News From The Web - On Writing
Season 4 Archive
How to Give Notes
Ethan Ransom
RansomWriting.com
Don’t you just love getting notes? You pour your heart and soul into a script, you give it your best words, you send it out for feedback, and then, the notes come back. Yaaaaay... It can be a harrowing experience. We’ve all gotten those notes where the reader harps on minor page issues, or dumps all over the writing in order to sound smart, or basically says “I don’t like this” like a whiny toddler, without any useful details as to why.
What is a Script Doctor? How to Become a Script Consultant in 2019
Herman Wilkins
Studio Binder
One job in Hollywood without a clear career path is that of the script doctor. More behind-the-scenes than most well-paid positions in Hollywood, the script doctor has an enormous influence on whether a film moves forward into production. Today we’re going to answer “what is a script doctor,” and show how you can make this plum gig a part of your writing career long-term.
Why Screenwriters Are Programmed to Fail
Alex Ferrari
Indie Film Hustle
In this episode, I go deep down the rabbit hole and discuss how our subconscious can and does stop us from achieving not only our screenwriting dreams but how it affects all areas of our lives. I discuss how my life changed dramatically when I discovered this and made those upgrades. I also go over the two ways you can upgrade the old operating system in your head.
How I Am the Night‘s Creator Built Noir Series Around a Nearly Mythic True Crime
Hugh Hart
MPAA.com - The Credits
A fresh angle to the Black Dahlia case presented itself to writer Sam Sheridan 10 years ago after Patty Jenkins, his director wife, met a woman in her late fifties named Fauna Hodel at a local coffee shop. He says, “I remember Patty coming home and saying ‘You will not believe the shit I just heard.’ She brought back some clippings and told me Fauna’s story. My mind was blown.” Thus began a decade-long journey to revisit the Black Dahlia legacy through the eyes of a teenaged girl.
6 Important Writing Reminders From THE SHAPE OF WATER
Lucy V Hay
Bang2Write.com
Right now, diversity is the name of the game in storytelling, so it’s no accident a movie like THE SHAPE OF WATER won ‘Best Picture’ at The Oscars last week. (Whilst Jordan Peele’s GET OUT was technically more ‘deserving’ of the so-called diverse tag, it is still a genre movie … Whereas historically, The Oscars have always been more appreciative of drama movies, even ones with sci-fi elements like TSOW).
5 OF THE BEST MOVIE SCRIPTS TO LEARN FROM IN EACH GENRE
Staff
Script Reader Pro
Professional, produced movie scripts are one of the best tools screenwriters have at their disposal. There is nothing else that gives you the practical experience of how it all comes together better than reading a film script that has actually been produced. But what are the best movie scripts to read, and why? In this post, we break down five of the best screenplays to read in each major genre—drama, comedy, action/adventure, thriller and horror—and why you need to read them.
Interview: Director Dan Gilroy on Manipulation and Ditching the Character Arc
Russ Fischer
SlashFilm.com
It’s rare to see a directorial debut that is a total home run, but that’s Nightcrawler in a nutshell. I sat down with Dan Gilroy to talk about the film, and admitted that, as horrible as the guy can be, I’m somewhat envious of Lou’s pure drive to succeed. We talked about sociopaths, the liberation that comes from ditching a traditional character arc, and the beauty of Los Angeles at night.
ALT SCRIPT: The Screenwriter and Public Domain
Clive Davies-Frayne
Script Magazine
I’m a screenwriter; I’m also penniless. Yes, I can afford to put food on the table, but I sure as heck can’t afford to pay for the adaptation rights for anyone’s novel/non-fiction epic or biography. All of which means, like some carrion crow or stalker of the talented dead, I always have my eye on who is going public domain in any given year.
SCRIPT SECRETS: The Drama of Inaction
William C. Martel
Script Magazine
I’m an action movie guy – I not only like action movies and write action movies, I preach the use of actions to tell your story: “If you don’t show it the audience can’t know it.” Action *is* character. Having a character slap another character is more dramatic than having them say, “I hate you.” You want your characters to show us what they’re feeling – that way the actors can actually do some acting.
Writing Effective Plot Twists
James Napoli
CreativeScreenwriting.com
Creative Screenwriting Magazine contributor, James Napoli details the different types of plot twists screenwriters can use in their screenplays. There are several different types of plot twists you can use in your screenwriting. Let’s take a look at some of them.
The Shocking Truth About Your Movie Idea
Jason Brubaker
Filmmaking Stuff
As a filmmaker your success depends on your ability to stand up and proclaim “I have a movie idea!” But the shocking (or not-so-shocking) truth is, everybody has a movie idea.Very few of these ideas will ever get made into a movie.
How to Write a Film Treatment Like the Pros [FREE Template]
AJ Detisch
Studio Binder
If you have a great concept for a film, odds are you want to tell it immediately. Naturally, you might get tempted to hop right into Final Draft and type away. Resist that temptation! Experienced writers know that writing a movie means meticulous organization and clarity. This is why film treatments are so useful: they boil your idea down to your characters and the story events that drive them to change.
2019 is the Perfect Time to Try Writing in a New Film Genre
Shanee Edwards
Screenwriting U Magazine
Entering into a new year is a great time to rededicate yourself to your screenwriting practice. If you just read that sentence and felt excited, great! But if you just read that sentence and felt an overwhelming sense of dread, maybe it’s time to try something new. How about a new genre?
Do you have what studio executives want? Cate Adams, Vice President of Warner Bros. Pictures breaks it down
Clint Milby
IndieShooter.com
If you’ve written a spec screenplay or directed a short or even a feature independently, you’ve obviously wondered what goes on behind the gates and walls of a major studio.
How do those decision makers get their positions of power? Are they born to them? What do they expect from a writer or director, and do you have what it takes to not only get in the door but stay there and flourish?
TV Series Bibles
Shores Scripts
We’ve collated just about every TV series bible available on the web for you here, but what is a TV series bible? They come under various guises and can be used as a pitch document, a guide for directors, or additional info to be submitted along with a pilot episode. As with the word outline and synopsis, the term bible isn’t set in stone and can just as easily be referred to as a treatment or extended pitch. Take a browse at how some of TV’s most successful shows were able to grab the attention of producers and executives in this fantastic selection.
So-Called Screenwriting ‘Rules’
Scott Myers
Go Into the Story
Awhile back, I posted this about an occurrence that happens with irritating regularity in the online screenwriting universe: The contentious specter of so-called screenwriting ‘rules’. So it occurred to me, why not just deal with it once and for all! Get every single supposed screenwriting rule out on the table, then go through them, one by one, to see if we can take all the heat that typically gets generated when one of these online snits breaks out and collectively create some actual light.
Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make Getting (And Taking!) Notes
Lucy V. Hay
Bang2Write.com
One of the most important things I learned about giving notes is to make it about the script and not the writer. This is not personal. This is about a piece of writing. This is about improving that writing and it’s not saying you’re a bad person or a bad parent or a cheating husband or any of that.
7 Things Screenwriters NEED to Know About Writing for Television
Ken Miyamoto
Screencraft.org
We have pulled nine pieces of vital information from JohnTruby’s Film Courage interviews The Life Of A Television Writer Working On A TV Writing Staff and What Writers Need To Know About Breaking Into Television and use his wise words and our own elaboration to offer aspiring television writers the best collection of knowledge and experience that will prepare them for their go at a possible career in television writing.
14 Quotes from Industry Figures That Prove Writers Need Script Coverage Now, More Than Ever
Industrial Scripts
The times they are a’ changing, as Bob Dylan once said. Who’d have thought a few years ago that full blown movie stars would be appearing on TV? And within the most important part (screenwriting) of the whole process, script coverage now occupies a completely different position of importance to a few years ago.