All
Clear all
Cancel
Apply

Showing 97 Results

Clear all
img
img

‘Yes, And’-ing Your Story Into Existence: The Sixth Sense Edition

Let’s do some more “Yes, and’ing” of movie stories, shall we? This time, I’ve looked at a screenplay that I originally covered on the job as a professional Reader, then watched it sell in a huge $3+ million deal for M. Night Shyamalan to write and direct the film that not only went on to become a huge hit, but at the time it bec...
img
img

‘Yes, And’-ing Your Story Into Existence: The Hunger Games Edition

When watching a movie or TV show, I’m always thinking about how and why a story works, and how and why the writer made those particular story choices. I’m also intrigued by how the concept began. How small was the kernel of the idea when they began to formulate the story and how did they go about expanding on the original premis...
img
img

Five Practical Things Every Writer Needs

I’ve worked in the entertainment industry, and specifically on the screenwriting and development side, for over 20 years. I sometimes marvel at that number, because the time has truly flown by. To think about who I was and where I was when I first jumped into this business…it’s a nearly night and day comparison. I still see elem...
img
img

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...
img
img

Dear Hollywood, You Drove Me Crazy. Also, I Love You.

  • Coli B. Sylla
  • .January 17, 2025
As a screenwriter who toiled away for years honing and perfecting my craft, I often found myself wondering if the next script would be it, or if the next general meeting would put me in the presence of the gatekeeper assigned to me by the Gods of entertainment. Nothing I had hoped to happen for me in LA happened in LA. Instead, ...
img
img

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...
img
img

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...
img
img

Dramatic Tension – Don’t Let Them Go (Part II)

  • Patrick O'Driscoll
  • .August 4, 2024
This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Dramatic Tension:Keeping audiences hooked relies on meaningful dramatic questions, yet few stories generate tension on the most meaningful level.Nothing prevents an audience’s boredom like the need to know what happens at the ending. Provided the protagonist has our empathy or interest, th...
img
img

Dramatic Tension – Don’t Let Them Go (Part 1)

  • Patrick O'Driscoll
  • .July 29, 2024
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Dramatic Tension:Clever concepts, genre staples, and rare characters can entice audiences, but without story-long dramatic tension, your screenplay will struggle to keep them engaged.Screenwriting has one rule: thou shalt not bore thy audience. Even Neanderthal storytellers knew that borin...
img
img

Experience Emotional Authenticity

  • Christopher Riley
  • .July 7, 2024
“Experience Emotional Authenticity” Author Christopher Riley on ‘The Defining Moment’:“I think it was a desire to connect with people,” said author Christopher Riley about his fascination with filmmaking and screenwriting. “I didn’t do that very well, [but] I have this memory of writing a poem in grade school and my uncle read i...
img
img

The Psychology Of Creativity For Screenwriters

Screenwriters, and all creatives for that matter, frequently grapple with the constant and tiring task of – creating. We have all suffered from writers’ block, a lack of inspiration and motivation, or a paucity of good ideas at some point in our careers. Self-flagellation and self-doubt don’t help. They cause stress and anxiety ...
img
img

The Self-Imposed Deadline

  • Roy Peter Clark
  • .April 29, 2024
The Power of The Self-Imposed Deadline:With lots of activity around the publication of my new book “Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser,” I have been fielding lots of questions about productivity. It often comes in this form: “How did you ever write six books in a dozen years?”When I h...
img
img

5 Techniques To Make Your Scenes Pop

What I know about scenes from years of writing and teaching scriptwriting is a lot. I’ve written hundreds of scripts, both produced and unproduced, and I’ve been teaching this stuff for 25 years and counting.But what I don’t know about scenes is at least as much as I do.Scenes are perceived to be simple in that they are there to...
img
img

Pixar's Rules Of Storytelling

Rule #1: You admire a character more for trying than for their successes.Rule #2: You’ve got to keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience. Not what’s fun to do as a writer. The two can be very different.Rule #3: Trying for theme is important. However you won’t see what the story is about until you’re at the end of th...
img
img

Test Your Story Concept

I once taught a webinar for The Writers Store on Story Development. In it we talked about the importance of testing your story concept before you end up like Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation lost in a sea of notes and pages with no idea how to move forward.What you want to do is find a process for evaluating your story concept befo...
img
img

9 Ways To Write Strong Screenplay Hooks

  • Dan Hoffmann
  • .March 25, 2024
The opening of your screenplay is arguably the most important part. No matter how great your story, if the opening fails to capture the studio reader or producer, the story ends right then and there for you.When I first started as a studio reader, the exec. producer instructed me not to read all the screenplays that were stacked...
img
img

Awaken Creativity

  • Nicole Bianchi
  • .March 18, 2024
The Simple Strategy Famous Writers Use to Awaken Creativity:A story idea suddenly appears in your head with a complete beginning, middle, and end. You sit down to write, and the words flow freely. It’s as if the story is typing itself.How often do you experience that kind of burst of incredible inspiration?I’m guessing that prob...
img
img

5 Tools For You To Write Gripping Screenplay Scenes

  • Dan Hoffmann
  • .March 12, 2024
Forget structure. Forget character. Forget concept. Your screenplay is nothing but scenes. So, if your scenes don’t stand out as original or memorable, no one will remember your story, your characters, your concept or your script, long enough to read it.So, if your protagonist is fired after being called into his boss´s office; ...
img
img

Colliding Two Story Ideas Together To Make One Great One

  • Jeffrey Kitchen
  • .March 12, 2024
The quest for a great story involves chewing through hundreds of ideas trying to find one with that magic something. And not only do you have to find an idea, but you have to evaluate its power because the ability to tell gold from fool’s gold is crucial to having a sustained screenwriting career.Wasting time building a script a...
img
img

Be Undisciplined And Write Your Voice

  • Basil Iwanyk
  • .February 26, 2024
Basil Iwanyk is a prolific film producer at Thunder Road Pictures known for box office hits including Sicario, John Wick, The Town and Oscar winner, A Star Is Born. “I grew up in New Jersey and you grew up doing one of three things – you commuted into New York City and ran your own business, or you became a lawyer or a doctor… n...

Loading more....

DON’T MISS THESE CONTESTS
img
ENTER TODAY
FINAL Deadline:
April 30, 2025
  • Consultant, Book, Connections
Add to Calendar
04/30/2025 12:00 America/Los_Angeles 04/30/2025 12:00 Wiki Screenplay Contest
img
ENTER TODAY
REGULAR Deadline:
April 30, 2025
  • Consultant, Cash, Representati
Add to Calendar
04/30/2025 12:00 America/Los_Angeles 04/30/2025 12:00 Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition
img
ENTER TODAY
LATE Deadline:
April 30, 2025
  • Connections, Cash, Resource
Add to Calendar
04/30/2025 12:00 America/Los_Angeles 04/30/2025 12:00 Page Turner Feature & TV Pilot Drama Competition
img
ENTER TODAY
COLD OPEN Deadline:
April 30, 2025
  • Resource, Cash, Connections
Add to Calendar
04/30/2025 12:00 America/Los_Angeles 04/30/2025 12:00 Barnstorm Fest
More
SUBMIT TO WRITING GIGS
PAID $$
Development Slate - New Scripts/Rewritten Scripts
PAID $$
Production Company Seeks Grounded Features in Any Genre
PAID $$
Uplifting Features and Pilots of All Genres Wanted
PAID $$
Seeking a Writing Partner to Revise a Psychological Thriller
PAID $$
An ISA Verified Pro Is Looking for a New Spin on Procedurals
More

Top Screenwriting Info Straight to Your Inbox

Articles, Videos, Podcasts, Special Offers & Much More

Thanks for subscribing email.
img
Conversations
img
img
img
img
img
Typing....
close
Privacy Notice

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you accept and understand our Privacy Settings.