It’s easy to come up with an idea for a story. However, it’s hard to turn that idea into a complete story. Most often, writers start with an idea, have no idea where to go, and either give up or combine multiple ideas until the whole story becomes a jumbled mess. The trick is to […]
If you analyze major scenes, you’ll notice they actually have pretty simple goals. In the scene below from “Back to the Future,” the goal in that scene is simple. Marty needs to drive the DeLorean at 88mph and hit an electrical wire at the exact moment a lightning bolt strikes so it can power the […]
Watch a bad movie and you’ll see scenes that seem to exist for no other reason than to show action, sex, or special effects. The trouble with bad movies is that scenes often have no relation to other scenes. Characters just pop up in one scene and jump to a new scene with no sense […]
When you’re learning anything for the first time, you won’t be very good at it. In fact, you’ll probably make common mistakes that nearly all beginners make. In the world of screenwriting, novices tend to make the same three mistakes over and over again. By recognizing these mistakes and avoiding them in your own screenplay, […]
If you can’t write a compelling scene, you won’t be able to write a compelling screenplay. Far too many novices write screenplays filled with large amounts of action that’s boring, trivial, or non-essential. That means the bulk of their screenplay is boring. A great screenplay should never be boring. That means every scene must never […]
One mistake novices make is that they think if they buy a screenwriting program like Final Draft, they can become a screenwriter. That’s only partially true. Final Draft (or any screenwriting program) can help you write a screenplay but you still need to develop the skill necessary to tell a great story. The company that […]
Learning anything new is more about time management than intelligence. The harder you work at something, the better you’ll get so one way to get better at screenwriting is to copy what others have done. One way to improve your screenwriting skill is to watch a favorite movie and try to duplicate the scene in […]
This is the way most screenwriters work. They write a screenplay and send it off to a screenplay contest, hoping they’ll win. That’s like learning to ride a bicycle for the first time and entering the Tour de France, hoping they’ll win. Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. What’s far more likely to happen […]