Know your goal before you start writing your screenplay.
It does not matter whether you start with the project or the goal itself. What's important is that they are in agreement.
How to structure a story with a relationship at the center.
Relationships are vital for every story. Audiences care deeply about relationships, perhaps more than anything else. But what about when the relationship is the story?
The key to a sensational inciting incident.
The most effective inciting incidents are personal, and the best ones evoke an emotional reaction from the protagonists and from us.
The want drives everything.
Without a want, the narrative is stagnant. But with it, we can map out the entire story structure.
Your protagonist doesn't need to be likable.
There is a common misconception that a protagonist needs to be likable. The truth is, we just need to care.
Controlling the tone in your screenwriting.
Tone concerns the audience's experience. It's about how they react to what they see, hear, and even feel. At its core, it is about the suspension of disbelief.
The two ingredients to tension in your screenwriting.
Nothing keeps us engaged in a story more than tension. It's one of the most effective tools we have to keep the audience watching.
4 steps to get more screenwriting done, even if it's not your full-time job yet.
We have to learn to write when talent doesn't show up. We have a job, and sometimes we gotta punch the clock.
Five Questions For Every Scene
Screenwriting is scene work. Scenes and sequences are at the heart of what we do. But how do we write great scenes, and how do we REwrite them?
It's The Intention That Matters
We ask ourselves: what is the emotion we want to evoke? What information do we want to impart, or what visual do we want to reveal?
Put simply, what is the intention?
The Concept Is King
This is a concept-driven industry now. For better or for worse. The concept should be unique but just as important: the unique thing should be what generates conceptually unified scenes.
It's your movie. Put the reader in the audience
If we can get the reader to see the images and feel the emotions, we can transmit our enthusiasm and excitement for the project to them.