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Waxing Philosophical About AI

  • Holly Payberg-Torroija
  • .July 11, 2025
To use AI? Or not to use AI? That is the question often on the minds of writers these days. And I'm not here to say one way or the other whether anyone should use it or not, or even pass judgment on whether its good or bad because - how the hell I am supposed to know what is good for others? But I am here to provide some food fo...
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The Biggest Mistake Writers Make

  • Holly Payberg-Torroija
  • .June 19, 2025
As a writing coach, one of the biggest mistakes I see writers make, is that they try to write their story before they’ve given themselves the proper time and space to go deep and truly know their story. They expect themselves to somehow go straight from having an idea, to writing pages that flow out looking close to a near perfe...
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TEN TAKEAWAYS from a HORROR WORKSHOP with FOUR WORKING PRODUCERS

I recently completed the inaugural run of my “Story Maps Horror & Thriller Seminar,” a 4-week course wherein I guided a small group of screenwriters to develop original concepts for films and television series in the hottest genres in entertainment. Along the way, I brought in four guest speakers, industry veterans with credits ...
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Zen And the Stages of Writing Growth `

Zen And the Stages of Writing Growth `ChapterHow do you learn to write better screenplays?  It’s a process. It starts with educating yourself about screenwriting, reading books, taking courses, studying screenplays, viewing films, and writing and rewriting scripts. You have to start out knowing that you’ll have much to learn, an...
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Moving Your Mindset From Aspiring To Professional Screenwriter

  • Staff Writer
  • .January 20, 2025
And so it goes… What you think, you become. Dream and become it. These might seem like an endless stream of feel good memes on your social media feed, but they do serve a useful purpose, especially if you seek a career in a business as fickle, unpredictable, and unstable as screenwriting.The first thing aspiring screenwriters mu...
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The New Year and Your New Writing Resolutions

Do we need writing resolutions? Do we need resolutions at all, really? The basic answer is “yes”, but at the same time I prefer to look at the start of a new year as a review as opposed to a completely new, fresh start.We’re not new at this. In other words, even if you’re reading this Substack for the first time, you’ve likely b...
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Why Do We Procrastinate?

I had that moment of “gasp” last night because I’ll just be honest with you…I forgot to post my weekly Almanac! I then realized why I did such a thing…and it actually doesn’t have anything to do with the topic of today’s Substack. It actually had everything to do with basic mental and emotional health…but for good reason! I just...
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How Your Story's Theme Can Help You Develop Your Project

I think that we ignore the process of theme development in our projects mainly because we’ve never really been told how to define what theme really is, or how it can inform more than just meaning and sentiment.I gave this note to one of my writers this week (with regard to her thematic statement): “…I think there is a lot to say...
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What Is A Story Hook?

Let’s get back to some very basic elements of story, since the past few chapters have been a little head-spinning, deep, and oddly esoteric. Whether you’re writing a pilot, a feature, an epic fantasy novel or a small YA series with some juicy romance, or even if you’re sitting around a campfire enjoying the last few days of warm...
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I Hate to Break It to You, But Your Logline Isn't Working

(Be like Hermione…study, read, practice, be smart.)I am going to vent a little bit in today’s post, but it’s because you all need to hear it. I’ll hold myself back as much as I can. Please remember that I am coming to you with love and positive intention here, I swear.Your logline sucks.OK, so maybe I didn’t hold myself back. I ...
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11 Writing Quotes You Should Take Notice Of (Part 1)

This entry is part 1 of 2 in a series on Writing Quotes.By the time any writer becomes successful, they’ve typically gathered a war chest worth of things not to do. If one is doing it right, you’re writing, reading, listening, and learning a ton of how to and not to write.Let’s see what lessons successful writers have learned.1)...
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Follow Your Inner Compass

  • Brock Swinson
  • .September 30, 2024
“Follow Your Inner Compass” Richard Tanne on ‘Chemical Hearts’ & ‘Southside With You’:“I’m one of those lifelong film geeks,” joked writer/director Richard Tanne. “I was one of those kids with a lot of creative energy, but didn’t know it at the time, so I channeled it through misbehaving.” Tanne’s parents worked out a system wit...
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Understanding the First Half of Your 2nd Act

Understanding the First Half of Your 2nd Act with Some Help from Harry and Sally:Sequence 5: Let’s Get Into ItYou’re rumbling along on a road trip with your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, or partner. Let’s just set that stage for a second. You’ve been on the road for a few hours. The high and excitement of hitting the open road ...
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What's All This Talk About 'The Promise of the Premise'?

A New WorldAs I continue this series of daily newsletters, bringing us from one sequence of story structure into the next, I’m going to start this one with a little bit of a set up. It’s something rather simple, but important in that it will hopefully get your brain properly wrapped around this post’s topic – Sequence 4, and wha...
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How To Write A Contained Film

Contained films are restrained stories that have traditionally been limited to the horror/ thriller genre. They are characterized by having few characters (often three to five, sometimes as few as one), no more than one or two main locations such as a haunted house, and a skeleton crew.Most importantly, they are filmed on shoest...
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Your Screenplay or TV Pilot: How Long Should it Take to Write?

Okay, I admit it, I’ve been in denial. I did not think that this blogpost would need writing. Which, let’s face it, is nothing short of stupid on my part because, well, I have this conversation ALL. THE. TIME.Even as I write this, I think to myself: This blogpost is going to be a short one. There isn’t that much to say; the mess...
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What is the Most Essential Element to Any Story?

What is the Most Essential Element to Any Story (and is Too Often Ignored by Emerging Writers)?Hint: It's Not the Main Character, nor Structure, or Even a Marketable Hook.The Secondary Character Affect and Core RelationshipWelcome back everyone! You’re reading my fourth Substack post, which leads me to believe that you might act...
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7 Steps to a Perfect Pitch

In previous posts I talked about theme and how you can use your protagonist’s arc to clarify what your story is about. You can also use this arc as the spine for pitching your story.Knowing how to pitch your script can be a challenge particularly deciding what’s essential information and what you can leave out. Everyone is diffe...
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The Set-Up Event

The Difference Between a Set-Up Event and the Inciting Incident + Defining the 2nd Sequence of Your Story:The Set Up EventIf you didn’t already know, I used to have a solo podcast on the ISA website called The Craft. I also released a book on screenwriting a few years back. A lot of these newsletters are in reference to what I c...
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Write Worlds And Characters Actors Want To Play

  • Pen Densham
  • .August 26, 2024
I am convinced that actors with creative intelligence want to play roles that challenge, expand, and refresh their artistic instincts. They want to get involved with films that get noted for Oscar consideration. It’s the job of the screenwriter to create worlds and character roles actors want to play.When stars commit to a movie...

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