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11 Writing Quotes You Should Take Notice Of (Part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 2 in a series on Writing Quotes.6) A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order. ~ Jean-Luc GodardNon-linear storytelling is a difficult technique to pull off and it varies greatly. From Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which starts at an event and the rolls f...
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11 Writing Quotes You Should Take Notice Of (Part 1)

This entry is part 1 of 2 in a series on Writing Quotes.By the time any writer becomes successful, they’ve typically gathered a war chest worth of things not to do. If one is doing it right, you’re writing, reading, listening, and learning a ton of how to and not to write.Let’s see what lessons successful writers have learned.1)...
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Are Your Scenes Boring? 8 Ways To Change That

  • Staff Writer
  • .November 6, 2024
Nothing makes a reader’s mind wander faster than a boring scene which makes them lose interest in your screenplay and scroll or flip through your pages without actively reading or engaging with them. Here are some creative ways to identify and even rectify that:1) Character StereotypesThe characters are a carbon copy of what aud...
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The Truth About Contests and Education

Max Timm and The Story Farm offer all of his Substack content to ISA members for free, but a week or more after the original post was sent. If you would like to receive his most up to date Substack posts, as well as participate in a community of writers through his subscription and the Substack app, you can do so by going here, ...
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Screenwriters Alfred Gough & Miles Millar Talk “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”

  • Staff Writer
  • .October 16, 2024
Beetlejuice was a playful foray into horror comedy in 1998 depicting the gentrification of family neighborhood Winter River with left-field visionary director Tim Burton at the helm. A follow up film was discussed for over three decades since Michael Keaton first exclaimed “It’s Showtime” as his iconic Betelgeuse character.After...
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Follow Your Inner Compass

  • Brock Swinson
  • .September 30, 2024
“Follow Your Inner Compass” Richard Tanne on ‘Chemical Hearts’ & ‘Southside With You’:“I’m one of those lifelong film geeks,” joked writer/director Richard Tanne. “I was one of those kids with a lot of creative energy, but didn’t know it at the time, so I channeled it through misbehaving.” Tanne’s parents worked out a system wit...
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Understanding the First Half of Your 2nd Act

Understanding the First Half of Your 2nd Act with Some Help from Harry and Sally:Sequence 5: Let’s Get Into ItYou’re rumbling along on a road trip with your girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, or partner. Let’s just set that stage for a second. You’ve been on the road for a few hours. The high and excitement of hitting the open road ...
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Write Worlds And Characters Actors Want To Play

  • Pen Densham
  • .August 26, 2024
I am convinced that actors with creative intelligence want to play roles that challenge, expand, and refresh their artistic instincts. They want to get involved with films that get noted for Oscar consideration. It’s the job of the screenwriter to create worlds and character roles actors want to play.When stars commit to a movie...
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How to Adapt a Script Into a Novel - Part 2

Jumping back into the two-parter about not only how to approach adapting your script into a book, but also why. What is the why? As a little recap - this industry is HARD…when you don’t have a built-in audience. A book - your own IP (intellectual property) can help you create a fan base and therefor help you get noticed.Isn’t ge...
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How to Adapt Your Script into a Novel - Part 1

As you already know, the first 14 Substacks I’ve posted dealt primarily in the breakdown of the structure of a story. I peppered in a few motivating chapters that hopefully fed your momentum as you plowed through. Now is when we get into a much more broad set of topics. This is, in the end, the crux of the screenwriting world. T...
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There’s both light and dark.. there’s a lot of dark

  • Annabel Jones
  • .August 11, 2024
'There’s both light and dark.. there’s a lot of dark!' - Black MirrorCharlie Brooker & Annabel Jones on screenwriting levers, satire, and why checking your phone is like smoking. Plus great practical advice for writers! Black Mirror. The term refers to the dark, shadowy image you see of yourself while staring at the unlit screen...
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Story is Story

  • Brianne Hogan
  • .July 13, 2024
Story is Story - Art Holcomb on Screenwriting:When Art Holcomb was eight years old, his maternal grandmother, a poet, gave him a blank book. It was to encourage him to write out his feelings. She also shared with him books by the greats, like Shakespeare and Cummings. By the time he watched A Midsummer Night’s Dream at ten, he w...
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The Psychology Of Creativity For Screenwriters

Screenwriters, and all creatives for that matter, frequently grapple with the constant and tiring task of – creating. We have all suffered from writers’ block, a lack of inspiration and motivation, or a paucity of good ideas at some point in our careers. Self-flagellation and self-doubt don’t help. They cause stress and anxiety ...
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What Are Your Real Chances of Success

Writers know it’s not easy to launch and sustain a career. The odds aren’t necessarily stacked in your favor. But what exactly are your chances of making it?  The answer might surprise you.The first thing we need to know is the size of the competition.  If we were to ask how many people want to be professional screenwriters or T...
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Films Should Be Events

  • William Rosenfeld
  • .May 21, 2024
“Films Should Be Events” Says Producer William Rosenfeld From Such Content - William Rosenfeld is an independent producer at Such Content who’s referred to himself as “a recovering writer.” He’s been involved in the production of films like Crisis starring Gary Oldman and Mudbound starring Jason Mitchell. He co-founded the compa...
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5 Techniques To Make Your Scenes Pop

What I know about scenes from years of writing and teaching scriptwriting is a lot. I’ve written hundreds of scripts, both produced and unproduced, and I’ve been teaching this stuff for 25 years and counting.But what I don’t know about scenes is at least as much as I do.Scenes are perceived to be simple in that they are there to...
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Pixar's Rules Of Storytelling

Rule #1: You admire a character more for trying than for their successes.Rule #2: You’ve got to keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience. Not what’s fun to do as a writer. The two can be very different.Rule #3: Trying for theme is important. However you won’t see what the story is about until you’re at the end of th...
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What Are We Really Selling?

Early in my career, I learned one of the shrewdest questions an entrepreneur can ask themselves, "What are we really selling?" For example:  You are not selling grass seed. You are selling a greener lawn.You are not selling boilers. You are selling warmer, cozier winter nights at a 27% fuel savings.You are not selling baseball t...
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Awaken Creativity

  • Nicole Bianchi
  • .March 18, 2024
The Simple Strategy Famous Writers Use to Awaken Creativity:A story idea suddenly appears in your head with a complete beginning, middle, and end. You sit down to write, and the words flow freely. It’s as if the story is typing itself.How often do you experience that kind of burst of incredible inspiration?I’m guessing that prob...
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Stories are Trances

  • Brianne Hogan
  • .March 4, 2024
According to Steven Barnes, screenplays and stories are “like conversations with friends you have yet to meet,” which is a comforting thought to the lonely writer holed up in their apartment, banging out words.A screenwriter and sci-fi novelist himself, Barnes always wanted to be a writer.“I always told stories,” he says. At fir...

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