If there is an unwritten rule about screenwriting that every writer needs to follow, it’s this: Push it. Push what? you ask. Push everything, I say. This is especially true if you’re an aspiring writer trying to sell your first spec. This is true if you’re an established writer working on your 50th job. Everything needs …
Category: Structure
The Hook Keeps Them Reading
The first three to five pages are the most important pages of your script. That may sound like something of a bold statement, considering that most screenplays approach 120 pages and considering all of the things that a writer needs to accomplish in those pages. A statement like that might lead you to wonder why …
Just a Little Pinch: Screenwriting’s Dirty Little Secret
In his book, The Screenwriter’s Bible, David Trottier describes a moment that happens in the middle of Act II as a Pinch. The hero becomes more fully engaged in the adventure at that point either through finding out a new piece of information, a particular event, or some other important moment that has to re-galvanize the …
The Art of the Outline: Using the Hero’s Journey as a Starting Point
I used to feel that drafting an outline was one of the most difficult challenges in writing a screenplay. The problem is that you cannot skip that step. Without a good, solid outline, there’s no way that the completed screenplay will be coherent, sharp or solid. The outline is part of the foundation of a …
Subtext, or Not Saying What You’re Saying.
Including subext in your characters’ dialogue might simultaneously be the most difficult and most important thing to do in a screenplay. That might sound like an overstatement, because obviously having solid structure, good character depth and a well-written dramatic arc are all important. All of those elements and more are required to draft a quality …
The Fine Line Between Boring and Interesting
I read a script last week for a new client. It had good structure, well developed characters and a premise that was a little formulaic, but certainly was good enough to set up the story the the writer was trying to tell, and could draw an audience just with the genre. There was a reasonable …
Cooking a Screenplay: Learning to Mix the Right Ingredients
When writing coverage for scripts, I quite often find myself writing that all of the ingredients are there for a great script, but they weren’t mixed properly. The script might have strong characters, a solid premise and a an entertaining story, but something about it is missing. Usually it’s due to poor story structure, and …
What’s Your Motivation? It’s Not That Bad of a Question
A lot of times when people make fun of actors, they’ll ask, “What’s my motivation?” in a very effeminate way. It’s a funny way to poke fun at actors by making it look like they can’t think for themselves. However, when you’re writing the script, there is no more important question to ask yourself. The main character’s …
Link to An Article written by David Mamet
This is a really good read for anyone who is struggling with individual scenes. http://www.movieline.com/2010/03/23/david-mamets-memo-to-the-writers-of-the-unit/
To a Screenplay, Stucture is Like Oxygen
In 1978, the band Sweet put out one of the last of their 13 top-20 hits and the last to reach the top-10. Their hits included notable songs like “Ballroom Blitz”, “Fox on the Run” and “Teenage Rampage”. This particular song was called “Love Is Like Oxygen”, and the chorus went as follows: Love is like …