Dialogue tips from UK scriptwriters

“Write your whole scene with all the things you think people would say to each other. Imagine all the things two people could say when saying goodbye to each other. Then keep taking words away while it still makes emotional sense. Five lines of dialogue between to people may end up being a single word: [...]

The evolving relationship

Ela Their suggests that you base your plots around the evolving relationship between the main character and the main supporting character:
Act 1: When a character with a pattern is faced with a problem that challenges their pattern
Act 2: Then the main character and their key relationship pursue a goal despite major obstacles
Act 3: Until they [...]

Gandhi’s screenwriting tip

“Become the change you want to see around you”
An aphorism I seem able to remember most days.
“Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.”
Each of these could be the theme of a film – the debate that all [...]

Get it out of your head and on to the page

After over a year of listening to Pilar Alessandra’s On The Page screenwriting blog (iTunes, FeedBurner), I was lucky enough to attend a London event meeting her alongside UK-based screenwriters. It was inspirational.
I’ve already written about some of her ten minute exercises, but this evening reminded me of something else: spending too long preparing [...]

Writers need discipline

Oscar award season has started. The ‘for your consideration’ adverts have started to appear. That means the ‘glut of award hopefuls to be released in the next six weeks’ and ‘end of the cinematic year’ articles can be written.
Go on over to Hollywood Reporter to read an interview with six writers who may be nominated [...]

Writers on set?

In a podcast from Creative Screenwriting on The Illusionist, the producers talk about becoming successful as screenwriters before they made The Illusionist. Brian Koppelman and David Levien got their big break with the script of Rounders, the Ed Norton poker movie. It was directed by John Dahl. He told them something interesting: “You can never [...]

If writing is rewriting, try these ten minute rewrites

I regularly listen to Pilar Alessandra’s weekly screenwriting podcast (iTunes, FeedBurner) as part of her ‘On the Page’ script consultation and screenwriting education business.
Many writers know that screenwriting is rewriting, and almost each week Pilar suggests a ten minute exercise that you can do to improve the current draft of your script. Here are three [...]

Oh yes… actors.

In an article over at Raindance, Stacey Parks lists some tips on how producers can find the actors that will sell their film.
Depressing as it may seem to new writers, directors and producers, the truth is that films are sold based on who stars in them. The presence of other contributors doesn’t matter to 90% [...]

Shorts as pilots for features… or as podcast episodes

In the past few years, it has become popular to design short films as pilots for features. I hear directors tell me that they’re making a series of shorts that can add up to a feature. They make a 15 minute short that introduces a world, a set of characters and an event that puts [...]

Non-multiplex pitching

This evening I attended a session of Non-Multiplex Cinema’s ‘Write to Shoot’ course. A ten session course to help writers with a concept, synopsis or initial pages of a script who need the encouragement of a writers group to get that first draft done. As well as a structured course, sessions include scene reviews with [...]