THE PROLOGUE OPENING
The first 10% of your screenplay is what I term the SETUP, during which you must transport the reader from the real world into the world you’ve created.
COMPOSING EFFECTIVE QUERY LETTERS
I often receive desperate letters from writers who say they can’t get anyone to respond to their query letters. If your letters, faxes or emails aren’t resulting in requests…
PREPARING TO WRITE A SPEC TV SCRIPT
When you decide to write a spec script for television, you must first decide the series for which you want to write a sample episode.
PITCHING: Antecedents
In any pitch, the buyer wants to know two seemingly contradictory elements of your novel or screenplay: its familiarity and its originality.
EVERYTHING I KNOW IN 100 WORDS OR LESS
Q: Can you describe some of the things writers need to think about in writing a salable story?
STORY MISDEMEANOR: NO DESCRIPTION
Your job as a screenwriter is to create a movie in the mind of your readers. You must draw us into your story by providing a clear picture of what we’ll see on the screen when we watch your film.
Q&A: WRITER’S BLOCK
Writer’s block grows out of fear – of never finishing, of your work not being good enough, of leaving your comfort zone, of putting yourself above others.
REMEMBERING SYD
Back in the Dark Ages, when I was just a movie lover fresh from Oregon with Hollywood dreams, I attended Sherwood Oaks Experimental College.
STORY MISDEMEANOR: I FEEL VERY UPSET ABOUT THIS ONE
One of the most frequent criticisms of novel and screenplay dialogue is that it’s on the nose. Anything on the nose is too obvious.
WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? The King’s Speech
Stories are built on a foundation of desire and conflict. To create an emotionally involving and commercially successful screenplay, you must give your hero…