 actual scenes. It doesn’t matter, really. There’s no magic number. The point is, you have a limited amount of time. 70 beats looks like quite a lot, until you try to fit everything into them. You have to choose. Say one of your big beats is that your protag with Asperger’s…

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HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE READER: PART ONE

This is an easy one. Before you waste a lot of time describing something that’s familiar to both of us, like waking up, getting dressed, making breakfast, driving to school…yawn…sorry. WRITE it. We’re both writers. Readers are never not writers. INT. SUBURBAN BATHROOM – DAY JEN GLEN, the most indie/alt girl in the sophomore class,…

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Low Hanging Fruit – 5 Simple Script Fixes

Low Hanging Fruit – 5 Simple Script Fixes somedayscreenwriter: Contest deadlines are looming. Here’s 5 easy things you can do to spruce up your script. 1 – Scene Headings/Slug Lines Go through and check your scene headings, make sure they’re formatted well, that they make sense, and that they’re industry standard. It’s a small thing,…

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CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?

Literally, your biggest problem as a spec script writer is overcoming the reader’s boredom. It’s a mistake to start with a typical flashback-y prologue-y ‘this is what the story is going to be about’ scene that conveys information without a hint why we should care. The art is in connecting the reader to a person…

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Useful Confessions #5

I have this huge pulpy paperback astrology book. It is a tool for creating complex, flawed characters. The writing in it comes out of genius level social intelligence. It’s a shortcut to getting the story started.

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hermione: Black Inequality in Film: An Infographic by the New York Film Academy

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“Script Breakdown Tips” (Directing Tips)

“Script Breakdown Tips” (Directing Tips) Rather than write an article on how to breakdown a script I decided I would try something a little different today. I believe the visualization and “real life example” will help convey insightful t… A look at how your script is used by a director to make a movie. Looking…

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