Story. Screenplay. Sale.
Have you found yourself faced with the dilemma of choosing between brutally dull exposition or confusing your audience by throwing them into the story in medias res (that is, without any context)? Take a trip back through the annals of time and film to The Road Warrior, and watch a detailed breakdown of the storytelling … Read more
The next couple of weeks impose some hefty deadlines for screenwriters. And every year, about 1-2 weeks from the deadlines of these big contests, I start getting tons of emails saying “I just finished my first draft. Can you get my script ready for Nicholls?” by Danny Manus This is the wrong way to enter … Read more
A good story will always be a balance between providing readers necessary information—and keeping them curious by not giving them all the info. Nowhere is this more true than in dialogue. by K.M. Weiland Make no mistake. This is a tough wire on which to balance. Give readers too much juice, and they’ll not only … Read more
It’s almost summertime at the box office, which means big effects, big budgets, and even bigger stakes for the studios. Because it’s tentpole movie season. by Danny Manus You’ve probably heard the terms four-quadrant and tentpole movie, but what do they mean exactly? Should you be writing one? And what makes them work? A four-quadrant … Read more
Here’s a little-known secret about stories: they’re about what your characters do. Okay, so maybe it’s not so little known. I mean, duh, right? Your character does something and then he does something else—and, presto, you have a plot! And yet writers often end up spending a huge chunk of time describing what their characters … Read more