“Jonah Hex” was supposed to be a blockbuster based on a comic book hero with Megan Fox co-starring in a skimpy outfit. What went wrong? The usual — poor story structure. Last year at Comic-Con, Josh Brolin and Megan Fox were promoting “Jonah Hex” to throngs of eager fans. This year at the same time, […]
There are plenty of online scams just waiting to fleece struggling screenwriters out of their money. Here’s how to be careful. The first key to remember is that nobody should make money from you until they make money for you first. If you can remember this single point, you’ll protect yourself from all the major […]
Everyone wants to know what’s the best screenwriting book they should get. The answer is simple, but it may still surprise you. Look in your favorite bookstore or library and you can find dozens of screenwriting books. When confronted with this armada of screenwriting tutorials (including this one), the obvious question to ask is “What’s […]
When you see a great movie, you know it. Likewise, when you see a horrible movie, you also know it. What’s the difference between the two? If you can figure out what makes a good movie different from a bad movie, you can make sure that you write the best story possible. Think of the […]
The beginning of your movie is your first impression to the audience. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so make this beginning work hard for your story. The beginning of a movie roughly corresponds to the first 15 minutes of a 120-minute movie. This beginning segment of your story must […]
This is the way many people write a screenplay. They buy a screenplay formatting program like Final Draft then start writing. This is like buying a new car and driving without any idea or plan on where you want to go or what you want to do. Screenwriting can be like that too. When writing […]