Scott Myers

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 9: The Ending

Part 9 of a ten-part series. DOES MY SCRIPT HAVE A BIG ENOUGH ENDING? How frustrating that is when a movie pumps you full of hope with its compelling Beginning, surprises you with twists and turns in the Middle, then peters out with a wimpy, diffuse Ending. Wimpy endings

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 21

This story is courtesy of Gabe Gomes, a writer from Brazil: The Assassins in the Vineyard: Who would poison the vines of La Romanée-Conti, the tiny, centuries-old vineyard that produces what most agree is Burgundy’s ?nest, rarest, and most expensive wine? When Aubert de Villaine received an

The Business of Screenwriting: There are three groups of people in Hollywood…

The Business of Screenwriting: There are three kinds of people in Hollywood Story. Some get it. Some kinda get it. And some… well… There are three kinds of people in Hollywood: Group 1: People who know nothing or next to nothing about story. Group 2: People who can tell you

Time for another round of reader questions

I posted something last week here and received quite a few questions. Perhaps some of you missed it, so here’s another chance to submit a question about screenwriting. I will start responding to questions on Monday, April 25th. Comment Archive

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 8: The Middle

Part 8 of a ten-part series on “Is my script big enough to be a movie.” DOES MY SCRIPT HAVE A BIG ENOUGH MIDDLE? Many writers have trouble with their script’s middle part. Either they get confused and lost to the point where they drop the project out

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 20

In the cinematic tradition of Lifeboat (1944), Alive (1993), and 127 Hours (2010), how about this? New Zealand Teens, Presumed Dead, Rescued After 50 Days Adrift In Pacific: WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Three teens who have been missing in the South Pacific for 50 days — and were already eulogized in a

Screenwriting 101: Marshall Brickman

“The first script of Annie Hall was much more episodic, tangential, and novelistic… We started to become interested in the love story between Woody and the Keaton character, which was all over the place. We cut and pasted to make the love story more important, and the structure emerged. The

Daily Dialogue — April 20, 2011

Galloway: You get him on the stand and you get it from him! Kaffee: We get it from him! Oh! Okay! We get it from him. [turns to Sam as if he were Jessup on the stand] Kaffee: Colonel Jessup, isn’t it true that you ordered the Code Red

Writing Question: What is your least favorite part of writing a story?

Yesterday I asked this question: What if your very favorite part of writing a story? Got some interesting responses. So it seems like a natural follow-up: What is your least favorite part of writing a story? Comment Archive

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Adopt a different writing persona

This is a first in GITS history: Another Dumb Little Writing Trick That Work, only this one isn’t my idea, but from some actual scientists: We value creativity and are often justifiably proud of our most creative acts. Solving a difficult problem at work is a major achievement. Writing

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 7: The Beginning

Following yesterday’s post, here’s another question to ask about how ‘big’ your script is. DOES MY SCRIPT HAVE A BIG ENOUGH BEGINNING? By the end of Act One (The Beginning), a reader not only should know where the story is headed, they have to be gripped by it.

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 19

This caught my eye awhile back — The Shadow Scholar: The request came in by e-mail around 2 in the afternoon. It was from a previous customer, and she had urgent business. I quote her message here verbatim (if I had to put up with it, so should you): “You

Hollywood Tales

“Richard Brooks, a sharp-tongued ex-Marine, was adapting Evan Hunter’s bestselling novel Blackboard Jungle at Metro — William Wyler was scheduled to shoot it, but Brooks wound up directing as well. He’d heard a song on his car radio driving home one night from a poker game, and

The craft of screenwriting

One of the most exciting aspects of Screenwriting Master Class is that it provides Tom Benedek (Cocoon, Free Willy) and myself the opportunity to drill deep into the craft of screenwriting. Indeed, we have recently started offering 1-week Craft courses, each of which deals with some fundamental aspect of

Hollywood is churning out classic fairy tales with a twist

The always excellent Steve Zeitchik has a good article in the LAT yesterday about Hollywood’s current fascination with developing and producing fairy tale movies. The entire piece is well worth reading, but let me excerpt a few key comments. First here is what film producer and former studio head

Is my script big enough to be a movie, Part 6: Visual Style

Following up on my most recent post, here is another aspect to consider about how big your script is: DOES MY SCRIPT HAVE A BIG ENOUGH VISUAL STYLE? At their core, movies are a visual medium. Until The Jazz Singer debuted in 1927, movies existed quite well for three decades

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 18

We already had a story about rival tow truck operators, but this takes the grudge narrative to a whole other level: Neighbors shoot each other over defecating dog: JACKSON, Miss. — An argument between two armed neighbors over a dog and its feces escalated to a shootout in rural Mississippi, sending

On writing

“You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won’t be able to take a break from being a writer.”   — Stephen Leigh Comment Archive

Daily Dialogue — April 18, 2011

Withnail: Why has my head gone numb? I must have some booze. I DEMAND TO HAVE SOME BOOZE! [Withnail grabs lighter fluid] I: I wouldn’t drink that if I was you. Withnail: Why not? I: Because I don’t advise it. Even the wankers on the site wouldn’t

New Yorker: George R.R. Martin

The new HBO series “Game of Thrones” debuts tonight. As some background, here are excerpts from a lengthy New Yorker feature on the book series’ author George R.R. Martin: The writer George R. R. Martin left Hollywood in 1994, determined to do what he wanted for a change. He’

“The [Blank] From Hell”

Remember how I posted those series of Movie Story Types a few weeks back including The [Blank] From Hell? Well, here you go. From Collider on Friday, April 15: Paramount has picked up a comedy pitch from Anna Faris, centering on a troublesome roommate. The actress developed the pitch after

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17

Okay, I’m going to try a second bite at the apple. Yesterday’s story idea was American football in Switzerland. Today it’s about an American involved in football (read: soccer) in England: Billionaire invests in English soccer club: LONDON -It’s hardly on the same level as the

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Drunk / stoned banter

After a week’s worth of Presidential speeches, we move to a truly dignified theme: Drunken and/or stoned banter, kindly suggested by The Unknown Lyricist. Now this should be fun! In fact, I’ll bet we can easily get two week’s worth of these. Don’t forget all

Trailer: “Cowboys & Aliens”

Universal and DreamWorks, the studios behind Cowboys, say it is based on a 2006 comic book of the same name. But that comic wasn’t published until nine years after the first Cowboys screenplay was written. The timing is pitting early writers on the project against current A-list scribes

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 16

This was a fun one I stumbled on today. From the NYT: LANDQUART, Switzerland — This town, cradled by snow-capped Alpine peaks, is not Green Bay. Not that it isn’t trying: it has plenty of cheese, this being Switzerland, and it has football — the American kind. The local team,