Go Into The Story

Script Analysis: “A Quiet Place” — Part 4: Themes

Read the script for the hit horror movie and analyze it all this week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 8

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

The Business of Screenwriting: The power of “no”

In the event you break into the business as a screenwriter, you need to be prepared to say this word: “No.”

Daily Dialogue — January 10, 2019

Sheldrake: Look, Baxter, I’m not stupid. I know everything that goes on in this building — in every department — on every floor — every day…

Reader Question: What’s the best way to approach pitching?

There’s not one way to pitch, but this way works.

Script Analysis: “A Quiet Place” — Part 3: Characters

Read the script for the hit horror movie and analyze it all this week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 7

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

Script To Screen: “Midnight Cowboy”

The last scenes from the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy, screenplay by Waldo Salt, novel by James Leo Herlihy.

Daily Dialogue — January 9, 2019

Ed Masry: You’re emotional, you’re erratic. You say anything, you make this personal, and it isn’t. Erin Brockovich: Not personal? That is…

Thanks, Mark and Cameron.

Re plot points and act breaks: We can get so hung up on these when a good story should feel organic. When Cameron wrote this:

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: “A Quiet Place” — Part 2: Plot

Read the script for the hit horror movie and analyze it all this week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 6

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

Screenwriting 101: Stephanie Shannon

“I think it’s important to just sit down and to do it. That was my biggest obstacle I had to overcome, was that it took me years to…

Daily Dialogue — January 8, 2019

“You think when I was a kid I dreamed of running a fucking chemical company? No. I dreamed of retiring. Of being fed tropical fruit on a…

I’m waiting on my article on First Reformed as well!

Re Chayefsky: If you haven’t seen Network, please do yourself a favor and watch that movie. It’s a brilliant satire which is as relevant…

Thanks for those comments, Mark, and I’m glad you enjoyed doing the scene-by-scene breakdown.

There is an important lesson here for aspiring screenwriters: The trend nowadays is NOT to include camera shots and directing jargon. Why…

Script Analysis: “A Quiet Place” — Part 1: Scene By Scene Breakdown

Read the script for the hit horror movie and analyze it all this week.

2019 Dialogue-Writing Challenge: Day 5

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

Daily Dialogue theme next week: Boss

Join the Daily Dialogue crew: 3,889 consecutive days and counting.

On Writing

“Usually, a story is triggered by a notion I have of a character in a particular situation, and the various reactions that character might…

Daily Dialogue — January 7, 2019

Miranda and some assistants are deciding between two similar belts for an outfit. Andy sniggers. Heads turn toward her.

Reader Question: How to convey a character’s emotional state in scene description?

How much latitude does a screenwriter have to ‘editorialize’ in scene description?

Learn the Craft

“You don’t need books on screenwriting or prose to be a writer. You don’t need workshops or classes either. If you stumble around in the…

Script To Screen: “Marty”

The final scene from the 1955 drama Marty, written by Paddy Chayefsky, one of three screenplays for which he won an Academy Award.