style=”font-family: Cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;”> New writers often think the industry is biased against them. style=”font-family: Cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;”> style=”font-family: Cambria; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;”> In some ways that’s true. Film executives are risk averse and love the comfort of banking on a scribe who already has a hit at the box office….
> Script Coverage Chronicles — December 2014 Three Thoughts On Writing For TV > style=”text-align: left;”> I talk about movie scripts a lot, but I’ve given feedback on many TV scripts as well. Based on my experiences as a writer, a screenplay consultant and a competition judge, here are three thoughts on writing for TV: style=”text-align: left;”>…
> Today I’d like to talk about emotions. Seasoned screenwriters know how to trigger emotional responses, and intuitive newbies quickly learn to tug at the heartstrings. It is without question a skill you need to master. As in everything, however, there’s a catch. > > You need to generate the right emotions. > > If…
> > There are some scripting tricks you won’t find in the screenwriting books. Here are three things I learned about setups and payoffs after years of writing and reading others’ work. > Expanding Your Setups > > Are readers not getting your big payoff? That can be really frustrating. I’ve seen it happen many…
Feeling out of creative steam? It happens to every writer at every level. There’s so much resistance, so much rewriting, so much everything – it’s easy for any writer to lose momentum. But momentum is everything. All you really need, to eventually succeed, is to move forward. All you really need is momentum. If you find…
This month I’d like to talk about fear in our screenplays. I’m not talking about the horror genre. I’m talking about the writing process itself. I’m talking about writing in a state of panic – fueled by the fear of failure. This is a phenomenon I’ve seen fairly often. It goes like this: A…
style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> We’ve already spent a few weeks in the New Year, and most of us have given up on our diets by now. So here are five alternative resolutions, all of which should be easier than consuming less food. style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace:…
style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> Writing natural-sounding dialogue – the kind that makes characters feel real – comes easily for a chosen few. The rest of us have to work hard at it. style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> Like anything else, it’s a skill that can be…
style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> In a prior blog (December 2015), I talked about avoiding coincidence in screenplays. I opined that 95% of the time, your story is better off if you take the coincidences out. style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> But what about the other 5%…