From the category archives:

Screenwriting

How to direct your script without camera angles

November 9, 2009

As screenwriters, we're constantly told to "think in film" — to imagine each scene unfolding in our mind as if it's being played out on the big screen. To complicate that sagely advice, we're also told not to use camera angles or shot descriptions in our scripts.
So what can you do?
Simple: skip the camera directions [...]

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Generating creative story ideas

November 3, 2009

At one time or another, every writer searches her heart and mind for a great story idea and comes up short. The muse is silent. The motivation is gone. The driving force that compels her to write just isn't there.
At this point, the writer has two options. One: wallow in self-pity, bemoan the situation and [...]

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Having the discipline to write every day

May 20, 2009

Every writer has her own style and approaches writing differently. Some write in an office while others write at the corner coffee shop. Some have time to write non-stop for hours each day, while others can squeeze in only an hour here and there. Some have a strict routine while others take up their pen [...]

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Don't Let These Problems Ruin Your Screenplay

April 30, 2009

Writing visually is not only about crafting words that flow smoothly and evoke vivid imagery. It is also about not including words that detract from that imagery or interrupt the flow. The screenwriter's goal is to create a script in which the writing flows so smoothly the reader becomes part of the story, watching it [...]

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Using White Space to Hold a Reader's Attention

March 4, 2009

Resisting the urge to include extensive detail when writing a screenplay as you would when writing a novel is a difficult challenge for a screenwriter to overcome. Most writers who choose the screenwriting field do so because they think in film — they imagine their stories unfolding shot by shot, scene by scene, image by [...]

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Five Ways to Turn Off a Hollywood Script Reader

February 23, 2009

You may have written the most riveting piece of dramatic work in existence to date. Your dialogue may be perfect. Your characters may seem so real they beg to jump right off the page. Your story may rival those of Oscar-winning screenplays. It might even be so good as to put those stories to shame, [...]

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