Scott Myers

“Story Talismans”

The definition of talisman is, “An object believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.” The word’s roots are Greek: telesma, which means “consecration ceremony,” and the more primitive root telos, which means “result.” When a writer consecrates an object to derive results in the writing process,

Movie Trailer: “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”

Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt (as Michael deBruyn), novel by Suzanne Collins Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem. IMDB Release Date: 22 November 2013 (USA)

“There are no screenwriting rules”

No matter what you have read or may have heard. Perhaps the source is a so-called screenwriting ‘guru.’ Maybe it’s a friend. A member of your writer’s group. Whoever it is, if they tell you there are screenwriting rules… they are flat-out wrong. There are no

Writing and the Creative Life: Why creativity thrives in the dark

Writing and the Creative Life: Why Creativity Thrives in the Dark Some scientific props for all you fellow night writers out there! Back in 2009, I was up working in the middle of the night, as I always do, when I was inspired to write this reflection: Is there anything

Daily Dialogue — November 7, 2013

Miss Laetitia Prism: I deposited the manuscript in the bassinet… and placed the baby in the handbag. John ‘Jack’ Worthing: Where did you deposit the handbag? Miss Laetitia Prism: Don’t ask me, Mr. Worthing. John ‘Jack’ Worthing: Mrs. Prism, this is of no small importance to me. I insist

Update: Award season screenplay downloads

It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, I’ll be tracking them and posting links as they become available. Current total of scripts for download: 16. Newly added scripts [Mud and Wadjda] and production notes

“Stories tell us what we already know”

I don’t exactly know how I wound my way into teaching screenwriting in my spare time, but I’m glad I did. I’ve been doing it now for 12 years, working with over a thousand writers by my estimate. A number of them have gone on to achieve

Movies You Made: “Commencement”

I met so many wonderful people at the recent Austin Film Festival. One of them is Adam Neustadter. Here is his bio: Adam Neustadter is a filmmaker currently living in Los Angeles. He studied film at NYU and has been directing ever since. Coming up through music videos, Adam worked

THR: Screenwriter Roundtable

From THR: When The Hollywood Reporter invited George Clooney and Grant Heslov to participate in this year’s Writer Roundtable, their Nazi art-heist drama The Monuments Men was considered likely to contend in multiple awards categories. Alas, four days after the Oct. 18 discussion at The Los Angeles Athletic

“Don’t Finish That Scene!”

Let’s say you’re in the middle of writing a script — and it’s a slog. You’re finding it really tough to drag your ass onto the chair and start writing the next scene. Well, let’s roll back the clock. What if yesterday, you hadn’t finished

Movie Trailer: “At Middleton”

Written by Glenn German, Adam Rodgers A man and a woman fall in love while taking their kids on a college admissions tour. IMDB

“Write what they’re buying or sell them your dream”

There are many writing paths. Here are two of them. Let’s consider this a response to a reader question because I get this type of inquiry pretty regularly from aspiring screenwriters via email. It takes different forms: What type of stories should I focus on? I have a lot

Script To Screen: “Hannah and Her Sisters”

A pivotal scene from the wonderful 1986 movie Hannah and Her Sisters, written and directed by Woody Allen. Next, the film cuts to an almost isolated path in Central Park, complete, with old-fashioned streetlamps and scattered leaves. Holly and Mickey stroll into view, deep in conversation.HOLLY (gesturing) Gosh,

Daily Dialogue — November 6, 2013

“What were you doing in the bar if you didn’t know?” — The Crying Game (1992), written by Neil Jordan The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is dramatic reveal, suggested by hoernsch. Trivia: Time magazine critic Richard Corliss subtly gave away the movie’s plot twist in his review

Update: Award season screenplay downloads

It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, I’ll be tracking them and posting links as they become available. Note: All newly added scripts [The Armstrong Lie, The Croods, Frozen, Monsters University] in bold below:

Five questions with Cassian Elwes about the Black List Fellowship

I posted this last week: LOS ANGELES, CA (October 29, 2013) — This morning, producer Cassian Elwes and Black List founder Franklin Leonard jointly announced the creation of the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship, wherein one unrepresented writer with lifetime earnings not exceeding $5,000 with a screenplay of indie sensibility

Baby Boomers and the Box Office

For years, I’ve been beating the same drum over and over: Studios should be making movies that target Baby Boomers and Seniors. You can go here and here to see just a couple of posts I’ve done on this very subject with this summation: I’ve been saying

“Snacks!”

So it’s like maybe 15 years ago and I’m reading an interview with noted playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon. And in this interview, Simon confesses that one way he forces himself to write is the judicious use of snacks. That’s right. Snacks. I don’t have the

Movie Trailer: “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

Screenplay by Simon Kinberg, story by Simon Kinberg and Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods. IMDB Release Date: 23 May 2014 (USA) Comment Archive

“A spec script will not sell unless it has a strong story concept”

If you write a spec script based upon the first story idea that comes into your mind, that script likely won’t sell. Why? Because almost assuredly, it is not a strong story concept. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of a story idea to the eventual success of

Screenwriting 101: Declan O’Dwyer

“It was never really about where it was going to end up. It was really about the journey itself. It’s inevitable in a genre piece. Cinematic language tells us there’s going to be showdown at high-noon. Not always the case, but it’s a fair assumption. So

Daily Dialogue — November 5, 2013

Bill: Do you find me sadistic? You know, I bet I could fry an egg on your head right now, if I wanted to. You know, Kiddo, I’d like to believe that you’re aware enough even now to know that there’s nothing sadistic in my actions. Well,

Update: Award season screenplay download

It’s that time of year again when studios make available PDFs of movie scripts for award season. As in years past, I’ll be tracking them and posting links as they become available. It’s still early in the process, but Universal has already made these three scripts available:

Break your story in prep

In December 2010, when Tom Benedek and I were just about to launch Screenwriting Master Class, I posted this on the blog: Have you ever started a script and not finished it? Has it ever taken you 4, 5, 6 months or more to finish a script? Have you ever

Subtext

So over the weekend, I posted this Great Scene from the movie Sideways: MAYA Can I ask you a personal question?MILES (bracing himself) Sure.MAYA Why are you so into Pinot? It's like a thing with you.Miles laughs at first, then smiles wistfully at the question.