Scott Myers

Screenwriting 101: Ernest Lehman

“One of the most important feats in screenwriting is to convey exposition not only without it appearing to be exposition, but also without wearing the audience out, and there’s a limit to how much you can do in one long, sitting-down scene. One of the tricks is to

Daily Dialogue — June 23, 2015

Jules SNAPS, SAVAGELY TIPPING the card table over, removing the only barrier between himself and Brett. Brett now sits in a lone chair before Jules like a political prisoner in front of an interrogator. JULES: What country you from! BRETT: (petrified) What? JULES: “What” ain’t no country I know!

Here’s one approach to learning the craft

I’ve gotten some inquiries from several people during the last month or so about the possibility of working privately with Tom Benedek or myself at Screenwriting Master Class. We do offer that option: One-on-one private writing workshops. Prep: From Concept to Outline: I created this workshop five

Spec Script Deal: “Move That Body”

Sony acquires R-rated comedy spec script “Move That Body” written by Lucia Aniello and Paul W Downs. From Deadline: She [Aniello] is attached to direct a female-driven comedy described as The Hangover meets Weekend At Bernie’s, and he [Downs] is attached to play the male lead. Aniello

Movie Analysis: “Ex Machina”

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 16

For the third straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

On Writing

“As an artist I feel that we must try different things — but above all we must dare to fail.” — John Cassavetes Via A Bittersweet Life

Daily Dialogue — June 22, 2015

“Jumanji.” — Jumanji (1995), screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh and Greg Taylor & Jim Strain, screen story by Greg Taylor & Jim Strain and Chris Van Allsburg, book by Chris Van Allsburg The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Memorable 1-Word Lines. Today’s suggestion by Will King. Trivia: According to

Go Into The Story Week In Review: June 15-June 21, 2015

Links to this week’s most notable posts: 2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Week 3 A story’s “second music” Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Memorable 1-Word Lines From the GITS Archives: A connection between WALL-E and ALIEN Go Into The Story Interview (7 Part Series): TJ Cimfel

Screenwriting News (June 15-June 21, 2015)

Adair Cole writing crime thriller “Norco” for MadRiver Pictures. Sean Finegan and Gregg Maxwell Parker sell thriller spec script “Free Fall” for Blumhouse Productions. Ethan Furman adapting Charles Bukowski novel “Women” for Voltage Pictures. George Gallo and Andy Weiss writing “The Bummy Davis Story”. Philip Gawthorne adapting TV series “Kojak”

Interview (Video): D.C. Fontana

The good folks at the Writers Guild Foundation have an ongoing video series called “The Writer Speaks” which I’ve featured on the blog before. Its focus is on veteran writers who have great stories to tell about a film and TV industry they have seen go through radical changes

Daily Dialogue — June 21, 2015

“I’m life, Annie, and I’m biting you in the ass!” — Bridesmaids (2011), written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Wisdom. Trivia: The project was written over a period of several years. Kristen Wiig had her day job on Saturday Night Live

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Memorable 1-Word Lines

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Memorable 1-Word Lines. “STELLA!!!” Some of the most memorable lines in cinematic history have been one word. I can think of at least a dozen examples. How about you? Let’s see if we can come up with 7 stella… er, I

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: All Is Lost

This week, we have been reading, analyzing, and discussing the script and movie All Is Lost, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. IMDb plot summary: After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 191st installment of Saturday Hot Links. How ‘Jurassic Park’ Got CGI Right — and Marked the End of an Era for Spielberg. Top 10 Takeaways: How ‘Jurassic World’ Broke Box Office Records; Spielberg and June Date Helped. Bryce Dallas Howard Explains Why She Wore High Heels Throughout ‘Jurassic

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Week 3

Here are all of Week 3’s prompts for this year’s Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 11: A scene in which characters whisper. Day 12: A scene using something you hear in conversation today. Day 13: An unexpected phone call. Day 14: Adult answering a child’s questions. Day 15:

Interview (Written): Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera (“Inside Out”)

An Empire Online interview with Inside Out’s Pete Docter (co-writer / co-director) and Jonas Rivera (producer). First, excerpts from Docter: How did you pitch the story? Kind of the way we’ve been asked to work is to pitch three ideas, and that way we can kind of

Daily Dialogue — June 20, 2015

“Parting your soup is not a miracle, Bruce. It’s a magic trick. A single mom who’s working two jobs and still finds time to take her kid to soccer practice, that’s a miracle. A teenager who says “no” to drugs and “yes” to an education, that’s

Go Into The Story Movie Analysis: Ex Machina

Starting Monday, we begin our next installment of the Go Into The Story Movie Analysis series: Ex Machina, written and directed by Alex Garland. To find a theater near you where the movie is playing, go here. Monday: General Comments Tuesday: Plot Wednesday: Characters Thursday: Themes Friday: Takeaways Why watch

Twitter Rant: On Losing the Love for a Story

Tweetstorm: On Losing the Love for a Story If you are an aspiring screenwriter, Twitter is an amazing resource. Eric Heisserer (Arrival, Lights Out, Hours, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Final Destination 5, The Thing) is probably the Hollywood screenwriter most willing to go online and provide a tweetstorm on

Script Analysis: “All Is Lost” — Part 5: Takeaways

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday: Major Plot Points Wednesday: Sequences Thursday: Psychological Journey Friday: Takeaways Today: Takeaways. This

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 15

For the third straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

Video: Why Are There So Many Remakes??

Produced by PBS Idea Channel and hosted by Mike Rugnetta, this video explores a question that vexes many movie fans today: Why are there so many remakes? Yes, there’s the revenues. And it’s proven to be safer for the studios. But this video makes the argument there’s

Daily Dialogue — June 19, 2015

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance,

Reader Question: Does a story absolutely need an antagonist?

Reader question from Manwhit: hey scott, does a script absolutely need an antagonist character? is it possible to just create obstacles to what a character wants and not have them emanate from antagonists? for example, can there just be obstacles created by the circumstances of the outside world or even