Watch your words: Visit a set and read your script aloud
Every scriptwriter should visit a set. You will learn that a great deal of work goes into bringing your story alive. You will experience long hours, actors with incredible durability, directors with patience, crew who do their jobs and some who don’t. Overall you will have a feeling of how very many people are involved … Read more
Capturing Silence
Your script reads better if you avoid directional cues. Forget “pause” and “beat.” I know, each is listed in The Screenwriter’s Bible but paint a verbal picture instead. Film is visual. Give clues to the director, actors and crew with visual writing. So instead of: LILA You have to know that Jack wasn’t there. SAM … Read more
Puppies and other time challenges
At some time, your devotion to writing will be tested…perhaps more than once: a move, a wedding, a new child, a home disaster, the death of a loved one. Planned or unplanned these life intrusions may lure you away from your writing time. In my case, I have a new puppy and not only is … Read more
The Middle of the Middle: Don’t sag here
The middle. The second act can drag with subplots and episodic events. You need to give the middle of the second act, also the middle of the story, a bang. Ratchet up the tension/confrontation to get the audience involved in the story. Here is where the protagonist has a pivotal moment. The lock gave the … Read more
2011 in review
I’m not certain what this all means. But good or bad these are 2011 stats. The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a … Read more
The Ending: Your last emotional tie with the audience
The last day of the year, so I’m taking a look at the very end of a story. The story ending is the last visual the reader/audience has. Just as the beginning draws the audience into the story immediately, the ending is the last emotional hook. The ending is the place where the audience, not … Read more
Your agreement: Hooking the audience for the whole story
Beginning writers often misinterpret the call for a beginning “hook.” The story device that pulls the audience immediately into the story. But the real draw is an agreement with the reader/audience that you are going to tell a certain kind of story and stick to that genre. It doesn’t matter if it is a traditional … Read more
Background work first: save yourself hours of time
The more you prepare the more you can stay true to your story and make it true for your reader/audience. For the past month I have been setting up the background for several scripts. Each has its own particular challenges. Script A- a fantasy comedy Script B-novel adaptation, police drama Script C-spec script, crime thriller … Read more
Research baseline: Look for authenticity
“No doubt you have the power here to talk about why…” “That’s not as bad as the Ramero brothers…” “Do you want to write an apology to her family?” “What I have here in my hand is the result of our investigation. It shows you had an active part in…” Real words from a … Read more
The outline as a lifesaver
For the past two weeks, I have had a problem with my home which required hours of time, interactions with pompous and inefficient “service” personnel, canceled appointments, etc. I have been distracted. Performing a multitude of tasks left me little time for writing. I called my co-writer to tell him I was way behind … Read more
