Go Into The Story

Page One: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008)

Screenplay by Eric Roth, story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Interview (Part 1): Kayla Sun

My interview with the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 8: Unity

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

On Writing

“To be a novelist or a short story writer, you first have to pretend to be a writer or a short story writer.”

Page One: “The Crow” (1994)

Screenplay by David J. Schow and John Shirley, based on a comic book series by James O’Barr

Go Into The Story Interview: c. Craig Patterson

My interview with the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 7(C): Story Length and Change of Fortune

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Spec Script Deal: “Familiar”

Paramount Pictures acquires horror thriller spec script “Familiar” written by Julien Magnat. Via Deadline:

Page One: “Critters” (1986)

Screenplay by Domonic Muir and Stephen Herek, story by Domonic Muir

Interview (Part 6): c. Craig Patterson

My interview with the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 7(B): Beauty, Magnitude and Order

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Writing and the Creative Life: What are you afraid of?

The single greatest inhibitor to creativity is fear. Do you recognize any of these voices?

Page One: “Crimson Peak” (2015)

Written by Guillermo del Toro & Matthew Robbins

Interview (Part 5): c. Craig Patterson

My interview with the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 7(A): Beginning, Middle, End

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Screenwriting 101: Guillermo Arriaga

“I’ve written novels and screenplays, and with a screenplay you are writing something that’s going to be filmed, and you have to understand…

Page One: “Creed II” (2018)

Screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone, story by Sascha Penn and Cheo Hodari Coker, characters created by Sylvester Stallone

Interview (Part 4): c. Craig Patterson

My interview with the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 6(G): Spectacle Sixth

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

On Writing

“Creation of character is, like much of fiction writing, a mixture of subjective feel and objective control.”

Page One: “Creed” (2015)

Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Aaron Covington, story by Ryan Coogler, characters created by Sylvester Stallone

Interview (Part 3): c. Craig Patterson

My interview with the 2023 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Studying Aristotle’s “Poetics” — Part 6(F): Diction Fourth, Song Fifth

As I’ve been interviewing screenwriters, I typically ask what some of their influences are. One book title comes up over and over again…

Spec Script Deal: “If I Had Your Face”

Orion Pictures acquires horror spec script “If I Had Your Face” written by Ran Ran Wang. Via Deadline:

Page One: “Crawl” (2019)

Written by Michael Rasmussen & Shawn Rasmussen