Masks, Archetypes and Metaphors [and why the Donald doesn’t don]

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people with diy masks

In this post, I want you to bear with me, as I meander through Covid-19, The Don and masked superheroes, to finally demonstrate how masks and metaphors improve your screenplay.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mask

Early in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, some governments recommended against wearing masks for reasons you may have read in the media at the time. I followed that science, and didn’t wear a mask.

It felt wrong, as I belong to a white minority in an overwhelmingly Asian suburb of Sydney, where face masks had been commonplace long before Covid.

But there was another reason I felt naked without a mask.

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The Dreaded Passive Protagonist Will Never Kill Your Script Again

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It keeps surprising me how many writers turn in scripts with a passive protagonist, or featuring characters that are barely active. I’m talking about writers who have read screenwriting manuals, taken courses with the gurus, even those who have several scripts under their belt. In this article, I am going to eradicate this issue for … Read more

Courses, Books & Consults Won’t Cut It.

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In addition to working with writers, producers and agencies everywhere, I teach screenwriting courses at film schools in Australia, Europe and online. The school gigs largely consist of lecturing about screenwriting theory, and consulting on the students’ screenplays. I love teaching, I adore my students, and I’m fortunate enough to see some good results, as … Read more

10 Audience Principles In Screenwriting

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As a writer, you are playing a game with the audience. Therefore, in order to find success in screenwriting, it is necessary to understand how audiences work. And your first audience is your reader. I don’t mean reader in the sense of a particular Hollywood industry professional, though winning over such readers is critical to … Read more