There are some. I leave it to Linda Aronson to explain how they work, because I can’t fit it in a gif. Except this one. And I get really down on writers starting out with big ambitions about complicated structure because, frankly, it’s hard enough to do one protagonist and one linear storyline to good…
Read morejackieinspired: Yeah, a fullmetal heart Your screenplay in a nutshell.
Read moreThe Cats I Have Seen Saved
Found footage of my cat. Fade out. Poe’s Law infers that there is no way for me to know what the pie chart looks like for Ironic Cat-Saving vs. The Book Said to Save a Cat on This Page vs. Cats Saved by Coincidence vs. Other, but it is not an SRS I’m talking about….
Read moreAll you need to know about screenwriting.
Read moreHOW DOES TENSION WORK?
Like this. As long as its central question stays unresolved, it is tension. It’s the only thing that makes readers turn pages. Amplify these moments in your script. Set them up and draw them out. You need to build one in each scene, a bigger one for each sequence and the ultimate one that stretches…
Read moreNOT REALLY OBSTACLES
ON THE DREADED PLACEHOLDER SCENE
There are scenes in your first draft where you’re still figuring out your story, and you know you need to establish something, so you write it down with some dialogue, to hold its place. Then you never go back and rewrite it in an interesting, visual way with a good solid beat in it, and…
Read moreWHY FLASH FORWARD IS A PROBLEM
The most convincing argument I can make against starting your spec with the backstory and then jumping forward in time is this: Casablanca doesn’t open in Paris. Start in the now and set up your now problem. Use the backstory to escalate in your second act. It will elevate your game like crazy.
Read moreAND THE SUBPLOTS JUST KEEP COMING
brian-ws: jajaja paint penca xd A properly escalated screenplay.
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