Screenplay turning points are moments of significant character change Anonymous (via gideonsway) Points to ponder.
Read moreUse screenplay structure to give your story form rather than to create story Anon (via gideonsway) Story comes first.
Read moreSo what AM I allowed to do in my script?
Readers want a surprising, unusual opening image that presents information about the story in a visual way. HOW DO I DO THAT? Look at opening images from movies you’re enthusiastic about. What invites you in? What makes you curious about the people and the place? What do you notice about the beginning now that you’ve…
Read moreHOW TO FIT BACKSTORY INTO YOUR FIRST ACT
It can wait. It’s a much better choice to present something as a mystery than it is to explain it in dialogue.
Read moreDon’t aim for every screenwriting paradigm in your early drafts. Aim for macrostructure and then refine Anonymous (via gideonsway) Carve this in stone. Or tattoo it on the back of your hand.
Read moreRemember that every produced screenplay has at least a dozen drafts before it Anonymous (via gideonsway) At THE VERY LEAST.
Read moreWhat Your Spec Script is Missing
Emotion. Your script is so focused on conveying information it forgets to check in with how its characters are relating to each other. Your plan for the second act. What’s your hook? You have your situational setup and then…that’s it, Helen, let’s just talk about it until the end. Proofreading. I don’t bother correcting spelling…
Read moreAll-Plot Scripts
If your cool plot happens to someone we don’t care about, it doesn’t matter.
Read morewriterlyn: I just read the first scene of three separate screenplays… … …and they all started with a pretty young woman getting killed. …. for fucks sake. Please don’t start your script this way. FFS. What’s wrong with you that you can’t stop killing women?
Read moreHelpful Hint From the Comment Section
annerocious: 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…
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