Story. Screenplay. Sale.
Improve your format & style and get ready to write ‘FADE IN’.
If I read the line ‘she smiled at him lovingly’ one more time, I swear I will kill the writer. Uncountable are the screenplays where characters are constantly smiling, looking ‘lovingly’, expressing ‘dark anger’. Some inexperienced writers are of the belief they can implant emotions into the brain of the audience simply by describing the … Read more
It’s certainly no secret. I believe that all the screenplays we write today must be flawless in terms of formatting and grammar simply because of the competition. Everything counts. And in my review of Mickey Lee’s great new story, The Other Side, which you really should read if you get the chance, I did a little bird-walking on … Read more
When I re-watched the pilot episodes of LOST, it struck me how late the main characters’ names are introduced. And it works so well. By the time we hear the names mentioned, we are already wondering about them. First we see the stranded group realize their situation, dumbfounded. Then they start interacting and some characters … Read more
I want to say a word on trusting the reader. An inevitable sign of growth in a new writer – and we all go through this arc – is in the area of trusting the reader. Newbies who haven’t developed the discipline of trusting the reader tend to over-explain simple things in the action lines or … Read more
The point of every script is to be made into a film – obviously. Yet why do so some great stories never make it to the screen? Christopher Riley gives us some advice on how to take the final hurdle to becoming a working screenwriter. Before a film or television script can fulfill its destiny … Read more