# Style & Substance

I can’t tell you the number of times I have been told by different teachers that I should keep the direction off the page. That I am just here to write the story. That never made sense to me.

As a screenwriter, you can’t just ask an audience to go along with anything, you have to meet them halfway.

The most constructive filmmaker for learning screenwriting for me was Terrence Malick. To anybody who knows what any of that means, it might sound like an oxymoron.

What happened to sci-fi? When did it become so predictable, so unvaried, so unimaginative?

1985 gave us three such movies blending commerciality, narrative discipline, and daring—their scripts a marvel to behold.

“Doing good research” means doing more than parroting Twitter talking heads and Washington Post articles in a political drama.

Being uncaged or unencumbered isn’t really freedom in writing, it’s absurdity.

Too many writers try to reinvent the narrative formula. They think we, as readers, are bored with well-executed, simple stories. Well, let me tell you this, y’all: we ain’t.

One of the key insights for crafting characters that feel real is determining what weighs on their mind as they go about their day – their burdens.

We throw obstacles into their paths that they cannot hope to overcome with these particular flaws. Merciless creators! Is this the way to treat someone you love?

I know what I know, and what I know is that I predicted the Kremlin’s actions and Ukraine’s subsequent eruptions before they happened.

“We’ve been through, like, nine rounds of notes on this thing. I’m starting to feel like this idea simply isn’t gonna work, no matter how hard I try.”

Being bad is a state of mind, and in the 1970s, being bad was very, very good.

Just like last time, I’ve tried to stay away from the blatantly obvious here and instead give you some under-the-radar tips.

One of the most vital yet least discussed aspects of effective storytelling is the ability to execute potent setups and payoffs.