The opening five pages of your screenplay give me a ton of information about the breadth and scope of your project. As with the opening of a novel or any other literary work, the opening of your screenplay should be a microcosm of the world of your script. It’s the first taste – but as […]
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What Happened to the Inciting Incident?
You’d be surprised – I have been – but a very high number of scripts I’m reading don’t have inciting incidents. I am getting to page 15, page 20, page 30, and there’s really no defined story. I would say that this is in about 25% of the scripts I’m reading. Obviously, these scripts are […]
The Small Character Drama: Life or Death Stakes
By Monica on July 16, 2009 in Character, Genre, Logical World, Process, Screenwriting Competitions, Story, Subject Matter, Uncategorized
I’m not someone who generally loves small indie movies that blow some minor human drama into a hysteria for the ages. I love real stories – stories with action, externalized drama, physical obstacles, where something transformative happens. To me, most small character dramas that I read don’t offer up enough dramatic stakes to warrant a […]
Look at It From the Reader’s Perspective…
By Monica on July 15, 2009 in Character, Genre, Location, Logical World, Process, Screenwriting Competitions, Story, Theme, Tone, Uncategorized
I just got through another big push of scripts. There were a handful of recommends, but overall many of them were dismal. When writing, just get the words down on the page. Get through that first draft. But, then rewrite. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. As you get closer to the time you’re going to send your […]
The Scoop on Line Edits
A lot of writers really get all bent out of shape and neurotic about the level of control with the words on the page. In most cases, I look at this as a writer who’s inner critic has run amok. This is one of the many ways to self sabotage. There was one girl in […]
The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations
I attended a seminar years ago with Jeff Kitchen wherein he passed out a xeroxed sheet of the thirty-six dramatic situations as identified by Geroges Polti, culled from the original French-language book, which was written in the 19th century. I didn’t understand much else from his talk (it was a lot of fancy jargon to […]
How to Craft Theme
Once you decide what the overarching umbrella theme of your story is, then make sure that theme is abundantly clear within the A story and the protagonist’s character arc, but also present within the B stories and the other character arcs. I was told once to write out the theme on a post it and […]
Theme: Barri Evins and “Personal Thematic”
I attended a CineStory retreat last summer in Idyllwild where Barri Evins conducted a three day seminar on “personal thematic.” Barri is amazing, a true inspiration, and if you ever have the chance to work with her in any way, you must do so. The experience will be absolutely transformative. They say that writers have […]
The Screenwriting Reading List: The Must-Have Books That Will Help You Write Better
Here is my basic reading list for screenwriters. I have included a brief paragraph in each instance as to what specifically I got from each of these books and how they can help you. Of course, each of us learns differently, but I would consider all of these books must-haves for your personal library. The […]
Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition OPENS
From the people at Scriptapalooza: Hey all you TV writers, this is your chance to change the way you watch TV! Scriptapalooza TV has seen major success in their 10 years… 2 writers won Emmys, numerous writers have gotten agents, managers and meetings. The four categories include existing 1 hour shows like True Blood and […]
Do Your Homework: Watch AFI’s Top 100 List Films
By Monica on July 7, 2009 in Beat Sheet, Character, Genre, Location, Logical World, Process, Story, Theme, Tone, Uncategorized
If you’re writing screenplays, it’s very important to know the field. You should be watching movies in the theatre now and also studying previously released films. Here is a wonderful basic list of the great movies, which you should see to have a basic understanding of our industry. In addition, you should endeavor to watch […]
Screenwriting Basics: The Importance of Tone
Tone is an excellent tool with which to underscore the genre of your screenplay. For me as a reader, both the genre and tone should be abundantly clear from page one. If it’s not abundantly clear by page two, you’re likely in trouble. I use “tone” to this end, as defined by Merriam-Webster.com: “general character, […]
Screenwriting Basics: The Importance of Theme
By Monica on July 6, 2009 in Character, Process, Screenwriting Competitions, Story, Theme, Uncategorized
A reader asked me to write something about theme, as it is possibly the most nebulous component of good writing and yet arguably the most important. Theme, to me, is the soul of the piece. It’s a part of the unspoken meaning to each of the scenes that is continually omnipresent. Most scripts I read […]
Shouts Out to my Readers!
I just wanted to send grateful acknowledgment to my readers both here in the US and abroad in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Russia, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Indonesia and Japan. My baby blog is still new and growing every day, but I always love seeing […]
Screenwriting Punctuation for Dummies
I’m a stickler for proper English grammar. I get really annoyed when people justify their horrible grammar with excuses, as though it’s snobby to use subject-verb agreement. It’s not. It’s our language. If you want use English to a professional end, you should have a level of mastery. I’ll admit it: my skin crawls when […]