Sometimes your protagonist does need to be likable.
Not every protagonist needs to be likable. But maybe the one you're writing does.
The three reasons anyone reads your screenplay.
There are three reasons people will agree to read your screenplay. You can influence all of them.
Is screenplay coverage worth it?
What screenwriters are willing to pay for these services cannot actually provide the services people think they’re paying for.
Quit fiddling with what's working.
Writing is rewriting. But rewriting without purpose or direction is fiddling.
How and when to use CUT TO:
You have likely heard that CUT TO: is long out of favor. So why do we still keep using it?
How to write a passive protagonist.
Can't have one, right? Like most go-to notes, it’s mostly true, but with enough nuance that the definitive statement of it rings false.
Back to Basics: Story Structure
Choosing what the audience knows and when they know it in order to maximize narrative momentum and emotional resonance.
The Rules of Screenwriting.
Turns out, most dumb rules have something useful behind them.
We took a spec out last week, Part 1.
Going out with a spec script. Here are some of the steps involved, what happens, and why certain decisions are made.
How to format a text message in your screenplay.
Text messages in modern stories are pretty much unavoidable now. Write enough screenplays and it’s eventually going to come up.
The magic of sequence throughlines.
While ALIEN was not written in 8 sequences, it is a superb example of the 8-sequence approach.
Sequence 4 and how to attack it.
The pivot into Sequence 4 is not an independent choice. It is dictated by the needs of the larger choices around it.