walkingoutintherain: annerocious: Writing for competitions – you have to make something new and interesting happen immediately. Not difficult with this one crazy trick. Make sameness WORK FOR YOU. Take that opening scene that’s so common and obvious and overused and MAKE IT END IN A COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED WAY. Instead of killing that pretty young woman,…
Read moreWhen Character Names Attack
loveandddrevenge: This is already wild Here is that awesome plot you were looking for.
Read moreScenework
There are some reasons to set your scene in a restaurant, coffee shop or cafe. But Quentin Tarantino has really raised the bar on that choice. So if you are thinking of setting your scene in an eatery where some people can sit and talk and maybe there’s a cameo for a comedic waiter, you…
Read moreMost Spec Scripts…
Are right out of 1995. I believe this is because most beginning writers who end up in competitions are recreating the patterns they learned from watching movies that made a big impact on them when they were kids. It’s perfectly normal and a part of the process. It’s also responsible for the notes you get…
Read morefilmblrfest: The First Annual Filmblr Fest ! Filmblr Fest? You heard right! A Tumblr-based film festival for the filmmaking community. Our mission is to create a platform for Tumblr filmmakers to show off their work while reinforcing the growing sense of community. How does it work? Submissions will be in short film, web series pilot,…
Read moreSympathy for the Protag
Not pity.
Read morePilot, Limited series or Feature?
The Rough Guide: Does your idea have a central conflict with a definite end? Feature Does your idea suggest hundreds of storylines based on its setting and character-based conflicts? Pilot Does your idea need ten hours to get through its central conflict to its definite end? Limited series
Read moreNew Business
…shouldn’t keep coming up in your script after pg 30. When you’re at sea in your second act, adding a new character or a storyline you haven’t set up feels like new energy, but it’s really an indication that you don’t know what to do with the story you already have. By all means, if…
Read morePro Tip: Visual Storytelling
Use “FOR EXAMPLE”. When your protagonist first appears, devise a scene in which the main flaw shows in action. If the flaw she must overcome to achieve her goal is her extreme selfishness, give us a visual EXAMPLE that blows her selfishness up larger than life. When the second act rolls up with the conflict…
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