Story and Plot Screenwriting
A weekly screenwriting lesson from a professional screenwriter of 29 years who has been teaching the subject for almost as long.
When you're struggling, it's usually one of three things.
The Weekly Email is just one part of Story and Plot. It is the courses and workshops that make the free Weekly Email possible. Here is a personal recommendation for [COPY_NAME GOES HERE]: Thanks for being a member of Story and Plot Pro! Make sure you take advantage of a writing sprint this week! If you have any questions or if you want to update or change your membership, let me know. Remember, I’m here to support you. Now, on to this week's email... When you're struggling, it's usually one...
How to find the dramatic question for a character piece.
Brought to you by Story and Plot Pro. How to find the dramatic question for a character piece. We are starting a new Writer's Lab next week. We have three sold-out labs right now, which is really gratifying. When anyone starts a new project in the lab, we work through what I call the pre-outline phase. One of the most important decisions we make in the pre-outline phase is determining the dramatic question. Sometimes it's obvious in the conception. Other times, especially when we start with a...
How to know the ending of your screenplay.
Brought to you by Story and Plot Pro. How to know your ending. We started a new Writers Lab this week. A member is working on a new story and the process we went through for her to decide the resolution is a great example of how we put story first and let it dictate our decisions. Now, as always, when I share details of a member's story, for privacy reasons, the details only represent their story. They do not accurately describe it. So let's say this story is about a woman whose husband goes...
How I approach a general meeting.
Brought to you by Story and Plot Pro. How I approach a general meeting. Last week, I came across an email I sent my agents three years ago about a general meeting I had and how much I enjoyed the two people I met that day. My heart kind of sank. Why? Because I have no recollection of that meeting whatsoever. No idea who those people are. Am I getting senile? No. It was simply one more general meeting where I was in the door and out, and I never thought about it again. This is a terrible waste...
Simplify to reduce friction in your writing.
Brought to you by Story and Plot Pro. Simplify the writing and decrease the friction. This week in the Story and Plot Pro community, we broke down the structure of the 2006 thriller FLIGHTPLAN, which relies on an overly complicated master plan from the antagonists. We tend to focus on story structure in these breakdowns (this is a community-wide thing we do inside Pro – it’s fun and very helpful), but there was no joy in finally realizing what the mysterious plan was – and that’s a big reason...
Sometimes your protagonist does need to be likable.
Brought to you by Story and Plot Pro. Sometimes your protagonist does need to be likable. I have been really struggling with Act 1 on my new project. It's an assignment. I don't think I would have written this as a spec for the very reasons this Act 1 has been so challenging. I have written about this many times: More challenging projects need to have corresponding higher payoffs. I want the risk-reward to fit. That is, if it's going to be very hard to write and pull off well, I want either...
A weekly screenwriting lesson from a professional screenwriter of 29 years who has been teaching the subject for almost as long.