GPTZero is a new service created by Edward Tian designed to sniff out AI-generated text. I’m dubious, in part because I’m not sure I could reliably spot the differences between sentences assembled by humans versus machines. But maybe that’s just my human bias. As an experiment, I decided to run a quick, not-at-all-scientific test. I […]
Writing Process
The One with Eric Roth
Episode - 475
John welcomes legendary screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, A Star is Born, Dune) to discuss his writing practice and how he gets in the head of his characters. We answer audience questions on how to trust your voice and approach adaptations. Finally, in our bonus segment for premium members John and Craig discuss election night […]
Scriptnotes, ep 388: The Clown Stays in the Picture
The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. And this is Episode 388 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Craig is off in London working on Chernobyl, but luckily I have Matt Selman here to fill […]
My writing setup, 2019
Surprisingly little has changed since the last update three years ago.
Plot Holes
John and Craig dive into plot holes: why they happen, how to fix them, why not to fix them, and how to turn them into opportunities.
We also respond to listener questions on outlining, servicing many storylines, and what screenwriting challenges go under-appreciated.
Professional Realism
John welcomes Derek Haas (Chicago Fire, 3:10 to Yuma, 2 Fast 2 Furious) to talk about writing accurate portrayals of different jobs, and when to sacrifice reality for storytelling. They also share their time-management strategies in honor of those New Year resolutions to get writing done.