drarna: before blaming others, think: whats the 1 constant in all your failed relationships? its that cursed egyptian amulet why do u even have that How to Dialogue: Give some attention here to how jokes work.
Read moreYOUR STORY IS INFINITE
Your screenplay is not. There are millions upon millions of ways to tell the story, and most of them are the best way. As you go along, more and more of them will become apparent. You can only have one. It should be one that hasn’t been chosen before, and you have to rewrite as…
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 moreLET’S TALK ABOUT OTHER KINDS OF STRUCTURE
There are some. I leave it to Linda Aronson to explain how they work, because I can’t fit it in a gif. Except this one. And I get really down on writers starting out with big ambitions about complicated structure because, frankly, it’s hard enough to do one protagonist and one linear storyline to good…
Read moreYOUR STRUCTURE IS ALL OVER THE MAP AND YOUR STORY STARTS ON PG 58
The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. Francis Bacon (via wanduring) FRANCIS BACON said this. In the 16th century. And he was a scientist and a lawyer, too. Bacon was so good Mark Twain was pretty sure he was Shakespeare. Take it right from Francis Bacon. Your exposition is a terrible,…
Read moreUseful Confessions #4
I get lots of half-ideas that seem like whole ideas. I used to sit right down and start writing them. Now I spend that time looking for the other half of the idea.
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: The Wonkavator
Notes from a Screenreader: The Wonkavator nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. Willy Wonka: No, it’s a Wonkavator. An elevator can only go up and down, but the Wonkavator can go sideways, and slantways, and longways, and backways… A screenplay should not be a Wonkavator, even if it isn’t linear. What you want in…
Read more6 Rules of Screenplay Research
6 Rules of Screenplay Research writerofscreen: However, if you write stories about something you don’t know from your own perspective and experience, it will feel fake. And that’s the problem I have with a lot of scripts I read. Screenwriters write about gangsters, mobsters, and art dealers, but it’s clear they are just rehashing things…
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