The 5 Powers of Screenwriters

The 5 Powers of Screenwriters

Writers often feel powerless in the face of pursuing their goals. They feel helpless in the face of a business they perceive to be difficult to enter and succeed. We fight off overwhelming feelings of confusion when developing our stories. It becomes frustrating to...
The Best Idea for a Screenplay

The Best Idea for a Screenplay

Writers often wonder what idea they should choose to develop their next script. What idea will actually lay the foundation for an amazing story? What idea will be best for your career? What is the best idea out of all their ideas, which all seem to have equal appeal?...
5 Ways to Start a New Screenplay

5 Ways to Start a New Screenplay

As a writer, I often forget something——writing creates more writing. If I write, the act of writing inspires new ideas and places for my characters to go, turns I did not imagine for my story at all. Writing is so much stronger an act of development than thinking...
6 Actions to Become a Better Screenwriter

6 Actions to Become a Better Screenwriter

Professionals are teachable. They do not lock into patterns and habits and methods. We need to always look to see where we fall short, and we must remind ourselves over and over what served us in the past. After two decades of writing scripts, I have now come to a...
7 Ways to Finally Finish Your Script

7 Ways to Finally Finish Your Script

Nearly every writer reading this is in the same place—–we haven’t finished our script! There’s something creating a roadblock to completing our draft. It could be the final script or the first draft, or one of many rewrites. Either way, we are miles from where we...
Screenwriting isn’t Writing

Screenwriting isn’t Writing

Most people when they start writing scripts sit down and write like they are writing a novel or a love letter or something beautiful. This is not screenwriting. Screenwriting is closer to the writing of a recipe for pumpkin bread than a novel by Eudora Welty or...