Screenwriter-to-Screenwriter.com » screenplay genre

Write the Movies You Really Want To See

Monica — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:13:43 +0000

This is intended as a follow up post to Write What You Love.

Okay. This might sound ridiculous, but bear with me. Say a magic genie appeared tonight before you fell asleep, Shazam!, and gave you a magic ticket to the best movie ever the following day, what movie would you want to see? If it [...]

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

Monica — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:13:28 +0000

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

Monica — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:13:59 +0000

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 [...]

Subject Matter: Sci-Fi Writers Beware

Monica — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:13:13 +0000

Science fiction is complicated to write. You have to create a believable world that is rich and full of detail with no breaks in logic in a limited pagecount, hit the genre conventions and then write a smart story on top of that. Also, it can’t be something we’ve seen before – it has to [...]

Q&A: Simple Present vs. Present Progressive (“-ing”) Verb Tense

Monica — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:31:03 +0000

Michael asks: Is it ever okay to use the “ing” present tense to describe action? “The Complete Screenwriters Manual” says no, but I don’t buy it.

Monica says: Thanks, Michael. Great question.

Here’s the deal with what I refer to as active verbs vs. passive verbs and screenwriting. The standard for screenwriting is to use the most evocative [...]

Subject Matter: Don’t Write About Writers or Hollywood, Please

Monica — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:13:04 +0000

Today I’ve read a couple of stories about Hollywood aspirings – aspiring writers, directors, actors, etc. In this reading season I’ve probably read a number of these kinds of scripts. Please, people, no. Don’t do it. Ninety nine times out of one hundred, your life as an aspiring writer isn’t interesting enough to warrant a [...]

Screenplay: The Importance of the First Five Pages

Monica — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:13:11 +0000

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 [...]

The Small Character Drama: Life or Death Stakes

Monica — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:13:16 +0000

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…

Monica — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:17:01 +0000

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 [...]

Do Your Homework: Watch AFI’s Top 100 List Films

Monica — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:17:21 +0000

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 [...]