Is it good? Is it great? Or is it useless? Should I show it to anyone? To whom? Is it ready to sell?

I have found that as someone’s experience grows, often so does their insecurity about the state of their scripts. Many newbies are overeager to market undercooked scripts.

Why?

They don’t know their own abilities. They don’t understand what constitutes a great script, and they hope someone else will tell them.

If you feel this strong intuitive urge to get validation from a producer or agent, you’ve got to ignore it. Do more work yourself: read great scripts, keep writing, and over time you’ll separate the wheat from the chaff.

True intuition is built upon experience.

What Does Your Screenplay Need To Achieve?

Whether you are ready to sell your script – or not – has a lot to do with your intended objectives. If you need to make a living from your work, perhaps you have no choice. Cashflow forces you to get it into the market. Sometimes even premature scripts sell. (Seen any superhero comic book adaptations, lately?).

Suppose you’re not 100% happy with the story, but your writing style is supreme. If you need work urgently, your script may become the writing sample that will get you other work. So you go and sell. Story ready or not.

In all other cases, if you can afford to wait, then do so while you perfect story and script.

No Such Thing As The Honest Truth?

Each has their own opinion about when a script is done.

If you ask a script consultant, they may argue that your script needs more development. It is in their interest to keep taking money from you. Never ask a consultant who is desperate for clients. Instead, go to the busiest consultant you can afford.

Better even, affiliate yourself with an industry professional who can read scripts.

In fairness, not many can. And those who can, are often too busy. Find someone you can trust. This could be a producer, a director or an actor.

Your English teacher friend is not the person to ask. You may turn to them for a proofread on typos, spelling and grammar, but don’t expect them to understand the intricacies of a screenplay.

Everyone has an opinion. Not everyone has a clue.

Ready To Sell Your Script? Here Are The Signs

1. Your mom/partner/best friend loves it

   Non-professional readers will read a script like a novel, without understanding the nature of drama and tension. Their feedback is hardly vital.
   There is a good reason to have your fans at home read your work, though: to keep your confidence up. They should support you, and encourage you to rock on when times are tough.

2. Your gut tells you it’s ready to sell
   

   It may be more reliable than your mom, but it’s surely not the #1 indicator to go by. Your gut instinct will give you a clue as to whether you have a gem or a dud. But don’t bet the house on it. Your intuition will get better over the years.

3. Your friend/manager/agent/producer is excited
   

   No industry friends (yet)? Get networking! If you’re lucky enough to work with a manager, it’s easy. They will give you useful feedback, and tell you when they are confident the script will generate results.

4. It’s a really fast read.
   

   The quickest reads are typically the best. I have found that really bad scripts can take up to a day to read, partially because it takes time to decipher, but also because of reader procrastination.

5. Feedback is about taste, not technique.

   If most of the feedback comes down to a matter of the reader’s taste rather than specific craft-based notes, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re being unprofessional. Everyone has a subjective opinion, even pros. And everyone will try to give you some advice, even if they’ve run out of objective notes. Could this mean it is time to sell, and send your script into the world? Possibly…

6. You are shortlisted in a big screenwriting contest

   There are many contests, and thousands of writers enter every year. Fortunately you don’t need to worry about most of them, as only a few are truly relevant.
   The best will introduce winners to agents and producers, and some real players do keep an eye on the award lists.  So, winning an important contest is a big deal. Keep entering every year, and make sure your results keep improving.

7. Everyone talks about it.

   You are very lucky when you find people become aware about your script, and talk about it. When I hear industry folk bring up my clients’ projects in conversation, it’s mostly a good sign.

There are probably tons of things about your script you can still improve. If you didn’t read any screenwriting books until this point – Good! You didn’t need them – this may be the time to check a few things that matter to readers. Look at the ebb and flow of your tension in the story. Weigh up the balance of description vs. dialogue. Check, double-check and triple-check grammar, spelling and punctuation.

These are the areas most beginning writers can improve the most without professional help. Use apps, take online  classes. Become the very best.

You Make The Call

When you feel that the law of diminishing returns is taking its toll, it may be time to consider the 7 points above. And remember: you will never get unequivocal proof that your script is market-ready… until it is sold.

Until then, it’s merely a decision.

And that decision is yours.

-Karel Segers

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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Despite McConaughey’s fantastic performance, the ratings turned out to be mostly right. As a screenwriter, I’m glad I still went, though. I always say we can learn as much, if not more, from films that aren’t perfect than from those that are. ‘Gold’ reinforced for me a very important lesson: heroes that don’t learn anything leave an audience unfulfilled.

First, a quick summary of the movie (skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid these spoilers):

The hero in Gold, Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) has inherited his family’s mining company, only to run it into the ground (pun intended). In a last ditch effort to save it, he teams up with a discredited gold prospector, Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez) to hunt for gold in the jungles of Indonesia. When they strike it rich, the company goes public and they all make a fortune. It’s peaches and cream for Kenny and his loving wife Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) until the inevitable lure of women and money creates a rift between the money hungry husband and the salt-of-the-earth wife. But Kenny seems to get on just fine without her, until his biggest competitor convinces Indonesia’s president to nationalise Kenny’s company. Penniless, Kenny returns to his ex-wife only to discover she’s dating someone else. Bummer. In another desperate effort to save his company, Kenny and Michael agree to give Indonesia’s president’s son 85%. Everyone’s happy! That is until it’s discovered Acosta faked the gold results. There is no gold! The company fails, Acosta goes missing and Kenny is left with nothing again. Poor Kenny goes back to his ex-wife, AGAIN, tail between his legs, hoping for consolation. What he gets is a check in the mail from the AWOL Acosta for $84 million. Role credits.

First of all, kudos to Patrick Massett, John Zinman for even getting the story on the screen. Writing a screenplay is a heck of a lot of work, and out of the thousands that are written every year, very few get made. Forgive me for a little Monday-morning quarterbacking. My goal is to learn and improve as a screenwriter.

Ok, disclaimer out of the way.

On the surface, this ‘inspired by true events’ story is fascinating. I can see why the producers were sold on the idea. It embodies the American dream of the scrappy underdog who works his ass off, and builds a fortune from nothing. He gets knocked down, not once, but twice, and still ends up on his feet. The problem is, Kenny doesn’t come out of the storm having learned a valuable lesson that the audience can take away with them. He doesn’t change; he doesn’t arc — so I don’t care.

Now, not all heroes have to change. Matt Damon in The Martian didn’t change and people loved that. James Bond (traditionally) and most superheroes don’t change during a film and we know how much money those movies make. But this isn’t that kind of a movie.

This guy was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking man who was loved by a sweet wife and just wanted to save his daddy’s company. He gave his loyalty to a man he hardly knew and was betrayed. When he was rich, it was fun and he deserved it, but he went too far and lost the love of his life. These are all the ingredients you need to deliver an emotionally satisfying film – if only they’re properly arced – but they never are.

Had he confessed to the woman he loved that money wasn’t everything (hopefully in a non-cliché way), maybe then he would have deserved his reward. Had he unwaveringly believed in the partner they say betrayed him and NOT given him up to the feds, then maybe he would have earned that money.

Instead, we have a hero in the beginning of the film that believed in not giving up, but in the end does give up, and yet he gets rewarded anyway.  The money just falls in his lap.

And we’re kinda led to believe that his boomerang relationship with his wife will kick off again into happily ever after.

That’s not the kind of arc audiences want to see.

So my screenwriting lesson from watching ‘Gold’ was this: make sure your hero learns their lesson (unless they’re a tragic hero).

When they do, their reward will feel well deserved.

-Phil Parker

Phil Parker

Screenwriter Phil Parker has written screenplays for directors and producers around the world. His highly awarded spec script ‘The Third Bomb’ is currently under option with BAFTA-winning producer Sias Wilson. Phil also has many years of experience writing scripts for original content and promos at the BBC, where he won a coveted Global Excellence Promax BDA Award for ‘Frontline War’.

www.storiesbyphil.com

Every structure model is academic. There really are no rules. Instead, these systems are merely tools to allow us to communicate about story.

In the course of my screenwriting training career, I have always strived for simplicity. What we need in screenwriting, is an MVP, a Minimum Viable Product: the simplest possible system that still delivers the results for you. So you can focus on the creative aspects rather than the ‘how to‘.

Ideally, each screenwriter develops their own method. Only, there wouldn’t be much communication in that screenwriting utopia, as each were to use a different language.

As a thought experiment, I would like you to consider my approach to the Grand Story Arc: the 2-Act Structure. Before we venture into that, let’s brush up on the 2 main competing approaches: the 3-Act Structure (mostly for film and TV half-hours) and the 4-Act Structure (mostly for one-hour TV).

The 3-Act Structure

Although different people use different criteria to determine act breaks, I like a combination of dramatic tension and Hero’s Journey. In my approach, you will find that:

1. Act One ends once the main character’s goal is clear; either to the audience, to the characters itself, or both. Then, in Act Two we see the active pursuit of that goal.
2. Act Two ends after the character has almost given up on that goal, but finds a final reason or clue to push through.
3. Act Three sees the character’s final – and mostly successful – action in pursuit of that goal.

A massive problem of the 3-Act Structure is that chunky mid-act. Most writers struggle to create interesting story material that sustains 45-60 minutes. This is why the Mid Point is so important. I prefer calling it the Mid Point Reversal because in great stories, a very important value is completely reversed.

(It’s about time I write another piece about this, after early attempts in 2006 and 2009.)

Just because this Mid Point Reversal is so critically important, I believe the 4-Act Structure is a really helpful way of approaching screen story structure.

And look, in one-hour TV drama, we already have 4 acts, as the act breaks are roughly every 15 minutes on the ‘TV clock’. So before we move on to the mysterious 2-Act Structure, let’s examine the 4 acts.

The 4-Act Structure

This structure is no different than the 3-Act Structure, with the only difference that we have an act break for the Mid Point reversal.

So what does this Mid Point Reversal do that it is so important?

Let’s first look at what other authors and teachers think (that I don’t necessarily agree with).

1. It’s a point of no return.
   Yep, that may well be, but both act breaks are also points of no return.
2. It raises the stakes.
   Like those other act breaks, you mean? More proof the Mid Point is more like an act break.
3. It’s a false victory or false defeat.
   In fact, it is most often a false victory followed by a false defeat. A kiss and a slap.

The Mid Point Reversal

Here is what I think the Mid Point Reversal (MPR) really means … and it supports the 2-Act Structure beautifully:

1. A reversal of fortune
   In Groundhog Day, Phil (Bill Murray) believes his scheme has worked when Rita (Andy MacDowell) kisses him. But she immediately sees through the con, and slaps him.
   In The Untouchables, Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) achieves a major win by stopping a liquor transport at the Canadian border, and he seizes the accountant’s ledger, but at the end of the sequence one of his ‘untouchables’ is murdered.
2. A reversal of approach
   In the first half of Die Hard, McClane tries getting help from the outside. At the MPR he receives it, only to realise he now has to solve the problems himself because the outside help is making matters worse. A reversal, indeed.
   In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest McMurphy tries to stay in the asylum, but after the mid point he tries to get out. Quite the opposite!
   In The Incredibles, Mr Incredible works [inadvertently] for Syndrome until the MPR. Here, he learns the truth about all the Supers, and now he will fight Syndrome. The ally becomes an enemy (or Shadow, in Hero’s Journey terms).
   In Avatar, Jake first works with the military against the Navi’, but after the MPR this reverses, and he now fights with the Navi against the military.

I am a huge fan of great mid points, and I will dedicate a full article to this soon. Meanwhile, see if you can find the meaning of the MPR in your favourite films. It is not always as clear as in the examples above, but you may be surprised…

The 4-Act Structure proves that the MPR has fully fledged act-status. It is just as important as the other act breaks.

In fact, I think it is even more important.

The 2-Act Structure

In many great movies, at the MPR two major reversals occur. One is often experienced as the result of an EVENT – or series of events – that happens to the character; this is the reversal of fortune. The other is a reversal in the way the character pursues the goal, or ACTION; This we call the reversal of approach.
In the greatest movies, this reversal is so profound that it sometimes feels as if we are entering a whole new movie altogether. Do you remember Life Is Beautiful? The first half of this incredibly successful foreign language Oscar winner was a love story, the second was … a World War II-drama.

Because the MPR really cuts the movie in two in a way that is much more obvious than the break from act 2 into 3, I would propose to do exactly this: cut the movie in two at the halfway point.

Voilà. The 2-Act Structure is born.

Two Parts Of The Journey

Michael Arndt, writer of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3 gives us another strong argument to support the 2-Act Structure.

After the Inciting Incident, the hero responds with actions that demonstrate the character flaw. Michael Arndt calls this the hero’s flawed response.

The MPR mostly starts with what looks like a major win for the character (false victory). Whatever approach they took, it worked! Then, they’re put with both feet on the ground, and they suffer a major loss (false defeat). These two polar opposites are part of the same MPR.

The negative polarity, the loss in the MPR, is a major event, and it actually looks very much like a second Inciting Incident, effectively testing the hero’s response after what they learned in the preceding story stage.

This time around, the hero will change their attitude, and respond in a way that shows they have learned something, or are learning.

See? There really are two parts to the story. Here is how I would summarise it.

Act One
The hero experiences the (first) Inciting Incident.
The response to the Inciting Incident is flawed, as they continue their dysfunction.
They enjoy a major win, and for a moment it seems the goal is (almost) achieved.

Act Two
The hero experiences a second Inciting Incident, as part of the MPR.
The response to this MPR Inciting Incident is the right response, as now the Hero makes an effort to improve, to heal.
They enjoy a final win, and we trust that in the future they will continue to act in the right way.

What do you think?

I believe the 2-Act Structure is a simple, appealing way of looking at the character’s journey, both in terms of plot and theme.

This approach recognises what some people call the ‘Inner Journey’ and the ‘Outer Journey’ in one simple, integrated model.

There is no need to throw out whatever structural tools you have been using up to this point, but perhaps this sheds a new, fresh light on how stories for the screen are structured from a bird’s eye perspective.

Let me know if the comments in this approach makes sense to you, and if you would like to use it in the development of your own stories.

– by Karel Segers

– Karel

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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A free screenwriting course? Too good to be true.

Of course it is. But hear me out.

As my boss in London told me, you can only have two out of these three: cheap, fast and good. Poor Luke Stinson wanted all, and he copped a lot of flak when he posted this on Facebook in the Screenwriting group:

“Can someone completely teach me how to write a screenplay,
like guide me and step by step without money involved. Thanks”

Some believed Luke was being sarcastic. However, it sufficed to click on Luke’s profile to see that he is just an innocent kid from the Central Coast in NSW, Australia.

It would have been easy to add to the storm of indignation, and protect my livelihood by arguing why people should pay for screenwriting classes.

But I remembered what my boss said. So Luke should be able to get cheap and good, or perhaps cheap and fast.

My existing courses are fast (12 days of classes) and good. People also pay a thousand dollars, so that isn’t going to help Luke. And given that I don’t do ‘bad’, the only option available for Luke’s free screenwriting course would be in the category ‘slow and good’.

So I started thinking.

No books, no courses

I learn about storytelling every day, and I hardly ever read books.

I study and analyse movies and scripts. This is how Syd Field made it, this is what many professional screenwriters do, and it is what Luke should do.

(And at this point, let’s be realistic. Luke may never be prepared to make the effort. But let’s for the sake of the argument assume that Luke is indeed passionate and persistent. I know people out there who are, but truly cannot afford the best screenwriting courses.)

Members of the Facebook group largely agree that Luke should devour all scripts he can lay his hands on, watch tons of movies, and ‘read all the books’.

The problem with this of course is that Luke can’t possibly read all the screenwriting books in his lifetime. Jack Brislee told me years ago that he found 2,000+ publications on screenwriting, on Amazon.com alone.

Reading as many scripts as possible is great, but if Luke has access to bad scripts, should he really read them, too? And how can he tell the difference?

Finally, how is watching movies going to help? EVERYONE watches tons of movies. Does this bring everyone closer to being a screenwriter? Well, no.

In addition to the reading and watching, there will need to be a hell of a lot of analysis and reflection.

What Makes The Difference

I believe that my 30 year experience in the industry, and 10 years of working with screenwriters (20 years if you include my development & acquisition years) can help distinguish between what Luke should read and watch, in what order, and what he should leave aside.

It is tempting to pre-package the learning, and just share (or sell) the wisdom and insights that may result from the work. The strongest, and only lasting learning, however, comes from self-discovery. Rather than pre-package the knowledge, I will guide the student where to go in order to do the discovering.

So I’m now developing a simple free screenwriting course, based on reading, watching and writing. No mentors involved. No money paid.

The first one hundred days will immerse Luke in format and style, at a pace that is manageable, spending about 1 hour every day. He will perform a deceptively simple, yet powerful writing exercise. This will take no more than about ten to fifteen minutes each day. For the remainder of the hour, he will read from 20 screenplays that I have handpicked. After finishing each script, he will write two pages following a few simple questions and instructions, before moving to the next.

Once he has worked through the scripts and completed the exercise, he is ready for a bigger challenge. One simple task, but one that will require him to investigate the screenplay format more closely, and learn it actively. This part of the course will probably take him one month, and it will be followed by a similar, yet more challenging task.

After 5 months, Luke is ready to write his own first screenplay.

Self-Made Screenwriter

At this point, Luke will not have had a single screenwriting class. Yet he will have progressively learned more about the nature of scriptwriting, the challenges as well as the core skills required to write for the screen.

After six months, he will have written his first script, and be ready to receive his first professional feedback.

If it works – judged by myself as well as the participants – I will design a 6 month follow-up program (self-study, again) to bring the participants to intermediate level.

What’s in it for me? I want to test this program, and hopefully confirm my sneaking suspicion that you don’t need a single screenwriting book to learn the basics of the craft in only 6 months.

I remember Scott Meyers once ran a free program over at GITS, and I’ve always found him an inspiring example. Another thinker who has influenced me is Seth Godin. Check out these guys.

When you’re reading all this, you may be getting excited, and itching to join in. Let’s go over a few of the details and requirements. More will follow once you sign up.

Free Screenwriting Course Details

• Six months commitment.
• One hour availability per day.
• No experience required (nor desired).
• Self-study only; no personal mentor feedback.
• No screenwriting theory instruction.
• Tasks to be sent via email or uploaded.
• Closed Facebook group for peer feedback.
• Monthly webinars for questions & discussion.[/fivecol_four_last]

Your Chance To Participate

Initially I said that this would be open to only 5 students, and I will keep it at that number. I will encourage them to do the work, and keep them accountable. I don’t have the time to communicate with more than 5 people. It’s free, remember?

That said, I will open up the program, and you can now apply. You will get support from their peers in the program through a closed Facebook group where everyone can participate. You will also have to pledge to a different type of accountability…

If you drop out before the 6 months are up, or if you fail to deliver 2 successive script reports, you will pay an amount of your choice (previously agreed) to me, or to charity. If you are serious, you set this amount high enough so it’s an incentive to keep going.

Trust me, there will be moments when you need this sword of Damocles dangling above your head to keep doing the work.

To be considered, click below to go to the registration page, where you can request access to the closed Facebook Group. As soon as I have approved your request, you will receive further details about the course, so you can decide whether this is for you or not.

When the first class kicked off on 1 July 2016, over a hundred students were on the waiting list, so I will be starting new courses frequently. If you’re interested, join the closed Facebook Group, and you’ll be invited to our next info webinar.

I’m crazy, I know. But who is not, who is successful in film?

-Karel Segers

Update: The honeymoon is over. 200 started the course, after applications closed in November 2016. The irony? Luke Stinson never joined us. Possibly because of the misguided perception that free stuff is inferior.

The course was meanwhile updated to a slicker, more interactive version… and it is no longer free. 

Still, the results have been incredible, with dozens of writers completing full-length feature screenplays, and more submitting their work every day. Enrol here, and join us for the rest of the journey!

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

We live in the age of noise. Everyone is trying to get your attention. TV commercials, banners on your favourite website, YouTube ads, in-app advertising on your phone.

The same is happening in the writersphere. Screenwriters are spamming producers; service companies are spamming writers.

Getting someone’s genuine attention has become a tremendous challenge. My default mode is to keep the noise outside, and I suspect the same from you. In order to get access, you will need to come through a door of trust.

Back To Common Sense

If you’re desperate, and you want money from your writing now, you will be susceptible to scammers. They will promise you an agent, to get your script in front of this or that producer, etc. The sobering news is that nobody is going to open the gate of screenwriting heaven for you tomorrow, for money. Why not? Because there is no gate to screenwriting heaven. And if you still believe in it, you’ll have to die first.

To die, in this context means: doing the hard work.

Before answering the calls to adventure from unreliable mentors, think about it critically yourself, first. There are gatekeepers, alright, and you need to know who they are. Once you have identified them, you need to network your way through to them. You may do this in the real world, or online.

Online And Offline

Most will agree that the best networking is still done offline. Unfortunately, you may not have many opportunities to meet your target gatekeepers in the real world. If you don’t live in a metropolitan area – let alone Los Angeles – you are not going to casually bump into the Hollywood decision makers.

The great thing is that online, you can.

Years ago, when Toy Story 3 was about to be released, a friend texted me: “Do you know Lee Unkrich just tweeted you?”. Indeed, the director of the most highly anticipated movie at that time had responded to one of my tweets. It could have been the beginning of a conversation… (After all, if I had been an animator, I would have had a link to my portfolio website right on my twitter page.)

So let’s see what else is possible online.

The Google Truth

Say so-and-so has read your work, and they like it. Before they enter into a collaborative arrangement with you, They’ll want to know more.  What do people do when they want to know more about you? They google you. Depending on how many others share the same name, they will find a LinkedIn profile, YouTube video, or Amazon book. In the worst case scenario, the search may lead to some unflattering Facebook photos a friend tagged you in.

Not if you have a portfolio website.

In that case, almost certainly your site will be the first result (unless of course Justin Bieber is their namesake). Your website is the only place online where you fully control how you want to be seen. And if you are the right person to work with for people googling you, this will be clear from your site.

Your website is the first, and most important place to market yourself.

My two most exciting jobs of the past decade both came to me through the website (and it wasn’t even a portfolio website). One was the offer to work on a high-profile feature film. The other, to travel and lecture in Europe. How cool is that?? Both opportunities have opened up subsequent business that continues to this day.

Where Is Your Portfolio Website?

Today, when I google ‘screenwriter website’, on the first page I find the names of Caitlin McCarthy and William Nicholson. Neither I must admit I have ever heard of (although Nicholson co-wrote Gladiator).

But now I have.

If you look for a writer by googling “[their name] screenwriter website”, in 99% of the cases, the right person will be listed first.

Try “Emily Blake Screenwriter website”, and the first listing will be Bambookillers. That’s Emily’s blog. In fact, it’s also her portfolio website, as it lists the screenplays she completed, and those in development. Her last post dates back from 2014, but the website strategy is so powerful that it still lists her site first in Google.

Build Your Portfolio Website, And …

If you build it, they may not come.

If you don’t build it, they most certainly will not come, no matter how loud you scream.

For me, setting up WordPress sites is a hobby that got out of control. Out of the 55+ domain names I own, a few dozen are hosting sites that I built. It all started with this site, followed by Logline It, and The Story Series,  (which is moving from an offline course now online).

Over the past year, I helped a few writers build their portfolio website.

Leon is a lawyer retiree, who committed himself to screenwriting only a few years back. His site now lists eight screenplays, both original and adapted. If anything, it shows Leon is dedicated, and he works fast. If I were looking for a screenwriter today, these are critical qualities.

The other writer is Lachlan, who is an internationally celebrated playwright. He doesn’t really need the site, because right now he is busy enough as it is. But Lachlan knows that in our industry, things can change at the drop of a hat. At that point, he will have an impressive portfolio online, and Google will honour the seniority of his website, as well as his frequent blog updates, by giving him a prominent ranking.

A good quality website is a potential honeypot for writing gigs right now, while you are saving marketing collateral for the future. It is a no-brainer.

If you don’t already have that portfolio website, consider building it this week. It doesn’t require rocket science, and you can afford it.

In truth, you can’t afford not to have it.

-Karel Segers

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I am hosting a free webinar for writers who would like
to set up their own professional WordPress portfolio website:

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

This is mostly analytical. So there’s no guarantee that you will deliver a successful story. Then again, no system does. No matter what the teachers promise you.

What this approach to the screenwriting basics does promise however, is a crystal clear grasp of what you MUST have before your story will work on a large scale. If this doesn’t seem all that new to you, I am still hoping to offer you a new perspective.

1. A Character

At the centre of every story we find (at least) one character. In film, this is mostly the ‘person’ to whom the story happens. Sometimes, it is the individual through whose eyes we experience the story.

Character also means the combined set of traits that define that particular person. This will come into play later, as we can really only see what a character is about when they act. Anyone can say anything. But will you believe them?

Before we can look at any other aspect of the story, such as its structure, we must know who this character is. For each character, there may be a different event kicking of their story. Of course each character should act in different ways.

And a great character will respond in a significant way to the Major Event.

2. A Major Event

Second step in the screenwriting basics: Something must happen to the character. A Major Event of some sort must trigger the story. Some people call this the Inciting Incident. I prefer to name it the Call To Adventure.

If the character starts pursuing the main story goal without this event, then the story will lack motivation. The audience may not even realise that the story has effectively started…

In brainstorming, this Major Event is often what you include in the ‘What If…’ statement.

Many teachers leave out this part of the story. Big mistake.

From studying story for nearly thirty years now, I am convinced that the Major Event is critical for a successful story. It is certainly indispensable in defining your story, in separating it from any other story told before you. Total screenwriting basics.

Many teachers leave out this part of the story.
Big mistake.

This is why I like to see the major event to be part of the logline.

Major events are more important than the story stakes. They often even imply the stakes, so you don’t need to mention stakes separately in a summary of the story.

This event must be ‘major’, in that it disrupts the life of the character. If it doesn’t, it is a non-event. In this case, either you don’t have a story yet, or the reader/audience won’t understand the story has started.

3. An action / Goal

Having a goal is not enough. The character must act, fight, struggle to reach that goal. A passive character, burning with desire, is a total bore. They must fight ferociously to get what they want.

Sometimes the action is directly in pursuit of the goal. In other words, the Hero chases directly what s/he wants.

Having a goal is not enough.

If you know your screenwriting basics, you will know this. In most love stories, the Heroes pursues the love interest. In most crime movies, the Hero wants to catch or kill the criminal(s).

In other cases, the goal or desire can only be fulfilled by first completing a task, or test. In Inception, Don Cobb must perform Inception (plant an idea inside a man’s dream) in order to see his kids again. In Avatar, Jake must relocate the natives in order to receive a new pair of legs.

Either way, the story goal must create change in the visible world. To try and achieve a different state of mind – through the ‘Inner Journey’ – does not typically qualify as a story goal.

Brainstorm Screenwriting Basics

When you brainstorm movie concepts, you must have all three of these screenwriting basics.

In fact, none of these can truly exist without the other two. This is why it is such a perfect system.

When you brainstorm movie concepts,
you must have all three of these story aspects.

It is something of a closed loop – or a mindf*** if you wish. You cannot really define any of these three within a story context without using the other two.

Get your head around these screenwriting basics, and you will see the beauty and the perfection of this approach.

This is the Holy Trinity of Story.

-Karel Segers

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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So here I am about to approach three years in L.A. (June 10 to be exact) and I feel the need to share my journey once again despite completely falling off the radar for well over a year with this confronting piece of my Hollywood sojourn.

As I look back, it’s been an up and down rollercoaster ride full of trials, tribulations, emotion and adventure. But then what else was it ever going to be. While I have disappeared for months at a time (across social media, email and more), I am still alive, I’m still kicking, and I’m still flying the flag as best I can.

 To be honest, that’s not always been easy. In fact, it’s been bloody hard at times.

 There have been days where I have wanted to be anywhere else but this city. I’ve not left the country, let alone this state, in the three years I have been here, and if you know me you know how much I love travel. So it feels like I have been going stir crazy. 

 But I found some solace as I discovered but then subsequently lost a relationship – my first here in the U.S and my first in over three years. And while I look back on that year we had with mixed emotions, I can only smile and say thank you to one very special woman who took her own serious leap of faith, and embraced me and my journey and in the process turned me into an even greater version of myself than I could have ever imagined. I am forever changed as a result. 

 But she wasn’t the only woman I had to say goodbye to that year.

 I lost a grandmother and step sister all within six months of each other last year but I didn’t go back. I was super close to my gran and she used to take great delight in reading these articles. I miss her, and writing postcards from abroad just isn’t the same.

I left Australian shores knowing I may never ever see her alive again. But it was with her gentle words of encouragement that I was able to make peace with that cold, hard reality.

 When she died last Mother’s Day, not only did I cry as the news filtered through, but I also had a beautiful vision of her that morning. She appeared before me and whispered: “Keep writing.” It was a profoundly affecting vision.

While all this disquietude, chaos, and loss was going on around me, somehow the only thing keeping me sane was my writing. And thank fuck! Because I am not sure where I would have been without it.

 I found myself sinking into a slow depression-like state during July yet I kept writing. My relationship was breaking down all around me but still I wrote. My grandmother passed, I wrote. My step-sister slowly had her life taken away after battling a brain tumor for years, more writing.

In the space of that one year, while my entire world was collapsing around me (even now I can shed some tears if I allow myself to reflect), my writing was my saviour. I wrote more than I ever have, I became more professional than I’ve ever been, and I churned out four feature scripts over the course of that year. One of which I pitched and which subsequently beat out over 40 other submissions vying for the gig.

 After my relationship broke down I also found myself in the position of moving out of the only apartment I had ever known during my entire time here. I stepped up as a man and offered my ex-girlfriend the space. A space that no longer felt like home. A space that allowed her a better chance to survive in this town than me.

I then found myself in North Hollywood, and while that sounds glamourous, it really isn’t. There are two very distinct parts to North Hollywood. The cooler, funkier ‘Arts District’ and what is unaffectionately called, “the ghetto”. Somehow I went from the clean, green, central beauty of Studio City, to a dirty, dry backwater Mexican suburb (nothing against Mexico).

From a private, spacious, comfortable apartment for myself and my girlfriend, to a smaller, cramped two bedroom place with two other guys – one of which slept on a couch in the lounge room.

 At times I have felt embarrassed by my living situation but this town can be brutal and sometimes you are forced to go backwards to move forwards. But when you are freelance copywriter and the Australian dollar drops (and hard), you are forced to make some serious changes.

 I hated going to bed alone. I didn’t like where I now found myself. I was miserable.

While I never ever lived above my means, I had to go where I could afford. It made me withdraw even further and made me truly understand the definition of humble, but what was more important, to look myself in the mirror and ask some very genuine, honest questions of myself.

 But it has all served to only strengthen my resolve and succeed where many others would have failed, fled or simply given up.

 My year turned and I met and fell into the most amazing, supportive writing group I have found during my time here, after I was fortunate enough to be accepted into a new writing program I applied for.

 It was the first time I felt ‘home’ among like-minded people. A writing group that despite my repeated searches and hopes, I had never ever found in the two years prior.

 And now this group of people I can call friends. How I have craved that. As I retracted from the outside world, I found my friendship base here shrink. In part due to changing dynamics as others disappeared, while a couple of others put their head down to become more professional themselves but also because I was seeking something deeper from myself, my writing… my heart.

It’s a writing group that’s made up of some talented and successful people where I have seen their valuable input and feedback further enhance, improve and rocket my writing skyward. A group of only seven other people who I get enormous pleasure from in so many ways. I cannot thank them enough.

Somehow I overcame a very tough, emotional year and became not only a greater writer for it but a kinder, more sincere, more authentic and honest me.

It’ll be three years in June since I first made the leap, and it’ll be three years I will celebrate in my own quiet, genuine way as I look back. I’m thankful for how far I’ve come, for what I have achieved, for where I now find the level of my writing, but most important of all, where I now find myself as a man.

So raise a glass and cheer on a man who continues to stare down this town. A man who is not afraid of a single thing. A man who will not make up the numbers. A man who will succeed. Because I have faced hardship, loss, death and yet I continue to smile and write.

Here’s to an even greater year of writing, greater success, greater wealth, and so much more as I continue to pursue dreams, my passion, and love.

– Mark Rasmussen

Mark Rasmussen

Mark Rasmussen has been a professional writer for over 15 years. He has written and produced three short films (two of which have IMDb credits), as well completed four features. One of his films ranked inside the Top 10 for the World Wildlife Fund competition (WWF). He is currently working on three feature scripts, two book adaptations, a TV pilot, and a web-series, as he increases his thirst for great writing and storytelling.

A second Game of Thrones themed interview! David Benioff discusses the balancing act that is successfully adapting a wildly popular book series with a dedicated cadre of fans, the challenge of returning to writing after a many-year hiatus, and the benefits of being a pathological liar as a child.

If you liked this, check out more videos about screenwriting or filmmaking. And if you know of a great video on Screenwriting, let us know in the comments. Thanks!

The Gilroys can’t do much wrong in Hollywood.

But the saga started with The Bourne Identity (2002) (well, if we forget about the Robert Ludlum’s novels for a second. That source material was quite different anyway). The first Bourne movie brought a bunch of talent together, directed by Doug Liman, who had been doing hip, smallish character driven movies up to that point. In Identity the cast we see next to Matt Damon among others Franka Potente (the sexy redhead from Lola Rennt), as well as superb character actors Brian Cox and Chris Cooper. It all gave the movie a powerful ‘cachet’. The strategy worked: the film was received very well, both by audience and critics.

Mystery?

“I don’t know who I am. Do you know who I am? Do you have any idea who I am?” These are among the first few words ever spoken by Jason Bourne in the successful movie franchise. At this point in the screenplay, Jason is only referred to only as THE MAN. For a long time into the story, Jason keeps wondering. The irony is that the audience works it out quickly. This guy has a gun, money and fake passports, one of which has a name with the initials J.B.? I’d say he’s a spy. Not that we have to work to figure that out. The next thing we’re in Langley, at the CIA HQ. Within the first half hour we learn that something has gone very wrong, and Jason was not supposed to be alive still. The stakes are set, early on. The challenge now is to keep the tension.

“I don’t know who I am.
Do you know who I am?
Do you have any idea who I am?”
-Jason Bourne

From a metaphorical perspective, we clearly have a young man on a Hero Quest. The search for identity has been the stuff of many great movie characters. Often the audience is trying to figure out these characters too, e.g. look at Lawrence Of Arabia and Citizen Kane. In the first Bourne movie, the quest is presented as a mystery. A pure mystery would have almost certainly failed on the screen. Remember the movie adaptation of The Da Vince Code? No? Good. You’ve blocked it out.

We clearly have a young man on a Hero Quest.

Suspense

Remember how Hitchcock taught us that mystery is not something you should bring to the big screen. Instead, the master focused on suspense and surprise. In The Bourne Identity, we have all three – in spades, and a moment early in act two bundles all three, in one scene. The scene also demonstrates that surprise works really well if it is anticipated by suspense in the first place. (HBO fans know that surprise and suspense make mystery palatable, as was demonstrated in True Detective.)

The end of the first act of The Bourne Identity is in some way reminiscent of the same point in Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, starring another hero who is profoundly confused about his identity. Like a boy growing up to become a man, Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) has to escape from under his mother’s wings. In addition to the identity confusion, the audience learns that the baddies are coming after Thornhill, and it suits the CIA fine. This is revealed in a dramatic irony scene, where we learn the agency is not going to protect him.

The Bourne Identity goes one step further. At the end of Act One, in a similar dramatic ironic moment at the CIA offices, Bourne’s fate is sealed and he won’t be safe for another second. We witness how Chris Cooper’s character Conklin task his agents to bring Bourne in – in a body bag. The suspense is on.

Surprise!

This scene is not for the faint-hearted. It shows the first confrontation between Jason and the agents that are after him. The setting is the Paris flat, which Jason doesn’t even remember ever having lived at. He learns from a phone call to a hotel where he recently stayed that one of his aliases – John Michael Kane – was killed two weeks ago. He knows he has got to be vigilant now, and he grabs a kitchen knife, which he soon drops again to prevent Marie from panicking. Note that in an earlier draft of the screenplay, she does see the knife and it freaks her out. For the shooting draft, Gilroy preferred the dramatic irony take.

If the tension was palpable when the two entered the flat, after the phone call the suspense is sheer unbearable. The perfect foundation for the surprise that is to follow. Of the more than 5 minutes in the excerpt – the Paris flat scene lasts for much longer in the movie – only about 100 seconds are action (‘surprise’ if you wish). The rest is all suspense.

You tell which is more effective.

-Karel Segers

[vimeo 122814502 w=900 h=300]

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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In a previous life I was a radio producer and film festival presenter. Once I interviewed the director of Glengarry Glen Ross, which you might expect to be playwright David Mamet. After all, Mamet has directed most of his own screenplays. Glengarry, however, was helmed by James Foley.

Mamet – Elephant In The Room

We didn’t talk much about the movie’s theme. The topic of conversation was David Mamet, given this was an adaptation of a very significant Mamet play.

From what Foley told me, I suspect Mamet must have been a strong presence during production. Foley stopped short of saying that Mamet de facto co-directed.

My first exposure to Mamet was at the 1986 Venice Film Festival. Two great movies saw their world premiere on the Venetian Lido: De Palma’s The Untouchables and Mamet’s own remarkable directorial debut House of Games.

House of Games‘ deals with ‘living life direct‘, as opposed to vicariously. The heroine experiences her existence through her clients, until she embarks on a journey of change.

Mamet cast Joe Mantegna in the role of the story’s villain, after the actor won a Tony for his performance as Ricky Roma in the Broadway production of Glengarry Glen Ross. His terrific performance in House of Games instantly put Mantegna on the map as a screen actor.

Glengarry Glen Ross went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. However, it would not be adapted for the screen until nine years after its massively successful 1983 world premiere in London’s West End.

The Metaphor

Glengarry Glen Ross shows a handful of real estate agents, struggling to save their jobs on a rainy night in Chicago. All but one are vying for the ‘Glengarry leads’. Each has their own strategy of chasing the precious lead cards, which are only handed out to ‘closers’.

What is this story really about? What is its theme?

It shows the mechanics by which the rich only get richer, as Aaranow (Alan Arkin) states. Perhaps this was Mamet’s stance at the time, and it surely makes sense for the real estate world, where it takes steel balls to survive.

Perhaps Glengarry Glen Ross is simply a microcosmos of the American capitalist society? This theme would be illustrative of Mamet’s socio-democratic views at the time. He left those ideas behind, and famously converted to the right in 2008.

To me, Glengarry is – like every truly great story – a metaphor for life. The ‘leads’ are ‘the cards’ we are dealt. Some accept them, and make the best of it. Others keep fighting them, trying to change what they cannot – and ultimately ending up exhausted. Or worse.

Deadline – Theme – Stakes

The inciting incident of the movie underscores this theme. In a spectacular monologue, the agents are dealt not the precious lead cards, but a deadline. Now it is closers vs. losers.

Baldwin’s lines imply that this is about a lot more than some real estate. Where Little Miss Sunshine would become a more lighthearted take on the winners vs. losers theme, in Glengarry we go the heart of darkness. The stakes are sky high. Lives depend on these cards. As a result, the players will show us their darkest side.

Why is this the inciting incident? Because it confronts the players with a challenge they have never faced before. It also puts them in a situation where they must act. How they will each respond, will be seen in the next act. Note that screen act structure is quite different from theatre structure, and in this respect Glengarry is compositionally somewhat of a hybrid.

The Scene

The stage play was so short, Mamet needed to extend it for the movie. He added material, including this early scene with a character that didn’t originally exist. Alec Baldwin was cast to play the role of a character who only refers to himself as “Fuck you! That is my name!” The super salesman tells our anti-heroes in the first act that they will have to close – or lose their jobs. Baldwin embraced the material so vibrantly, it became a career-defining moment.

Al Pacino does not appear in the movie’s most important scene. His character Ricky Roma does his own thing. He doesn’t need to take lessons from Head Office. Putting him in the scene would have diminished the dramatic impact of the speech, while Al Pacino’s screen presence would have undermined Baldwin’s.

It was a bold move to keep the movie’s biggest star out of its strongest scene. Yet it resulted in an instant classic moment, full of dialogue fireworks, and rich in theme. It also confirmed that Mamet once was not only a great playwright, but an equally brilliant screenwriter.

-Karel Segers

https://ozzywood.wistia.com/medias/ush8p7akqm?embedType=iframe&seo=false&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=640

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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