Where do you get your legitimacy?
If you had hundreds of people who wanted you to read their screenplay, what would it take for you to choose one over the others?
Writing with a partner.
Why do it, what to watch out for, and even a process that might work for you.
It must work emotionally first.
If it works intellectually but doesn't work emotionally, it doesn't work at all.
Do you really need to pick a genre?
Twenty-nine years as a professional screenwriter, and I have never once been asked to pick a genre.
The magic of sequence throughlines.
While ALIEN was not written in 8 sequences, it is a superb example of the 8-sequence approach.
When it is time to attach actors.
Movie-making is star-driven.
Keep the writing simple.
The most common bad habit of all is to write a more complicated sentence than is necessary.
Choosing the next step when writing.
At each stage there is the question, “Should I move on, or rework what I just finished?”
Always find the truth of the moment.
The audience must accept what they see before they can be affected by it.
The quick pitch (to yourself)
Best performed in the outline phase, the quick pitch is a “verify” button for your structure,
Scene work: One moment generates the next.
The best screenwriting class I ever took was Jose Quintero’s acting class at the University of Houston.
Does your screenplay need a promise?
The Promise takes advantage of a simple truth: if we get a taste of something we want, we will likely want it more.