Go Into The Story

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Week 4

Here are all of Week 4’s prompts for this year’s Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 16: A scene with just one word of dialogue. Day 17: A scene at a sporting event. Day 18: Someone is brought to tears. Day 19: Getting a traffic ticket. Day 20: En route

Interview (Written): Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”)

A Variety interview with “House of Cards” creator and showrunner Beau Willimon. What part of the job do you enjoy most? First and foremost I’m a writer, and being able to work with my writing staff, that magical time at the very beginning of a season when you’ve

Daily Dialogue — June 27, 2015

Det. Frank Drebin searches a drawer Frank: Bingo! Pulls out a Bingo card. — The Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad! (1988), written by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Pat Proft The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Memorable 1-Word Lines. Today’s suggestion by Ricardo

Go Into The Story Script Read and Analysis: “Barney’s Version”

Beginning June 29, our next movie script read and analysis will be Barney’s Version, screenplay by Michael Konyves, novel by Mordecai Richler. Starring Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, and Dustin Hoffman. Directed by Richard J. Lewis. You may download the script here. Our daily schedule: Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown

Twitter Rant: 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 with Nick Creature) the spec script “The Mayor of Shark City,” a story of the making of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, a script made the 2013

Movie Analysis: “Ex Machina” — Takeaways

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 20

For the third 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 Character: Viola De Lesseps (“Shakespeare in Love”)

I’ve had the opportunity to screen Shakespeare in Love (written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard) again recently. What a superb film! And this time, I was struck by the story’s Attractor Viola De Lesseps, played wondrously by Gwynneth Paltrow. How could Will not fall in love with

Daily Dialogue — June 26, 2015

Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: Plastics. — The Graduate (1967), screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, based on the novel by Charles Webb The Daily Dialogue theme

Movie Analysis: “Ex Machina” — Themes

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

You pick the next Black List Table Reads script!

Something sweet from the Black List: If you’re not hip to the Black List Table Reads podcast, it’s pure awesomeness: Professional actors reading aloud a Black List script. Each script divided into 4 half-hour podcasts. A great way to ‘read’ a script by hearing it! And each

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 19

For the third 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

Interview: Don Winslow (“The Cartel”)

One of the joys of having hosted this blog for over 7 years and being an active Twitter participant is getting to know writers I would never have met if I were just shut up all day in my office. I am particularly glad to have become acquaintances with Don

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything you wanted to know about specs [Part 13]

Spec scripts, that is. I’m guessing that perhaps 90% of the people who follow this blog at some point in their lives will write a spec script. And the other 10% are involved in buying and selling them. In light of that fact, last year I interviewed a top

Daily Dialogue — June 25, 2015

“Adrian!” — Rocky (1976), written by Sylvester Stallone The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Memorable 1-Word Lines. Today’s suggestion by David Proenza. Trivia: Although Sylvester Stallone famously wrote the first draft of the script in 3 days, it went through nine sizable rewrites before it was purchased by

Why write?

Fact: The chances of you making any money from writing, let alone establish a career, are slim. This is especially so with the creative arts like screenwriting and TV writing. The competition is fierce. Writing gigs are limited. Studios, networks, and other purveyors of content are currently caught up in

Interview (Part 2): Don Winslow (“The Cartel”)

One of the joys of having hosted this blog for over 7 years and being an active Twitter participant is getting to know writers I would never have met if I were just shut up all day in my office. I am particularly glad to have become acquaintances with Don

Movie Analysis: “Ex Machina” — Characters

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 18

For the third 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

What writing podcasts are you listening to?

The Writers Guild of America, West has launched a new podcast called 3rd & Fairfax (named after the street corner in L.A. where the Guild headquarters is located). With its debut, I thought it would be a good idea to touch base with readers to see what writing / screenwriting

Daily Dialogue — June 24, 2015

Royal Magistrate: The prisoner wishes to say a word. William Wallace: [shouts loud and long] Freedom! — Braveheart (1995), written by Randall Wallace The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Memorable 1-Word Lines. Today’s suggestion by James Schramm Trivia: Screenwriter Randall Wallace had been visiting Edinburgh in 1983 to

Reflections on Screenplay Structure

This analysis from Michael Waters of the major plot points in The Imitation Game spawned a larger discussion of screenplay structure: 1. Break in at Turing’s House (page 1) 2. Info Passed to Menzies MI6 (who do nothing)(page 2) 3. Nock gets curious that Turing ‘is hiding something’

Interview (Part 1): Don Winslow (“The Cartel”)

One of the joys of having hosted this blog for over 7 years and being an active Twitter participant is getting to know writers I would never have met if I were just shut up all day in my office. I am particularly glad to have become acquaintances with Don

Movie Analysis: “Ex Machina” — Plot

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of

2015 Scene-Writing Challenge: Day 17

For the third 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