John August

Transcribed

The Screenwriting Life: The Craft Lessons That Matter Most

Episode - 717

Play

Scriptnotes, Transcribed

In a Christmas crossover event, John and Craig join Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) and Lorien McKenna (Tab Time) on their podcast, The Screenwriting Life.

We talk about why rigid structure can miss the point, how theme emerges from character, what fear and denial really look like on the page, and how writers can survive rejection without letting it define them.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John breaks Drew’s heart with his lovely memories of Rob & Michele Reiner.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 1-2-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Personality Typologies

Scriptnotes, Transcribed

John and Craig welcome back screenwriter Mike Makowsky (Death by Lightning, Bad Education) to ask, how do you dramatize a historical event that no one’s heard of? They look at the dramatic engine behind the Garfield assassination, the long journey Death by Lightning had to getting made, and the importance of finding great stories in obscure history.

We investigate the peculiar habits and compulsions of our own writing practices, and see how personality typologies can help figure out what makes our characters tick. We also follow up on a certain orange book, breaking into Hollywood in your 30’s, and offer our thoughts on the impending sale of Warner Bros.

In our bonus segment for premium members, which TV shows had the best “coaching trees”? We marvel at the writers’ rooms that launched the most successful writers today.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 1-2-26: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

The Book Launch, Live!

Scriptnotes, Scriptnotes Book, Transcribed

John and Craig celebrate the release of the Scriptnotes Book with a sold-out show full of arguments, games and holiday cheer at Dynasty Typewriter in LA.

Slate’s Julia Turner returns to interview John and Craig about the fifteen year journey towards creating the book, and challenges Craig’s dismissal of critics. We also welcome back Ashley Nicole Black (Shrinking, Ted Lasso) to help us get through a fridgeful of leftover questions, and invite three lucky audience members to play our new game: “Somewhat strange lines from Christmas movies.”

In our bonus segment for premium members, we invite our audience to ask us questions in a live Q&A.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 12-10-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.

Three Page Challenge Live in Austin 2025

Scriptnotes, Three Page Challenge, Transcribed

John and Craig gather a congregation of writers in St. David’s Episcopal Church for a live round of the Three Page Challenge. They look at three listener-submitted scripts to offer them their honest feedback, face-to-face.

They offer suggestions on world building in the apocalypse, making military characters specific, building mystery and suspense, and crafting con-artist logic.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we answer questions from our audience on how to know if a script looks correct, what we want to see in the first three pages, using actor names in character descriptions, what comedy requires, and how to direct a reader’s attention on the page.

Links:

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

UPDATE 12-10-25: The transcript for this episode can be found here.