Learn how to write a TV show bible and market your pilot like a pro. So you’ve got a great idea for a TV show... Do you just write the pilot and start sending it out into the industry? Or do you first write one of those mysterious things known as a “TV show bible”? […]
If there’s so much information out there on how to craft the perfect three-act structure, why is it so hard to put it into practice in your own script? Why is it so difficult to know how the hell to fill those 50-60 pages in Act Two? With close to a million different theories on […]
How to use short film scripts to kickstart your screenwriting career. Are you sitting around by the phone waiting for a producer to kickstart your career? Here's another option: kickstart it yourself by writing short film scripts. How did the Duplass Brothers and countless other filmmakers get their screenwriting careers off the ground? Not by entering screenwriting contests, networking […]
Character description examples: how to hook the reader. In this post, we’re going to show you how to get the reader to emotionally connect with your characters—particularly your protagonist—by comparing amateur and pro character description examples. Far too often aspiring writers’ character descriptions involve mundane activities, unrelated to who they’re introducing. Often this is accompanied […]
Create a professional screenplay title page in 3 steps. The first impression you give a reader about the quality of your writing is on the screenplay title page. How you present the information on it can give away a surprising amount about the overall quality of the writing therein. Click to tweet this post. Bad […]
High concept: what it is and how to apply it to your story idea. Is Deadpool “high concept”? What about Midnight in Paris? Or The Purge? The fact that you can ask ten different writers and get ten different opinions, kind of sums up how confusing the notion of a "high concept" has become. • […]
How to write a script outline that will save you months of rewrites. Writing a script outline is probably the most important preparatory step you can take as a writer. It can save you from having to go back and fix things in a screenplay that could’ve been fixed much earlier—fundamental things like a basic […]
How to format dialogue in a screenplay: top 8 dialogue format "errors." Peppering a spec script with dialogue format errors may not completely derail the reader’s experience, but they definitely don’t help. This is because they tell the reader one of two things: 1. You’re not a very experienced writer and are unaware of how […]
How do you know if your script's ready to send out into the industry? You’ve finished a screenplay. But how do you know if your script's ready to send out? How do you know when it’s “finished”? Here's our ultimate 12-point questionnaire to find out whether your script is ready to take on the world. […]
Protagonist and antagonist conflict: why it's between 3 characters not 2. When it comes to the protagonist and antagonist in a screenplay, aspiring screenwriters are constantly being told cliches like: • "A strong story is based on the protagonist-antagonist conflict.” • "Your protagonist and antagonist are the two most important characters in the script.” • […]