If you’re still unfulfilled after receiving what you’ve wanted, you’re not aware of what you need. Awakened Vibrations (via awakenedvibrations) This is how screenplays work, too.
Read moreTHE GUY THINGS HAPPEN TO
I don’t know where it comes from, but it’s a clone trait in a bad script, so be vigilant in your art. This person, ostensibly the center of the script, whose story it is, is no one special, has a job, some friends, family, things they like to do. And then something happens, and the…
Read moreVISUALLY INTRODUCING A CHARACTER
Because of Tumblr, I started watching Hannibal and inadvertently fell wildly in love with Mads Mikkelsen’s voice. That’s not really an unusual thing for me, btw. So I went over to Netflix to check out some Danish films, and found a perfect visual character intro for you in the first ten seconds of Adam’s Apples….
Read moreEXCAVATING YOUR STORY
That looks interesting, I will dig there: First draft – scraping away the surface: Second draft – I can almost see something: Getting notes – thanks, guys: Rewrites: Gotta be here somewhere – just one more draft: Found it – now for a little polish: Ready to submit:
Read moreNotes from a Screenreader: The Same but What Now?
Notes from a Screenreader: The Same but What Now? nywift: Photo via Go Into the Story. “The same but different” is the magic formula for a winning script. Does it mean anything or is it double speak for “I know it when I see it?” Patterns not formulas: Create familiar emotional patterns in new situations….
Read moreI think in the event of a critique a writer isn’t happy with they (the writer) should set it aside: the story and the critique. Sometimes there isn’t enough emotional space between a writer and their work, when the critique comes in. Read the critique once, feel whatever it is you feel, and set it…
Read more13 Things Bad Screenwriters Commonly Do
13 Things Bad Screenwriters Commonly Do On the off chance you still think readers exaggerate when they say that most scripts don’t work in the same way, this article is a Cliff Notes of my whole blog!
Read moreA PSYCHOPATH’S TWIST ON A CLASSIC
I got this email this morning, and I was impressed with the level of story. I love the craft in the urgent, creepy Nightvale style. This is how to take a cliche and throw a twist on it. LAMBERT NKELESENIOR OPERATORCABLE/TELEX DEPTCEN BANK NIGERIA. Good day, THIS IS VERY URGENT. I HAVE SEEN WHY YOU…
Read moreYOUR SCRIPT AS THERAPY
Your script should be therapy, you wouldn’t write if you had a better way to externalize the issues that snag and hold and fascinate you. Using language to communicate your deepest self to others is your thing. Except you have to be really careful when you choose screenwriting to do this, because your first job…
Read moreIT’S DONE
No, it isn’t. People keep asking, how can so many scripts be so bad? They can’t be that bad. Surely you’re joking. No. A script can’t live on being technically correct. A script lives and dies on story. You must nail your story to the wall by executing your intent.
Read more