MAJOR CHARACTER ARRIVES ON PAGE 45
AN ORIGINAL VISUAL IN THE OPENING SCENE
THIS IS YOUR MIDPOINT
Midpoints are a fork in the road. One path offers a false solution, one path offers a true solution. Has your protag grown enough to make a different decision here than he would have made at the beginning? For some awesome, less nutshelly thoughts on midpoints, check out this link. [x]
Read moreWRITING WITHOUT A BEAT SHEET
When you get a great idea and start without developing the bones of the story, you will probably get about thirty pages in before the wheels come off. Which is fine. You can put down your pages and do your outline then. But you still need one, because screenplays are incredibly intricate. Every scene you…
Read moreAND IT’S GOING TO BE NON-LINEAR
WHAT IF MY V.O. IS REALLY ENTERTAINING AND I DON’T USE IT AS A CRYSTAL BALL?
CHEATING ON YOUR PROTAG
Sometimes your protag gives up the fight to be the most interesting person in the script. We’ve all been there. That one supporting character who takes off, not coincidentally when the second act gets a little mushy. It’s not okay for this to happen. It’s unfaithful. Protags sometimes sag under the weight of their goodness…
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 moreENDINGS
It’s a good idea to start out with a concrete ending in mind so that you can write towards it, not just thematically, but with the confidence of knowing that no matter how many wrong turns your protag takes, the end will resolve it beautifully. Visualize your ending with a naked heart. It’s a catharsis,…
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