Go Into The Story

Daily Dialogue — July 1, 2016

AUNT BETTY: Now, Kate, you know we used to help you and Woody out when he was drinking up everything he earned. KATE: You know as well as I do it was the other way around. You were always having him work on your cars for free, getting free gas

Reader Question: Are there any script rules that really shouldn’t be broken?

From @CaveDude21: I know all rules are made to be broken, but are there any Script rules that really shouldn’t? I don’t think there are any rules for screenwriting. There are important principles, and dozens of tips and techniques. There is also a lot of ‘conventional wisdom’ floating

Screenwriters Roundtable (Part 3): Jessica Bendinger, Lindsay Devlin, Stephany Folsom, Liz W. Garcia, Julia Hart, and Lisa Joy

A special treat this week and next as I will be posting excerpts from an extensive screenwriter’s roundtable I did in December 2015 with a group of talented Hollywood screenwriters: Jessica Bendinger, Lindsay Devlin, Stephany Folsom, Liz W. Garcia, Julia Hart, and Lisa Joy. Here is Part 3: Scott:

The Hero’s Journey vs. Superhero Stories

Are superhero stories having a negative effect on our collective psyche? I have been meaning to write this post for several months, but have put it off due to my hectic schedule and knowing that I would need a good block of time to compose my thoughts. However when I

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 22

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

The Business of Screenwriting: “I don’t have to smell it to sell it”

We are sitting in a Beverly Hills restaurant. It’s a lunch meeting with our new agent. We haven’t officially signed with the agency — one of the Big Four — still in our mutual testing out ‘hip pocket’ phase. We have just finished what we think is a killer action-

Daily Dialogue — June 30, 2016

TEMP: I’m not even sure that I can give you this information! JONATHAN: Yes, you can, oh why can’t you? TEMP: Because I’m just a temp, okay? I don’t know the rules! DEAN: A couple months out of college, you’re already acting like you’re

“Ex Machina” and The Hero’s Journey

In my current Core I: Plot class, Lecture 2 is a dive into The Hero’s Journey as articulated by Joseph Campbell. I asked writers in the course to name some movies they felt best represented this narrative archetype and Ex Machina came up. Great example of the key elements

Screenwriters Roundtable (Part 2): Jessica Bendinger, Lindsay Devlin, Stephany Folsom, Liz W. Garcia, Julia Hart, and Lisa Joy

A special treat this week and next as I will be posting excerpts from an extensive screenwriter’s roundtable I did in December 2015 with a group of talented Hollywood screenwriters: Jessica Bendinger, Lindsay Devlin, Stephany Folsom, Liz W. Garcia, Julia Hart, and Lisa Joy. Here is Part 2: Scott:

Thanks for everything, Dr. Linda Venis!

Today Dr. Linda Venis is officially retiring from her position as Director of the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, a role she has handled with great vision, passion, and grace for 30 years. I’ve had the great pleasure to know Linda since 2001. That was the year I responded to

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 21

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

Great Scene: “Thelma & Louise”

The memorable ending of the 1991 movie. A great ending to a movie is the only ending it should have. Oh, a movie could have multiple endings, but a well-constructed plot should lead to the story’s only authentic ending. When that ending is both logical and shocking, then

Daily Dialogue — June 29, 2016

“This is your neighbor speaking. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that something must be done about your garbage cans in the alley, here. It is definitely second-rate garbage! Now, by next week, I want to see a better class of garbage. More

Reader Questions: Format and Style

During the 8+ years of this blog’s existence, I’ve answered nearly 300 questions from readers about the craft of screenwriting. Here are my responses and subsequent comments on the subject of format and style. Are there any script rules that really shouldn’t be broken? Bolded sluglines: Yes

Screenwriters Roundtable (Part 1): Jessica Bendinger, Lindsay Devlin, Stephany Folsom, Liz W.

Screenwriters Roundtable (Part 1): Jessica Bendinger, Lindsay Devlin, Stephany Folsom, Liz W. Garcia, Julia Hart, and Lisa Joy A special treat this week and next as I will be posting excerpts from an extensive screenwriter’s roundtable I did in December 2015 with a group of talented Hollywood screenwriters: Jessica

Thinking like Hitchcock

Recently I posted something about how as a writer, we can wear a ‘director hat’, bringing that sensibility to bear on scenes we craft. Here is an excerpt from a 1964 interview with Alfred Hitchcock in which he discusses three approaches to film editing with visual references to the movie

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 20

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

Screenwriting 101: Adam Rifkin

“If you’re a purist and you don’t want your words touched, you should either be a novelist or an author. Because if you’re going to be a screenplay writer and expect that your words are going to be treated like gold, that’s just not reality.” — Adam

Daily Dialogue — June 28, 2016

Tommy: Doesn’t it make you proud to be Scottish? Mark “Rent-boy” Renton: It’s shite being Scottish. We’re the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth. The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the English. I

The Benefits of a Writing Workshop

Imagine having your very own private script workshop. A structured environment with content and a schedule tailored to meet your specific creative needs, your own unique online course site, and a one-on-one mentor relationship with a professional screenwriter and educator. You can do that through Screenwriting Master Class.

My Interviews with 20 Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Winners

The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is the most important of all screenplay contests. Founded in 1986, it is administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and previous winners have included Allison Anders, Susannah Grant, Ehren Kruger, Michael A. Rich, and many others who have gone on

Richard Linklater letter to cast before shooting “Dazed and Confused”

This floated around online over the weekend, a letter Richard Linklater sent in 1992 to the cast of his upcoming movie Dazed and Confused. To frame this discussion, a couple of things. Dazed and Confused was the follow-up to Linklater’s very first original feature length movie Slacker which

2016 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 19

For the fourth straight year, June is Scene-Writing Month here at Go Into The Story. Every Monday-Friday at noon Eastern / 9AM Pacific, I will upload a post with a scene-writing prompt. Each day, write a scene per those guidelines. Upload your scene here in the comments section

On Writing

“If you want to write, it must be the thing not that you want to do, or would like to do. It must be the thing you feel you have to do. It must be that without which you could not live. If you’ve got that, then it’ll

Daily Dialogue — June 27, 2016

“I’m Hub McCann. I’ve fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I’ve seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man