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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How to Create Realistic Characters With Depth

May 5, 2009

Clustering is a simple brainstorming method you can use in a variety of ways. Its biggest benefit is that it helps you push past your analytical mind and reach into your subconscious mind for ideas that resonate on a deeper level. A single clustering session can produce dozens of great ideas.
In The New Diary, where [...]

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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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Six Techniques to Help Writers Overcome Procrastination

April 2, 2009

I've come to the conclusion I truly deserve to be crowned Queen of Procrastination. Procrastination is a big kingdom — especially with so many writers taking up residence there so often — so Queen of Procrastination is a title one would expect me to be proud of, yet somehow I don't feel quite as proud [...]

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Flawed Characters and Why We Love Them

March 23, 2009

I have an addiction. I've tried to overcome it, but my efforts have been met with an amazing level of resistance. My body fights me. My mind fights me. I often wonder if I'll be addicted to this stuff forever. So many times I've tried and failed to quit, by this point it is hardly [...]

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The Unnecessary "That"

March 10, 2009

While working as a freelance script consultant, it was my job to help writers raise the quality of their writing to the highest level attainable. In the course of any given day, I came across a problem appearing in each of the scripts crossing my desk, and I have since noticed the same problem cropping [...]

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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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