HOW DOES THEME WORK?
Theme happens when your script makes a convincing argument that its protagonist is better off fixing his flaw.
Read moreA FRESH VOICE
If you boil down what makes a script readable, you get one adjective: fresh. It is impossible to overstate that most scripts are like most other scripts, because most writers write what they’ve already seen in exactly the way that they’ve seen it. Stretch yourself as a writer. Be personal. There is an undiscovered country…
Read moreUseful Confessions #2
I endlessly rewrite as I write. As in, read the whole thing three times, write a little, reread, go back, read, rewrite, reread the whole thing, write a little. It takes me as long to write one draft as it takes other people to write three or four or nine. It does come out highly…
Read moreYOU WRITE LIKE WE’RE BOTH IN THE GIFTED CLASS
WHAT IS A BEAT AND HOW DOES IT WORK LIKE FOOTBALL?
A beat is like a down. A new foothold has been established. There was a play (a plan), a skirmish (conflict) and an advance was made toward the endzone (goal). There are first downs and also downs of lesser importance, which establish a rhythm of forward motion, including an occasional setback. Sometimes you get a…
Read more…THEN FORGET IT
Good scripts care about people. A lot.
Read moreFIRST DRAFT
TENSION
Letting tension out in the script happens when conflicts are resolved too soon. It happens in scenes with two or three lines of wrap up dialogue that should be cut. You lose momentum when you let out tension. Keep the tension rising in your script by giving your protag more problems instead of solving them….
Read moreWhen you create flaws, make them nasty and unmanageable. Characters with things about themselves that they despise, try to hide and/or can’t control make writing conflict easier and naturally vivid.
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