Movies are about moments.
Processing any combination of basic principles is far more likely to lead you down the right path as well as get you out of trouble.
Juice up scenes with YES/NO.
So much of the screenwriting I read just kind of moves along. t's all very polite. No bad pages.
But there aren't any great scenes, either.
Bad notes, unskilled notes, and knowing the difference.
The world will never run out of notes. As long as you keep asking for notes, you will get them.
And even some after that.
Does your character need a superpower?
There are certain common questions or notes we hear in development. You can add, "What's their superpower?" to the list.
Five ways to improve your Dialogue
The challenge is always the same. We must control the puppet strings of these characters so they perform the needs of the scene yet create the illusion of genuine agency.
After the midpoint.
The midpoint doesn't change the character. It just changes their direction.
It's not the plot. It's the emotion.
It's the emotion, stupid. The emotion is what counts. Always, always, always.
How the monster movie structure can help you with any genre.
When structuring your story, you don't have to start from scratch. There are plenty of places to look for inspiration, and one of them is genre.
Three foundations to solve any screenwriting problem.
Most everything I teach comes down to three pillars. I have found that when I am struggling, one of them has broken down.
Keep the audience engaged as you keep secrets.
You never want the audience to wonder what the story is. Let them think they know. And then reveal it to be something more.
Falling to the level of your systems.
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." — James Clear.
Your Subplots Are Story, Too.
There is no “B Story”; only the main story.
And that main story has subplots that support and deepen it.