John joins Mike Birbiglia on his podcast Working It Out to share direct, practical screenwriting advice that you’ll actually use, whether you’re an aspiring screenwriter or you want to pursue creative work of any kind.
They explore John’s screenwriting process, from defining his expression “breaking the back of the script,” through the different forms of conflict and navigating the murky middle of the story. John shares the best writing advice he’s ever received, the screenplays everyone should read, what he appreciates in standup specials and why cool people aren’t funny. They also revisit the gains made on AI as a result of the writers strike.
Links:
* [Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out](https://www.birbigs.com/working-it-out-pod)
* [Watch this episode of Working It Out on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WC0brJwM8A)
* [See Mike Birbiglia Live](https://www.birbigs.com/)
* [The Old Man & the Pool](https://www.netflix.com/title/81665900) on Netflix
* [Scriptnotes, Ep 179: The Conflict Episode](https://johnaugust.com/2015/scriptnotes-ep-179-the-conflict-episode-transcript)
* [Aliens screenplay by James Cameron](https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/aliens-1986.pdf)
* [Sex, lies and videotape screenplay by Steven Soderbergh](https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/sex-lies-and-videotape-1992.pdf)
* [Miry’s List](https://miryslist.org/)
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* Craig Mazin on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@clmazin) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/)
* John August on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust)
* [John on Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* Working It Out is produced by Mike Birbiglia, Peter Salomone, Joseph Birbiglia and Mabel Lewis. Associate producer: Gary Simons. Consulting producer: Seth Barrish. Video consultant: Graham Willoughby.
* Special Thanks to Marissa Hurwitz, Josh Upfal, David Raphael, Nina Cwik, J. Hope Stein, and Oona. Music by Jack Antonoff and Bleachers
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/ScriptnotesWIO.mp3).