Logical World « Screenwriter-to-Screenwriter.com

The Season of Weird, Chatty Dramedies

I can’t say I totally understand it but this year was definitely the reading season for the Weird, Chatty Dramedy.

I’d estimate that approximately 20% of the scripts I read this year involved an ensemble of types sitting around, chatting about various personal issues that were of absolutely no interest to me.

Many of these [...]

Biopic: A Character’s Journey

I’ve been reading a number of biopics based on very famous historical personages. They are flat and dry, like cardboard. The feeling I have reading them is that they take a marionette of a historical figure and dance them through the major events of their life. I start off with little or no understanding of [...]

Descriptors: Be Precise

Don’t forget when you’re writing to use precise descriptors that evoke something very clear in the mind of the reader. Even in screenwriting, the quality of prose to some degree either engages or repels the reader and thus the experience of your screenplay.

Try to avoid descriptors that are ambiguous, contradictory or confusing, because the [...]

The Script Reader’s Top 10 Screenplay “Dos”

The following is a very basic list of items that get my attention as a script reader. If your script addresses each of these points, you’re probably doing a good job. I will be excited to read your script.

So, here we go, a list of my top 10 screenplay “dos” when reading:

DO keep your page [...]

The Script Reader’s Top 5 Screenplay “Do Nots”

The following is a very basic list of items that do not impress me as a script reader and, more often than not, will get your script a resounding pass. If your script contains any of these points, consider rewriting before sending out.

So, here we go, a list of my top 5 screenplay peeves when [...]

Example of How To Introduce Your Protagonist (Erin Brockovich)

One of my favorite scripts is “Erin Brockovich,” because I love the writing. It is abundantly clear, sparsely written, and dense with meaning. This script captures worlds of information with just a few simple, extremely well chosen words. To my mind, that is excellence in screenwriting.

Please read this excerpt of the opening of [...]

Why Shutter Island Didn’t Work: Audience Expectation

Okay, okay, so it was based on a book. Let’s forget that and look at why this project didn’t work as a film.

There’s an adage about screenwriting that you shouldn’t write movies about a dream within a dream within a dream and then *ta da!* oops, you only imagined what you saw this whole [...]

Pixar: Writing Complete Stories

An interesting article on how Pixar focuses on writing complete stories from Story Fanatic.

Be Careful When Mixing Genre: Jennifer’s Body

I’m sitting here watching Jennifer’s Body, which is a movie I should love. I think the concept is amazing – a girl who gets taken advantage of by men only to turn the tables and start fucking over men. It should be edgy, fucking hilarious, scary as shit and I was expecting this movie to [...]

Who Are You Writing For?

I was Skyping with a writer friend the other night who had sent me a list of about 10 loglines and was wanting to brainstorm which project to write next. He later sent me an email indicating he’d chosen to write a horror movie starring a young boy character and, in essence, a CGI character. [...]

Inside Out vs. Outside In

The great debate: character to story or concept to character. Face it: you’re either one or the other. If you think you’re both at the same time, I’d really love to hear from you and learn how you do it, because it seems to me there’s a huge canyon in between and I’m waiting for [...]

You Don’t Need To Be on the Page

I was having a conversation this morning with another writer friend, and we had a little bit of a laugh (but not in a malicious way) about another writer who fancies himself a director and this is evident in his writing because he, meaning his personality, is everywhere on the page. When you read his [...]

Write What You Love

My friend had a rough writing day the other day. She had a moment of disappointment that she wasn’t writing projects that are more high-concept and commercial. I reminded her that we can only write what we love. That’s the best we can do. Sometimes we just have to write what we love just because [...]

If It Doesn’t Buy You Something, Take It Out

The more I write and the more I read, I find I return to this mantra again and again: If it doesn’t buy you something, take it out.

Screenplay beats to me are a commodity. You have to buy the beats in the beginning of your story to cash them in later on in the [...]

Screenplay Openings:
Most Beginnings are Overwritten

This article follows up on Screenplay: The Importance of the First Five Pages.

In the last batch of scripts I read for one of the screenwriting competitions, I would say about 30% of the screenplays had beginnings that were overwritten. It’s not uncommon. In several cases, the real story didn’t start to pick up until [...]

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