# Style & Substance

... it would be so nice if we as writers didn’t have to fight so hard to get our projects made. But as Sun Tzu might remind us, wishing your enemy wouldn’t resist isn’t a strategy.

... horror has long been one of the most evergreen genres, both as a crowd-pleaser and as a way for emerging writers to cut their teeth in the entertainment and publishing industries.

Excavate your past and present for the emotional states you once felt, and apply those emotions to your characters.

There are way more elements that influence the impact of a scene than just our skill on the page.

Our malaise has ended up yielding plenty of characters who in sunnier times would most likely have been the villains in a story.

Your characters have to overcome their internal demons—and you have to stop protecting them.

Remember, no one in Hollywood knows anything. But everyone knows sex sells.

... how-to guides, tutorials, FAQs, listicles—they’re all often considered evergreen. But what about evergreen scripts?

Consider them positive thoughts, helpful suggestions, and a few cautionary warnings regarding the pursuit of cinema in Hollywood.

At the end of the day, concept really is king.

Having your entire story take place in one location is indeed limiting. However, it can yield extremely impressive results.

Did I ever expect it to get made? Nope. Not from the minute I wrote it.

Are we being noted to death by fear-stricken development execs who are too timid to put something up on screens that swings for the fences ... ?

... one kind of stakes towers above all the rest: the stakes of life-or-death.

Make no mistake, though. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not essential. It very much is.