If your cool plot happens to someone we don’t care about, it doesn’t matter.
Read morecatalyncrwth: annerocious: US navy VS lighthouse This is a myth, but it’s a great device to remember how plot and character relate to each other. Hint: Your protag is the lighthouse. Except when it’s a tragedy, in which case the plot is the lighthouse and the protag doesn’t get the memo. baahahahahahaha. good point. (Source:…
Read morejackieinspired: Yeah, a fullmetal heart Your screenplay in a nutshell.
Read morefootybedsheets: “40% of Afghanistan’s skateboarders are female.100 % of those are tough as nails. ” Source: @Skateistan Here is that awesome plot you were looking for.
Read moreUseful Confessions #6
As I sink down to my forehead in a draft, I start pushing the characters around to make the plot work. Always bad. I “cast” the parts with photos tacked up over my computer. I can look at them and focus on “what would they do?” rather than “how can I make the next thing…
Read moreThe characters write the plot. Their natures do. Norman Rush (via theparisreview)
Read moreWISH YOU WERE HERE
Spec screenplays do this weird thing where they leave the most interesting, original, unique parts completely out. As a for instance: a writer needs to get two characters in bed because the plot is about hiding the affair from co-workers. So the script just has them fall on top of each other and the plot…
Read moreCONSISTENT MOTIVATION
You will sink your script if you take your alpha bro protagonist and twist him around into a self-aware gentleman scholar for five seconds to advance a plot point, or worse, keep a line a dialogue you’re proud of. All character changes must be properly and visibly motivated by what has already happened, not by…
Read moreYOUR FIRST TEN PAGES
It’s not interesting to read expositional scenes that dump lots of information about events leading up to this opening. That information doesn’t belong in the beginning. Just wade right into the story. Show who the person is. Show what the problem is. Develop those two things in an interesting way, use visuals, be entertaining about…
Read moreCLARITY PROBLEMS
Clarity problems happen when the central conflict gets buried under an avalanche of superfluous ideas. To enhance clarity in your script, give the reader the thread early. Weight your setup to favor your protagonist and the problem, give less time to secondary characters, set atmosphere with active images instead of conversations. Keep all of your…
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