I've read new writers should keep a LIST of story ideas.

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I think I said in an online discussion group, that ONE completed script is just not enough.

One of the things I strongly encourage my students to do BEFORE they try to sell a completed script is to have more than one completed. I always urge my students to create a portfolio of their scripts - just like an artist wouldn't have only ONE PAINTING to sell. They'd have several.... to show they were serious about their work. The same principal applies to screenwriting.

So, to further this idea - one of the first things you can do before you start writing any script is to start making notes of story ideas that appeal to you! Have a little notebook or a file folder for keeping these ideas - just toss them in and let them accumulate. Soon you will start finding stories everywhere!! This practice trains your brain to SEE the story in nearly anything.... and that's what you want.

Start that process of collecting ideas today and continue it while you’re working on your current script. You’ll find this is a nifty way to defuse your brain’s built in propensity to get you to ‘switch tracks’ right in the middle of a project. It’s a similar process to keeping a script journal while you write. Every time your LEFT brain nags you about a FIX it wants to take time to do - you write it down. Your left brain is acknowledged, so your RIGHT brain can continue to be creative!

Once you’ve completed your current script; make some notes in your journal about what you want to FIX and set it aside. Now’s the time to wade through those story ideas you’ve been setting aside. Choose one and start to flesh it out. By the time you have 2 or 3 scripts written for your portfolio you can slow the writing process down to outlining the story and then creating a 5 or 10 page treatment for several others. NOW, you’re ready to begin to market your first script. The most chilling producer comment in the world isn’t NO; it’s what ELSE have you got! Especially, if you ain’t got nuttin else!


I hope that helps. And I wish you luck with your screenplay. Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

Experienced writers often tell you to write what you KNOW...

Write what you know is probably the oldest piece of advice there is for aspiring writers. But just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s BAD… or necessarily good, either. It all depends on your interpretation! Here’s my take on what it means.

Writing what you know doesn’t mean that if you're a janitor at night to pay the bills while you learn the craft of writing - that you only ever get to write movies about janitors. The way I interpret the phrase ‘write what you know’ regards what you KNOW is emotionally honest or true.

Screenplays are driven by the ups and downs of the main characters quest. The ups and downs refer to both the storyline (or action) but also your heroine/hero’s emotions. And this is where many new writers come up short. They often side-step tackling the really BIG EMOTIONS that naturally ensue in a really dramatic incident. Oh sure, we see death scenes, sex scenes, pillage scenes, car chases & maiming from car chases - but what we don’t see is REAL, GENUINE heart-felt emotions that arise from these events.

Often, the new writer doesn’t show us the ‘fallout’ from these big events in our hero’s life - WHEN it’s exactly that exploration of emotional subtext that makes film REAL to us the audience. It’s that bond of shared emotional experience that connects us to the heroine/hero in the end. So, ‘write what you know’ means write from a place of emotional honesty. Either take the risk to write from your very own place of emotional experience or take the time to understand and EMPATHIZE with someone who has lived the experience you are going to write about.

LIVE it, (the emotion you’re writing about)- FEEL it if you’re hoping to write it and ultimately convince an audience to believe it... and then WRITE it! We all have a 6th sense concerning emotional honesty… discover yours, and write from that place for really compelling screenplays. That’s my take on what the phrase - 'write what you know' is really advocating to new and aspiring writers.

I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your screenplay - let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

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Do you advise students to keep an 'IDEAS DIARY' ?

I think what you’re referring to was said in an online discussion group.

A second really common bit of advice for any creative person is to have an ‘Ideas Diary’. This can be as simple as a tiny spiral notebook that fits in your pocket or backpack or can sit by your bedside or your computer. Most likely you’ll find that you ‘hatch’ great story ideas at the oddest moments; just before sleep hits you is fairly common.

And one of the other most common occurrences is, just as you are sitting down to really tackle a tough piece of writing, you decide housework is absolutely critical at this moment in time! Human beings are escape artists at heart It takes discipline to put yourself in front of the computer every day that you’re scheduled to write and ‘make’ it happen on the page. Far easier to simply play the story (any story) in your head, scrolling through the action but never really writing it down. It is acquiring this discipline that makes writing hard. Everyone has great movie ideas but very few people take the time to develope the discipline to transform those ideas onto the page.

And that’s where the LIST comes into play. Often, fantastic story ideas come out of that desire NOT to be nailed down to a schedule. USE THAT; in fact learn to use all the tricks your mind will play on you to your advantage. Do take five minutes (not five hours) recording this NEW , great idea in your story diary. But DON’T GET SIDE-TRACKED from your current goal; FINISHING YOUR FIRST DRAFT.

Remember, that is the only one rule in beginning that first draft screenplay; FINISH IT. Everything else is probably fixable in a rewrite. But you really can’t fix, what isn’t on the page. So record all the new story ideas that will come your way, while you’re acquiring the discipline to finish that first great story idea that got you started! For more SCREENWRITING TIPS.... FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Check out this VIDEO TIP HOT LINK below

I hope that helps. And I wish you luck with your screenplay. Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

I've started so MANY screenplays - but can never get to the END!

Writing screenplays is one of the easiest jobs you’ll ever do; and one of the HARDEST. It’s easy, because you get fired up by this fantastic idea that you know will be killer on the screen, and that enthusiasm makes you just jump right in and start typing.

And it’s hard because you run out of that ‘start up’ energy often long before you get to those famous words - The End. That ‘sticking point’ is the exact spot where real writers show their mettle. But they don’t survive on pure grit alone; real writers have a whole arsenal of tricks up their sleeve. The most important tool they use - is PLANNING.

Sounds kind of mundane, doesn’t it? Planning - like birth control; can’t we just ‘be’ in the moment and jump into this thing, honey? We can… and many do. I don’t any more after many, many late nights staring at a script I HAD LOVED six months before and now loathed because I couldn’t seem to tinker away all its flaws. Screenwriting has taught me patience and control.

I urge all of my students to create a number of tools while the novelty of their movie idea still has them panting to write. It’s then, when you’re desperate to get at your computer and type, that you really should rein in your enthusiasm and answer some really important questions.

Like: Who’s you main character? What is it they want? What gets in their way of acquiring/ or achieving this goal? How badly do they want what they seek? Who are the important people in their life and how do those relationships complicate their quest. Take these questions and create a logline, a 5 page treatment and a working title and you’re on your way. Throw in the opening and closing scenes for your three acts and you should be ready for any thing!

Once you’ve got this material firmly in hand, you’re ready to unleash the hounds and hit the keyboard running. With planning, and careful conservation of that ‘start up’ energy you may find yourself at ‘The End’ before you know it!

I hope this helps. And I wish you luck with your screenplay. Let me know when you’ve completed your script; I’d love to read your work!

How can I CREATE characters that are radically different than ME?

Your question strikes at the very heart of the writing experience.... 
do we only ever write ourselves into our creations or do we 
consciously choose an alternative route and try to write something 
other than ourselves and our own experience?

Now, many people will 
argue that no matter how hard you try to write outside yourself.... 
YOU are in every single piece you write. And I sincerely hope so... 
it is your creative energy that makes a piece/or character 'live' and 
breathe on it's own.

BUT to answer (or attempt to) your question. Whether you actively 
choose to write characters (& I think we're referring to main 
characters here) whose emotional 'toolbox' or psychological makeup is 
radically different than yours is really immaterial. You may write incredibly intense but self- contained characters that really 
challenge actors to dig deep to express ALL these characters ARE with 
just a few small gestures - because that's who you are. OR you may 
study minutely the mannerisms of people you meet that are LIKE the character you 
want to create.... and bring life to a character on the page that 
mirrors those mannerisms - even though they are not your own.

You don't have to be a wildly emotional person to create that kind of 
character on the page. But your characters' emotions need to come from 
a REAL place inside of you that allows you to project all of the 
nuances of that person. So you make a study of people you meet that 
are like your character...and build on that - starting first and 
foremost with actual emotions - love, hate, anger, jealousy. But I 
want to reiterate - wildly emotional or intensely withheld doesn't 
matter.... write what suits the character and the STORY you're creating.

And if you choose to focus on a particular 'type' of character.... and 
you create a series of films about people who are bright, articulate 
and very considered with their emotional displays.... actors & 
audiences will still love them IF they are well drawn and bring us 
stories that illuminate for us something of our own lives.

I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your screenplay . I’d love to read your work at Wordsmythe.ca

How do I make a character, who's kind of shy, show his emotions?

Writing really is the study of human beings and how they express 
themselves. Every opportunity you can - EXAMINE (like a being from 
another world) how the humans that surround you express the vast array 
of emotions that color our daily lives.

You’re right, some people are withheld - 
the merest lift of an eyebrow says volumes about what's going on in 
their heads. Other are like fireworks displays - about everything; 
love, hate, happiness, boredom it all gets colored with some 
incredible display of emotion. The films that affect us the most are 
the films where the writer has created a VISUAL language that relays 
even the tiniest detail of a characters INNER landscape (emotional 
landscape) to us, the audience.

So, give some thought to the multitude of NON VERBAL bits of 
communication that are peppered throughout your day... your child 
opens it's arms wide for a hug when you come home; but doesn't SAY 
anything. Your boss merely crooks a finger in your direction and 
disappears into her office. You know you've been summoned. At a chai 
shop, a handsome fellow merely meets your eyes over the lip of his 
cup, which mostly hides his smile of acknowledgment.... you TELL ME 
what that means!!

Start cataloging in your mind the various ways people SHOW 
us every day what they're thinking... instead of using words. Do this for a 
month and you will be on your way to understanding one of the key 
elements of screenwriting. Show - don't TELL what the characters are 
thinking.

I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your screenplay . Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

Writing, and espcially SCRENNWRITNG is all about making choices!

CHAPTER ONE of the Screenwriting Essentials Online Tutorial & workbook discuss STORY CONCEPT and idea.

From the very first IMAGE you see on the screen you are telling your audience what to expect in this visual journey they are about to embark upon with you. That first image is the first step on the journey. I always say that writing is about choices and your choices for telling your story start with that very first image. Make sure you're clear about what you're saying.

Every artist faces a similar decision making process whether it’s a oil painter, a photographer or you the screenwriter. Visually speaking, you compose each scene - you choose the location (what does it say) to the viewer? You choose the apparel of each actor (to some extent - what does that say?) You choose the WORDS they speak. What is going on beneath the words that actually come out of the actors mouth? Are they saying ‘I LOVE YOU, I love you... while they shower each other with trash from a nearby garbage can?

Now that doesn’t mean that you become a ‘control freak’ as a writer. You leave many, many choices to the director and the actor and the set designer and the locations manager. BUT, WHEN IT”S IMPORTANT to our understanding of the story or the emotional landscape of the heroine/hero you create concrete details in your cinematic story choices that make that clear.

There is a power and a responsibility in every story choice you make as a writer. With proper planning - you can learn to revel in the choosing - not be frozen in place - unable to act; or stymied with indecision.


I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your screenplay. Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

You always hear more experienced writers saying you should 'write what you know'.... what does that mean?

Write what you know is probably the oldest piece of advice there is for aspiring writers. But just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s BAD… or necessarily good either. Here’s my take on what it means.

Writing what you know doesn’t mean that if you janitor at night to pay the bills while you learn the craft of writing that you only ever get to write movies about janitors. What I do believe ‘writing what you know’ refers to is what you 'know' emotionally.

Screenplays are driven by the ups and downs of the main characters quest. The ups and downs refer to both the storyline (or action) but also your heroine/hero’s emotions. And this is where many new writers come up short. They often side-step tackling the really BIG EMOTIONS. Oh sure, we see death scenes, sex scenes, pillage scenes, car chases & death from car chases - but what we don’t see is REAL, GENUINE heart-felt emotions that arise from these events.

Often, the new writer doesn’t show us the ‘FALLOUT’ from these events in our hero’s life. And yet, it’s exactly that exploration of emotional subtext that makes film REAL to us the audience. It’s that bond of shared emotional experience that connects us to the heroine/hero in the end. So, ‘write what you know’ means write from a place of emotional honesty. Either take the risk to write from your very own place of emotional experience. Or take the time to understand and EMPATHIZE with someone who has lived the experience you are going to write about.

LIVE it, (the emotion you’re writing about); FEEL it if you’re hoping to write it and ultimately convince an audience to believe it and then WRITE it. We all have a 6th sense concerning emotional honesty… discover yours, and write from that place for compelling screenplays. That’s my take on what the phrase - write what you know - is really advocating to new writers.

I hope this helps. And I wish you luck with your screenplay - let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

Recently I particiapted in a 'cold reading' night and my script was critiqued by the resident judging panel.

The overall verdict was that I was a smart writer and the script had real promise but no heart. What does that mean?

First of all, congratulations are in order. #1 - You finished a script. #2 - You risked submitting it to a ‘cold read’. Wow, that’s fabulous.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a COLD READING is a gathering where a group of actors meet, are handed a script and within about 30 minutes start acting it out. Often, it’s just the opening act (or first 30 pages) of a feature script that’s read. And it’s one of the scariest rides on the planet and one of the most exhilarating! Hearing your words in an actors’ mouth is one of the BEST WAYS to gauge the effectiveness of your dialogue and pacing of your writing.

And as you found out, a cold reading can also reveal some of the weaknesses of your script that might have slipped by some of your other critiques. From the comments you received it sounds as if you were shanghaied by the LEFT side of your brain. As many of you know, who follow this screenwriting blog, I believe any really good story is a balancing act of RIGHT brain creativity and LEFT brain structure.

Really well-plotted thrillers and heist movies delight us with the mastery of the turns and twists of their plot. (LEFT BRAIN). But if they contain heart-wrenching scenes of loss or betrayal those deeply rooted emotional stories come from the RIGHT BRAIN. Right brain function is all about universality. (Jill Bolte Taylor’s fabulous, fabulous recorded TED talk - http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html ) gives a beautiful and passionate explanation of the relationship between the two brain hemispheres and creativity.

What’s probably missing in your piece is that moment (s) where the camera focuses on the protagonist and we get to SEE their pain/reaction/emotional response. We need emotional connection to the main character to actually care enough to plow through their story with them. EARLY on in your script give us an emotional LINK to your hero/heroine and then reinforce it several times throughout the story. Those emotional ties will keep us cheering your character on until the bitter or sweet finale of the film.

I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your rewrite. Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

I ALWAYS get side-lined fixing stuff; and never seem to finish a script!

I took a screenwriting class with a buddy and while he just kind of plowed through his first draft I got kind of side-lined by fixing stuff. I still haven’t finished and he’s on to his second script. What gives… am I just slow?

Writing is one of the strangest undertakings. We are seduced by a story idea in our head and practically driven crazy until we succumb and begin to put it on paper.

And then, the real torture begins. We write a scene or two, or even a whole first act. And then inevitably we begin to second guess ourselves as we soldier on through the next tough scene sequence. The main characters name isn’t strong enough. The villain isn’t evil enough. The opening scene isn’t fresh enough. The scene transitions aren’t transity enough; and so on, and so on, and so on.

Some of these comments are quite accurate. Your main character does have a dumb name at the moment. And maybe those scene transitions really do need work. But guess what - NOT NOW. Your only job in the FIRST DRAFT is to FINISH. Repeat this to yourself over and over again when that little inner CRITIC would have you go back and putter with the first act. Resist the temptation and keep moving forward; that’s the only way to finish your first draft... Never look back!

But, don’t lock up that inner critic and throw away the key. Just throw him or her a bone. One of the best gimmicks you can implement for yourself is to station a clipboard and pen next to your computer. EVERY SINGLE TIME your inner critic even whispers a suggestion - mollify her by writing it down on the clipboard right next to the keyboard. VOILA! your inner critic ‘feels’ heard…and then deigns to leave you alone for a while so you can actually write. AND, in addition to finishing your script - you also wind up with a dandy blueprint for your first REWRITE by the time you type, The End.

I hope this helps. And I do wish you luck with your screenplay - and let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

What's so special about WRITERS. I hear great stories everyday at my local coffee house!

Well, maybe I’m the wrong person to ask why writers are so special! I mean, I am biased…

And you’re right, I bet you DO hear fabulous stories every day at your coffee house. I mean we all do, don’t we. We both tell great stories to our friends and listen raptly as they tell stories back to us. It’s so cool, that process. But writers take the process one step further and WRITE it down and polish the telling of it.

And if you believe the Aborigines of Australia we’ve been doing this as human beings for probably 100,000 years. I tell my students that human beings have story telling practically hard-wired into their DNA. And this is a really important point for every writer on the planet to remember.

That story telling hard-wiring means that your audience inherently knows a good story from a BAD ONE - it’s in their genetic coding. So don’t try to bullshit your audience with a half-baked piece of storytelling pie that none of them will buy. They’re too smart to be bamboozled. They may not have $2 words to tell you why a story isn’t compelling; but their story radar spots a fake just as easily as… well, you would!

At the same time, don’t be discouraged at this news. Just recognize that IF your audience comes equipped with this fantastic array of biological story detectors - SO DO YOU. Where writers get into trouble is when they get lazy. Their bio detector is telling them what they just wrote is crap - and they waffle about fixing it. It’ll DO. I can pass it off. NO ONE will notice… NOT! Everyone will notice. IF you’re radar is telling you it needs fixing - FIX IT. (after you’ve completed the first draft, mind you!). Don’t whimp out on us, give us a story that really FRYS all that built in radar. That’s what we really want in movies is stories that make us sit up and take notice; stories that surprise us!

I hope that helps! And I wish you luck with your screenplay. Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!

GENRE whets the story appetite of your audience. Know it and use it effectively!

I always say that GENRE is like the smell of good food cooking. It sets you up for the story adventure that lies ahead. It gets your audience in the mood. It’s the appetizer that tempts their palate.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, GENRE is the way we categorize stories - like mystery, action-adventure, drama, comedy, buddy films. I could go on and on - but I think you probably get the picture.

Genre is important for marketing purposes. What’s the first thing you ask when a friend calls you up and says, ‘Do you want to go see XYZ movie?” You say, “What IS it?” You might not use the word, genre…. But that’s what you mean. From your film-going experience you already know what genres you prefer to see. Maybe action-adventure, or comedies but man, never westerns. See what I mean?

The thing about genre is that is more than mere categorization though. It is the process by which we begin the storytelling journey. And it’s important to understand for a number of different reasons. First of all, IF a film is billed in a particular genre - say Comedy. The audience is going to expect to LAUGH. A western? They expect cowboys! So as a writer, you need to be aware of what expectations an audience will have for the particular genre of film you are WRITING.

So what genre ARE you writing with your film? Family drama, biographical drama, or something else? The first thing you need to do then is identify your genre and then WATCH a number of different films from the same genre to begin to figure out what the signifiers are for it. Really watch several good films from your chosen genre and note what elements give your particular genre its’ shape. And then make certain those types of elements are included in your own storyline.

Genre signifiers are like a road map for your audience or highway signs that they can subconsciously check off and say, “Oh, okay. I know where were going.”

I hope this helps. And good luck with your writing. I can’t wait to read the result!

How do I make a character, who’s kind of reclusive, show his emotions?

Writing really is the study of human beings and how they express 
themselves. Every opportunity you can - EXAMINE (like a being from 
another world) how the humans that surround you express the vast array 
of emotions that color our daily lives.

You’re right, some people are withheld - 
the merest lift of an eyebrow says volumes about what's going on in 
their heads. Other are like fireworks displays - about everything; 
love, hate, happiness, boredom it all gets colored with some 
incredible display of emotion. The films that affect us the most are 
the films where the writer has created a VISUAL language that relays 
even the tiniest detail of a characters INNER landscape (emotional 
landscape) to us, the audience.

So, give some thought to the multitude of NON VERBAL bits of 
communication that are peppered throughout your day... your child 
opens it's arms wide for a hug when you come home; but doesn't SAY 
anything. Your boss merely crooks a finger in your direction and 
disappears into her office. You know you've been summoned. At a chai 
shop, a handsome fellow merely meets your eyes over the lip of his 
cup, which mostly hides his smile of acknowledgment... you TELL ME 
what that means!!

Start cataloging in your mind the various ways people SHOW 
us every day what they're thinking.... instead of using words. Do this for a 
month and you will be on your way to understanding one of the key 
elements of screenwriting. Show - don't TELL what the characters are 
thinking.

I hope this helps. I do wish you luck with your screenplay . Let me know when you’ve completed your script. I’d love to read your work!