The more we know of the protagonist's expectations for the future, the more punch it will have when events shatter them. This is especially effective at the inciting incident. Your story can take it in either direction. From someone expecting nothing, to

The three cardinal sins of the outline phase for your screenwriting: 1. Impatience (I want to get to the fun stuff!) 2. Laziness (It's easier just to write it!) 3. Indecisiveness (I can't make a decision.) Do the work. You can’t tell a story if you don’t know what story

Big picture story structure: Act 1: I have a problem. Act 2A: I think I'll solve it. Act 2B: This is harder than I thought. Act 3: The sacrifice. Keep it simple. Great story structure is necessary, but it is just the framework. It's the scenes, characters, and surprising

After 28 years of screenwriting, this is my process before I outline: 1. Find the story. Who transforms and how? 2. Find the dramatic question. What do they want and why? 3. Scene generation. Does the CONCEPT generate great scenes? Do this, and I'm ready to outline anything.

Five quick ways to improve your screenwriting. 1. Let precise verbs do heavy lifting. 2. Use shorter paragraphs to better control the read. 3. Time to read = time it takes to happen on screen. 4. Be specific. Non-choices kill. 5. Emotion is more valuable than Information

A useful exercise for any scene in your screenwriting: Can a character have a different emotional reaction? One that is equally truthful -- perhaps even more so -- that catches us off guard. It's the surprises we remember. Making them truthful and satisfying is the challenge.

Most Common Mistakes In #ComicBooks Today - Stephen Stern buff.ly/4geLdvz #comics #books #authors

Sharing this A+ analysis on the Luka trade by the always insightful Christopher Kratovil Makes a ton of sense to me from the #txlege angle - esp considering Lite Patrick likely done next Session. Good stuff. Read it 👇🏼 #txlege #MFFL

“This is one of the biggest self-inflicted wounds in modern sports history.” nick wright reacts to Dallas sending Luka Doncic to the Lakers:

.nick wright makes such a good point here regarding Dirk and Luka. There’s a message being sent here by the only unimpeachable person adjacent to this saga that we have

For your deck: One sheet (image, title and tagline) Brief synopsis. Support with second fav one sheet image. Key characters. Dir. statement Concept art/influence images. Below the line attachments if you have some with strong credits. Bios. Thank you page.

Don't let Act 2 intimidate you. Break it up into pieces. Make these choices in your screenwriting: - What's the dramatic question out of Act 1? - What's the midpoint? - Who does the character become in Act 3? Know where you're going. Ask, "What needs to happen to get there?"

The “TV writer career path” as we knew it is over. Short rooms. Fewer episodes. Long gaps between seasons—if they come back at all. If you’re still waiting for the industry to bounce back to normal, it’s time to pivot. Some key takeaways from this must-read piece: -Staffing is

A consistent issue I see with comedy pilots is a lack of a driving want for the characters. Plenty of jokes, but no narrative momentum. All situation and no story. Comedy thrives on obstacles and bad choices. If characters don't care, we don't care. That starts with a want.

Subtext isn’t something you add to a scene. It's a result of emotional truth. You find it in your screenwriting by knowing what a character wants in a moment and their tactics in getting it. Or what they don't want and their desire to avoid it.

A protagonist that transforms is about the difference between what they think they want and them realizing what they really want. It's the difference between who they are in Act 1 and who they are in Act 3. You can't write a satisfying Act 2 until you know what that is.

Our movie, Matter of Time, premieres tomorrow at the Dallas International Film Festival, tomorrow! fox4news.com/video/1632129

When it comes to dialogue in your screenwriting, trust the reader. People breeze through dialogue. It's the easiest part. But when it comes to the action lines, trust absolutely no one. Assume they're distracted. Assume a baby is screaming. Assume you're the sixth script

If you're struggling with a character introduction in your screenwriting, focus on what's important. 1. What we need to know about the character in that moment. 2. How we feel about them. 3. The mood of the scene. Serve the story, be succinct, and better to evoke than describe.

If you're struggling with the subplots in your screenwriting, structure them out just like the main storyline. The more important the subplot, the more of those story points you will see. - Ordinary world. - Inciting incident. - Dramatic question. - Midpoint. - Lowpoint. - The