Go Into The Story

Page One: “Heat” (1995)

Written by Michael Mann

Interview (Video): Meg LeFauve

An hour-long interview with the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter.

Spec Script Deal: “Sharp”

Netflix acquires action spec script “Sharp” written by José Padilha and Nicolette Noble. Via Deadline:

Go Into The Story Resource: Daily Dialogue

The Daily Dialogue series not only as great information to aid in our dialogue-writing practice, each daily post reminds us of some great…

A Writer’s Response to the Pandemic

One thing the current pandemic compels writers to do is to get us to stop and really think about who we are as storytellers, why we do what…

Go Into The Story Resource: Guides to Classic Movies

Selected by GITS readers, a compilation of notable movies from the 1930s through 1990s, plus some classic international films.

On Writing

“The useless days will add up to something. The shitty waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The…

Page One: “The Father” (2020)

Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, play by Florian Zeller

Linda, having been involved in this business for over three decades, here is the situation as best…

There are script readers. They are Hollywood's threshhold guardians. Basically every script which funnels into and through the development…

Re All Is Lost: It may be semantics (BTW, that terms is not mine, it’s one that’s been around for…

The battle between she and Al is what I call the Final Struggle. It’s a literal struggle. And it’s literally final in that Cassie dies.

Sundays with Stephen King’s “On Writing”

A series featuring reflections on writing from the famed author’s memoir.

Page One: “Promising Young Woman” (2020)

Screenplay by Emerald Fennell

Go Into The Story Resource: A Screenwriter’s Guide to Aristotle’s “Poetics”

You know you should read it. This 44-part series takes you through all of “Poetics” and offers analysis from a screenwriter’s perspective.

Go Into The Story Script Reading & Analysis: “Promising Young Woman”

The entire 6-part series on the acclaimed Oscar-winning movie screenplay.

10 Screenwriting Skills and Traits You Need

Screenwriting Skill #5: Conviction. “At our core as screenwriters, we have to believe in our stories, believe in our characters, and…

Go Into The Story Resource: Annual Spec Script Market Reports

Detailed information and statistics on every verified spec script deal from 2008–2020, and analysis of the spec script market and business…

Script Analysis: “Promising Young Woman” — Part 6: Takeaways

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-winning screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday:

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2021)

This is the 12th year in a row I’ve run this series in April.

10 Screenwriting Skills and Traits You Need

Screenwriting Skill #4: Voice. “Your voice is an expression of you. What you care about. What you are passionate about. What enlivens you…

Page One: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001)

Screenplay by Steve Kloves, novel by J.K. Rowling

My choice for dialogue is this monologue Cassie delivers to Al, the man who sexually assaulted…

"Nina was extraordinary. So smart. Weirdly smart. She was so completely herself. Even when she was four years old. She was fully formed…

Laura, I was struck by this exchange, too.

Cassie has so embraced that trauma, it has become a defining aspect of her life. Quite literally for *years*, she has obsessed over Nina's…

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 30

This is the 12th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to

Script Analysis: “Promising Young Woman” — Part 5: Dialogue

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-winning screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss. Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown Tuesday:

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs

Part 3: Boom, Bust, Back Again, But Now…? [1990–2020]