It's All Fun and Games Until a Character Dies ... and Then It's More Fun
It’s almost like I’ve got a blank page on which to write this new entity from scratch. Similar to creating a character for a screenplay.
Stop Being Defensive About Feedback
It's more valuable that you know how people answer their own questions without your input, since you won't always be in the room when audiences experience your work.
Simp for the Reader
Unless you’re writing only for you, you need to keep the audience in mind. Especially if that audience is the gatekeeper to all your hopes and dreams.
The Debate: Structure vs. Voice
When Spike Scarberry threw down the gauntlet, insisting structure was more important than voice, Karin Partin Wells raised her hand to battle in a public debate.
Writing Explosive Dialogue
This is so important to writing good dialogue that it deserves to be on a card on your bulletin board … or at least in caps on its own line.
The Best Screenplay - "Drive My Car"
It’s a bumpy journey, full of twists and turns that you won’t see coming, but the last thing you should do is stop.
What Makes a Script Great?
It’s as if people sometimes don’t have any idea what they’re doing, and yet they firmly believe that they do.
Surveying the Limitations of Rebooted Franchises
By sanding off the edges, these new versions wholly sacrificed most of the fun and audacity that made the originals so popular in the first place.
You've Got to Earn It
Does the benefit of moving the cathartic moment up, hooking the audience, outweigh the emotion that will come if you steel your nerves and wait?
From Farthest to Nearest: Writing Hitchcock Style
The classics are classics for a reason, and they’re always there to lean on to learn new techniques hidden in their brilliance.
Praise for the Unlikeable Character
I started to question my writing abilities, and indeed, my standing as a human being. Why was I drawn to these unlikeable people?
Should You Try Different Things in the Arts?
An age-old question hesitant creatives have asked for millenia—to explore new disciplines in the hopes of finding your niche—finally has a definitive answer ...
The Unfathomable Psychological Terror of Writing What You Know
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this world is that who you are and who people want you to be aren’t the same thing.
How Can a Static Protagonist Compel an Audience?
Michael Corleone. Ferris Bueller. Beatrix Kiddo. John Wick. What do these four famous film characters have in common, other than that they all hail from classic movies?
