Screenwriting 101: Shawn Lawrence Otto

“I took a class in screenwriting because I wanted to strengthen my sense of structure. To me a good novel delves deep into a character’s spiritual and emotional drives, and then compels them to act in life-changing ways. I didn’t want to be one of those meandering novelists who cover up lack of action with narrative. So I took the class and I fell in love with screenwriting. It’s like story poetry, the most disciplined form of modern writing, where the story is most cleanly exposed and there’s a beating heart left there bleeding on the page, precious, holy and frightening.”

 — Shawn Lawrence Otto (House of Sand and Fog)