Screenwriting 101: Nick Palmer

“We read a lot of scripts and the majority of them don’t work. Usually that’s because the conflict isn’t coming from the characters, but instead, from some kind of external, contrived situation, which makes the drama broad and hard to connect with. Another principle I really believe in, even though it sounds like a cliché (because it’s the first thing you learn in pretty much every writing or acting class out there) is that drama comes from objectives and obstacles. The stronger those two elements are, the more engaging the story. Clever writing and smart dialogue are great, but they can’t make up for a weak, central conflict.”

— Nick Palmer (GITS Interview, January 14, 2011)

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