Writing and the Creative Life: “In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail” When legendary football coach Vince Lombardi would speak in public, he rarely strayed far from two closely related subjects: success and…
2022 Willamette Writers Conference Join me in Portland, Oregon for The Protagonist’s Journey master class… and get a free autographed copy of my book!
Interview (Part 4): Juliet Giglio and Keith Giglio My conversation with the screenwriting couple whose first novel The Summer of Christmas has just been released to the public.
How to Do a Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Whether you are analyzing a movie or a screenplay, breaking it down to the granular level of its scenes can reveal much about its story…
The Business of Screenwriting: There is always another way Between writing assignments, I wrote a spec script. It’s a contained thriller called “Legacy,” about a child psychiatrist who ends up on a…
Update: The Metamorphosis of Darth Vader A new video by The Italian Screenwriter explores my theory about how Darth Vader’s narrative function shifts from Star Wars: Episodes IV…
Interview (Part 3): Juliet Giglio and Keith Giglio My conversation with the screenwriting couple whose first novel The Summer of Christmas has just been released to the public.
Writer’s Life: Inside and Outside the Story Universe “Sometimes we are inside the story universe, rubbing elbows with our characters, listening to and watching them. Sometimes we step outside…
The Theology of Cinema: Cross “A six-pointed star, a crescent moon, a lotus — the symbols of other religions suggest beauty and light. The symbol of Christianity is an…
Page One: “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) Screenplay by Ted Griffin, 1960 screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, 1960 story by George Clayton Johnson & Jack Golden Russell
Reader Question: How to approach writing a villain Protagonist? Three keys to crafting a Bad Guy who is your story’s Protagonist.
Interview (Part 2): Juliet Giglio and Keith Giglio My conversation with the screenwriting couple whose first novel The Summer of Christmas has just been released to the public.
Screenwriting 101: Pen Densham “You have to look at being a story-writer and let that passion create stories, and see where there’s a place you might be able to find…
Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets Learn six different types of story summaries and how to use them to develop your scripted projects. My one-week online class starts Monday…
Interview (Part 1): Juliet Giglio and Keith Giglio My conversation with the screenwriting couple whose first novel The Summer of Christmas has just been released to the public.
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Characters Not every character is created equal, but how we treat each one is equally important.
On Writing “Show, Don’t Tell. It’s coaching, not teaching. Be specific. If you can’t paint a picture of it, it’s an abstraction. If you can paint a…
Sundays with Sidney Lumet’s “Making Movies” A weekly series featuring reflections on filmmaking by one of the truly great movie directors.
Go Into The Story Interview: Leigh Cesiro and Erica Matlin My interview with 2021 Black List writers for their script Cruel Summer.
“What if I’m writing a script, but want to start another one?” Time to stack projects… or is this simply an example of the Shiny Object Syndrome?
