Go Into The Story

Writing and the Creative Life: Wherein I embrace my messy desk!

For decades, I have waged a relentless war. The battlefield? My desk. Raised a military brat and a Southern Baptist to boot, the message I…

Daily Dialogue — November 2, 2018

“Arch Stanton.”

J, I think you’re right.

There are exceptions, of course. You mention the TV series “Wallender” as an example. One could argue that Jake Gittes in Chinatown has an…

Reader Question: Do you have any suggestions to ‘warm up’ for writing?

Two suggestions to help you overcome the dreaded ‘how to get my ass into the chair and writing’ conundrum.

“Get the damn thing done!”

The one unalterable truth about writing a first draft.

Songwriters on Songwriting: Suzanne Vega

“You’re drawing the listener into this world with very simple, basic information. And it then proceeds to state the problem without ever…

The Business of Screenwriting: The screenwriter as problem-solver

Words of wisdom from legendary Hollywood producer Max Millimeter.

Daily Dialogue — November 1, 2018

Daisy Werthan: You know your letters don’t you? Hoke Colburn: Oh yeah, yeah I know my ABC’s pretty good, just can’t read. Daisy Werthan…

Know your genre

If you want to write in a genre, you’re wise to immerse yourself in it.

Tweetstorm: Jeff Willis on Writing Compensation

In November 2014, studio executive Jeff Willis posted a tweetstorm about screenwriting compensation. Reprinted in its entirety by…

Songwriters On Songwriting: Leonard Cohen

“I am a working stiff. It takes me months and months of full employment to break the code of the song. To find out if there can be a song…

Great Scenes: “The Natural”

“He swings — violently and perfectly — the ball exploding off his bat.”

Daily Dialogue —October 31, 2018

“There are few who’d deny, at what I do I am the best For my talents are renowned far and wide When it comes to surprises in the moonlit…

Test your story concept

If your goal is to traffic in mainstream, commercial movies, I cannot overstate the importance of your spec script’s story concept. As I…

Tweetstorm: Mike Sweeney on Not Writing to Imagined Stats, Metrics, and Trends

Last night, screenwriter Mike Sweeney went on a Twitter rant worthy of our attention. Mike tweets of which he knows: He co-wrote (along…

Songwriters On Songwriting: Fiona Apple

I wrote my first song when I was 14 years old. Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs. It was that interest — music — that led me…

Screenwriting 101: Arash Amel

“Craft is discipline. I’m a professional. This is my job. You have a lot of hungry agents to feed and a lot of attorneys to feed. The way…

Daily Dialogue — October 30, 2018

Johnny: They’re coming to get you, Barbara! Barbara: Stop it! You’re ignorant! Johnny: They’re coming for you, Barbara! Barbara: Stop it…

Screenwriting as Scene-Writing

My unique 1-week online course begins Monday, November 5th.

Songwriters On Songwriting: Bob Dylan

I wrote my first song when I was 14 years old. Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs. It was that interest — music — that led me…

Tweetstorm: Zack Stentz on Rewriting Strategies

Zack Stentz has carved out a 15 year career both as a screenwriter and TV writer-producer. His writing credits include the movies Agent…

On Writing

“Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.”

Daily Dialogue — October 29, 2018

“Mommy got sick. And it happened just like that. There’s nothing anyone could do. It isn’t fair. There’s no reason. If we start asking why…

Screenwriting News (October 22— October 28, 2018)

The week’s writing deals and movie project news.

Great Scene: “It Happened One Night”

A classic scene from the 1934 comedy which is one of three movies to win all the Big Five Oscars: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor…