If your cool plot happens to someone we don’t care about, it doesn’t matter.
Read moreHelpful Hint From the Comment Section
Protags are easier to write when they are not a slightly blurred version of the writer. If you read a comment section on an “issue” piece of any kind, you can identify the characters represented there as if the usernames were “DelusionalMRA”, “MyFeelingsAreFacts” and “YouFoolishPeasants”. You understand everything about those people immediately. You know what…
Read moreThis is the kind of hypothesis that really crystallizes your story for the reader. Is it true? False? It’s the protag’s job to find out, the final test is to prove it.
Read moreWHAT IS A BEAT AND HOW DOES IT WORK LIKE FOOTBALL?
A beat is like a down. A new foothold has been established. There was a play (a plan), a skirmish (conflict) and an advance was made toward the endzone (goal). There are first downs and also downs of lesser importance, which establish a rhythm of forward motion, including an occasional setback. Sometimes you get a…
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: Meaningful Images
Notes from a Screenreader: Meaningful Images nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. A script is a story that will be told with images. It feels like that goes without saying, but spec scripts are so often crushed under the weight of their own dialogue that it bears repeating. Meaningful images are revealing, memorable, interesting…
Read moreASK A WRITER WHAT’S FOR DINNER
When you get physically uncomfortable with what you’re writing, that’s like an X on the map. Dig there.
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