Go Into The Story

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: “Destroyer” — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for the gritty crime drama and analyze it this week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 17

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

Script To Screen: “Network”

One of the greatest satires in cinema history: The 1976 movie Network, writen by Paddy Chayfesky.

Daily Dialogue — January 23, 2019

“Casey Jones was a sonofabitch; Drove his train through a 30 foot ditch; Came on out with his dick in his hand; Said “Listen ladies, I’m a…

Rose, this is a really solid take.

In the Gospels, it’s written: “And the truth shall set you free.”

Roo, I’m in alignment with your take on the script’s story structure and major plot points.

Re the snow scene: Is it too simplistic to think it represents the purity (white snow) of the original mother-daughter relationship?

TV Show Ingredients

A guest post from screenwriter Tom Benedek on the TV series ‘Killing Eve’

Script Analysis: “Destroyer” — Part 2: Plot

Read the script for the gritty crime drama and analyze it this week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 16

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

Screenwriting 101: Robert Towne

“If you have a good ear for dialogue, you just can’t help thinking about the way people talk. You’re drawn to it. And the obsessive…

Daily Dialogue — January 22, 2019

“What’s wrong with wanting to be the best you can be? What’s wrong with wanting to be perfect? What’s wrong with wanting to be loved?”

Mark, your comment about “all the flashbacks” echoed my sentiments.

After all these years of the supposed ‘rule’ about not using flashbacks, I wonder if, indeed, there is a growing preference for multiple…

Go Into The Story: Character Driven Screenwriting Workshop

I am excited to announce a three-day writing master class in Paris, France: Go Into The Story: Character Driven Writing, March 20–22, 2019.

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

Read the script for the gritty crime drama and analyze it next week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 15

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

On Writing

“There are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost everything has…

Daily Dialogue — January 21, 2019

“That day for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run.”

Screenwriting News (January 1— January 20, 2019)

David Birke and Tony Mosher drama “Picking Cotton” at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

Character Type: Artist

“To see the world differently. To feel life fully. To immerse oneself in the experience of the creative moment. That is the domain of the…

Script To Screen: “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”

From the 1939 movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, screenplay by Sidney Buchman, story by Lewis R. Foster.

Interview: Aaron Sorkin

Conversation with the screenwriter of The Social Network.

Daily Dialogue — January 20, 2019

Arthur: Stay with me a minute, Hobson. You know I hate to be alone. Hobson: Yes, bathing is a lonely business.

An Argument Against Screenplay Formulas

A five-part series with this simple point: When you think of story structure, don’t think formula. Think character.

Saturday Hot Links

Time for the 376th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other…