How to approach Sequence 3, the beginning of Act 2
When I was younger, I thought Act 2 was the hard part. It really isn't.
How to approach a general meeting.
General meetings are panning for gold. A lot of effort, usually fruitless, but when it hits, it hits.
Simplify the writing and decrease the friction.
The more complicated the sentence, the more chances it has to undermine your intention.
The three reasons anyone reads your screenplay.
There are three reasons people will agree to read your screenplay. You can influence all of them.
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.
Screenplay 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.