Archive for the 'How-To' Category
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Merlin Mann on getting creative stuff done
Helpful audioclip from productivity guy Merlin Mann.
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Writing better scene openings
A scriptcast on how to begin a scene for more impact.
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Video from Rancho Mirage Q&A
Synthian Sharp taped my Q&A in Rancho Mirage, and has it available on Vimeo.
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Writing better action
A new screencast (scriptcast?) on writing action beats.
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Writing better scene description
A YouTube lesson on making more-readable scene description.
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Money 101 for screenwriters
Read this before you cash that first check.
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How to handle a phone meeting
A play by play of how it should go down.
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How to cut pages
Just as important, what NOT to do when trying to cut length. Don’t cheat.
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How not to choose a movie title
I’ve written about the importance of a good title before. A great script with a crappy title faces an uphill battle. That’s why I always make sure I have a title I like before I type “FADE IN,” even if I later change my mind.1
So yes, I’d pay for a great title. Today’s LA [...]
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How to Meet
Moment by moment; what to expect and how to behave in meetings.
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How to explain quantum mechanics
Answering the tricky questions elegantly, so your audience can remain focussed on the story.
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Title page trouble with Final Draft .pdfs
Reader Josh C wrote in with one solution to a problem that’s been frustrating me for months. When you want to save a script as a .pdf, Final Draft won’t always include the title page. It’s frustratingly inconsistent. The obvious workaround is to save the title page as a separate file, which is [...]
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The perils of coincidence
The big villain in Spider-Man 3 was a plague of coincidence. Here’s how they could have avoided it.
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How to introduce a character
One of the most difficult and important lessons to learn. Here’s some great examples and helpful guidance.
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TV in movies
Some rules to using TV for exposition in screenplays.
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