screenwriting « Screenwriter-to-Screenwriter.com

2009 CineStory Screenwriting Awards: Enter Now!

The 2009 CineStory Screenwriting Awards are now accepting submissions.

CineStory is a very unique non-profit that mentors writers to help them improve their craft and workshop their writing with industry professionals. This is a fantastic organization and worth entering the competition. Competition winners are invited to a special retreat in Idyllwild where they will work [...]

We Write to our Weaknesses

I’m still in the stage wherein every time I embark upon a new project, I’m teaching myself something about the technical process of writing and also about the human experience. I think the greatest gift a writer can give is in illuminating the human experience in a fresh or unique way, and in the experience [...]

Be Smart About When You Write What

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

I went to AFI for film school where, I imagine distinct from USC and UCLA, we didn’t really learn much, if anything, about the entertainment business. I learned a ton about writing and the writing process – but as far as the business [...]

Write the Movies You Really Want To See

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 [...]

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 [...]

Fighting for Your Craft

I’ve been back in LA this week. And from the minute I got here, all I’ve wanted to do was go back to Santa Fe. There’s a specific energy here in LA for me that’s a little bit like living beneath a veil. Everything is a little bit obscured. I chalk this phenomenon up to [...]

Subject Matter: Sci-Fi Writers Beware

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

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 [...]

Clarity Above All

There is no shame in being absolutely clear with your beats. In fact, I am that reader who is likely to not get something if it isn’t on the page. You should assume that if it’s not clear on the page, your reader is not going to get it. If you hint at something but [...]

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

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

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 [...]

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

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 [...]

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2009 CineStory Screenwriting Awards:<br>Enter Now!

We Write to our Weaknesses

Be Smart About When You Write What

Write the Movies You Really Want To See

Write What You Love

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

Screenplay Openings:<br>Most Beginnings are Overwritten

Fighting for Your Craft

Subject Matter: Sci-Fi Writers Beware

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

Clarity Above All

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

Screenplay: The Importance<br>of the First Five Pages

What Happened to the Inciting Incident?

The Small Character Drama:<br>Life or Death Stakes

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