Resources

As Scriptnotes approaches its 300th episode, we keep adding new listeners who want to find the best episodes in the back catalog.

When asked for our recommendations, Craig and I are often stumped. Do we send them to the craft episodes, the live shows, the industry talk, the interviews with other screenwriters? There’s no right answer.

You can already search the transcripts for relevant terms, but to do that, you have to know what you’re looking for. What we’d really like to offer is a standalone guide with synopses and reviews pointing new listeners to the can’t-miss episodes.

A “scriptdex” of sorts, but without such an awkward title.

So we’re enlisting the help of listeners to build it.

We’ve set up this page for listeners to leave their review of any episode, indicating who it’s great for, and why it’s notable. In the past week, we’ve had more than 60 reviews come in.

Here are two examples:

152: The Rocky Shoals (pages 70-90)
Recommended for: Absolute beginners
Why this episode: There’s some great meat-and-potatoes discussion of craft in this episode. And as a woman, I found both Aline’s presence on the show, and her comments on how women should think of mentor-seeking in this industry, to be encouraging and freeing.
— Bekah Baldwin

73: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Recommended for: Absolute beginners, Seasoned vets, Non-screenwriters, Fans of craft episodes
Why this episode: Perfect gateway episode to Scriptnotes! A deep dive into a finely crafted script that became an iconic movie, into which fans can dive even deeper thanks to the link to transcripts of working sessions with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Lawrence Kasdan.
— Delories Dunn

Listeners are encouraged to recommend as many episodes as they wish.

We don’t know what the final product will be. It might be a book, or an ebook, or a searchable index. But whatever form it takes, we think it will be incredibly helpful to new listeners as they dive in.

Thanks to everyone who has already contributed. If you have favorite episodes, please consider letting us know.

When we launched Screenwriting.io two years ago, we called it a beta, because it was just barely useful.

But in the past 24 months, it has grown a lot. The site now features more than 100 short articles answering basic questions about screenwriting. Each week, we get thousands of visitors.

So today we’re shedding the beta label.

Screenwriting.io is aimed at simple questions like:

→ What is the difference between a script, a screenplay, and a teleplay?

→ Why is the last “w” of WGAw lowercase?

→ What is scale?

→ How do you format a montage in a screenplay?

→ Can scene headers be bold?

These are questions so basic they would feel awkward on johnaugust.com. But they deserve answers.

My mandate to Ryan and Stuart was straightforward: each page should be The Answer. If answering one question raises new questions, new pages should answer those questions.

Stuart handles most of the questions that come into Screenwriting.io. If he doesn’t know the answer, he asks me. Either way, he provides links to information on johnaugust.com and other sites for further details.

So if you have a simple question about screenwriting, Screenwriting.io might be a good first stop. It’s also a handy place to refer newcomers to the craft.