Writing Tips
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
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
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
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
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
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...
Writing Goals: Why You Should Never Quit
Writing goals never include the day you can quit writing. The idea that any one person knows when another writer should quit is completely incorrect and reckless. I believed after I began teaching and I read the work of my students that some students might not be able...
Screenwriting Rules: There Are No Rules
There are tons of books, videos, blogs, and podcasts that will tell you what the screenwriting rules are. We have quite a number on this very website. Here are five popular suggestions that might be more helpful if you ignore them! Hook the Reader in the First 10...
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