What to do when you are, as all writers are at some time or another, blocked? The screenplay, the sequence, or even just a given important scene just won't come. Are there tricks to employ to get yourself started again? Here are a couple of thoughts that might help jump start your scene. Think about [...]
If you work on more than one computer and need to synchronize the contents of your working folders, you should check out Windows Live Mesh. It works on Windows 7 and Mac OS/X 1.5. The info page is here: Windows Live Mesh. It requires you have (or get) a free Windows Live ID. But it's [...]
There's a particular kind of dialogue that almost always reads as false, that always sounds as if the writer ran out of steam. It's sometimes called Asked and Answered. Or Asked to Answer. Or Prompting Dialogue. I like to call it Eliciting Dialogue. It's a line of dialogue whose sole purpose is to elicit a [...]
Writers are sometimes lumped into one of two categories: the story-teller and the stylist. As if they were separate skills. In fact they are two sides of the same coin. There are no novels completely devoid of style, and none empty of story (even if only the one the reader creates). What is the relation [...]
It's one of those phrases you hear and think you know what it means. Something about simplicity. This definition crossed my screen via A.Word.A.Day and I thought it nice and succinct. Ockham's razor states that "entities should not be multiplied needlessly". It's also called the principle of parsimony. It's the idea that other things being [...]
I read a lot of screenplays. Granted, most of them are works in progress or student work. But all of them — without exception — are sloppily presented. The errors range from simple typos that the computer spell-check did not catch (its for it's and there for their) to mismatched character names or repeated chunks [...]
A mistake often made by young screenwriters, especially those who plan on directing the screenplay themselves, is over-specifying action. Here's a bad example: GLADYS I need you to listen. Frank turns away. FRANK Not a chance. Gladys is near tears. GLADYS Please. I need. I do. Frank stands and walks away. Only one of the [...]
Documents to Go — a very cool app that allows you to edit and create documents on your iPhone. It has a desktop module that makes syncing with a given folder(s) very simple. Allows you to use the iPhone as a backup device. Highly recommended. 4.99. Well worth it. All of the eReaders — Stanza, [...]
Do you have two computers? Do you want to back up your working documents from one to the other without thinking about it? You should check out Windows Live Sync. This is a very clever and simple application that allows you to specify a folder on one computer to sync over the internet to another [...]
Nobody likes to be pushed around. Well. Almost nobody. And as in life, so with literature. We are always more engaged in a story when we feel pulled along rather than pushed forward. Drawn into the flow of event and language rather than lectured and led. Isn't that the deeper meaning of the film writing [...]
