Go Into The Story

Great Scene: “Michael Clayton”

Clayton confronts Crowder, then rides alone with his thoughts.

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 5: Dialogue

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 18

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

Writing and the Creative Life: Of Beginnings and Endings

Remember when you first came up with the story idea you’re currently writing? How great that felt?

Daily Dialogue — January 24, 2020

Jackie: My answer is “cock”, and I wrote it really big, so I have a “big cock!” Howard: I’m afraid you can’t say “big cock” on the air…

Movie Story Type: Spoof

“A spoof is a comic movie that parodies a specific genre of films.”

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 17

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs [Part 17]

“It’s the first rule of sales: Qualify your customer. If Hollywood is your ‘customer,’ then you find out what they are buying.”

Daily Dialogue — January 23, 2020

“The Yanks will defend their title.”

Character Type: Bully

“Why are bullies such a recurring character type in movies? First, they give an audience someone to hate, a focused object of personal…

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy crime drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 16

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

Script To Screen: “Her”

Samantha tells Theodore she is leaving in this science fiction infused romance drama written and directed by Spike Jonze.

Daily Dialogue — January 22, 2020

The Count: This was the deal: I asked all of you to demand of me to do a very foolish thing, and you sent in ideas in their millions. But…

Story Summaries: From Loglines to Beat Sheets

Learn six different types of story summaries and how to use them to develop your scripted projects.

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 2: Plot

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 15

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!

Screenwriting 101: Allan Durand

“If you’re going to write a screenplay, it better interest the living hell out of you, either the story or the amount of money you’re…

Daily Dialogue — January 21, 2020

Honeycutt: He tell you his name yet? Coach Jones: He doesn’t talk too much, but he’s sure taking a liking to that radio.

Great comments, Tara.

I also think your comparison to Uncut Gems is an apt one. The separation between the Haves and the Have Nots, or, too, the Shrinking Middle…

This is not a story that would otherwise interest me, but I enjoyed the script a lot.

A couple of initial takeaways: It’s easy to see why Lorene Scafaria, who wrote and directed the movie, would have been attracted to the…

Reader Question: Are there differences between seeking representation with a manager versus and…

The answer is yes. As one manager put it to me: “Agents wear suits, managers wear blue jeans.” Why that makes a big difference to you.

Script Analysis: “Hustlers” — Part 1: Scene By Scene Breakdown

Read the script for the surprise hit comedy drama and analyze all week.

2020 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 14

A chance for you to work on your dialogue chops and win free prizes!