Be aware of the things that a protagonist admires about himself that are provably false. Then prove it. So, me. I would never change my dynamic, awesome female protagonist into a man. I worked hard on that character, it’s important to the story that she’s a woman, it’s a groundbreaking part an actress would kill…
Read moreHEART WITH A SIDE OF HEART
Even if you’re the world’s most cynical misanthrope and your story expresses the ultimate futility and pettiness of the human race, you need a heart. You can’t make anyone care about characters who don’t really care. There is a cheap shorthand you should avoid, which is assigning motive. I’m killing him because he killed my…
Read moreMOTIVATION: GO ORGANIC
Trying to hit dramatic beats on certain pages leads to motivation drift. I read a script about a relationship, and on a given page it was time for them to break up, so they had a fight. Except the fight was completely unmotivated and required that the girlfriend end the relationship over an issue that…
Read moreA Cautionary Tale: 3 Writing Rules that Can Derail Your Story
A Cautionary Tale: 3 Writing Rules that Can Derail Your Story kent-dufault: Last year I had occasion to read a batch of ten page manuscript submissions in a hurry, one right after the other. What I noticed was startling in its consistency. All of the writers had clearly sp… This is well worth your reading…
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