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Tag Archives: Story
A Royal Match
I’ve been pretty quiet. I’m approaching the finish line with a script polish; in addition, I spent a wonderful weekend in ye olde Save the Cat! writing room, this time with novelist Jessica Brody, listening as she beautifully articulated how Blake’s … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Blake Snyder, contest, Hollywood, Jeff Nathanson, Jessica Brody, log line, Robin Swicord, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Script, Story, story structure, The Dialogue, writing
6 Comments
You Are Not Alone
Recently, I’ve had an amazing burst of productivity, brought on by deadlines, meetings and the need to put food on the table. Unfortunately, this past week has felt more like drudgery. You know those times – when writing feels like … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Hollywood, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Script, Story, story structure, writing
4 Comments
Danger! Multitasking Zone Ahead! plus a recipe
Last Wednesday, I decided to throw myself into culinary abandon, and whip up a most savory of suppers. Earlier that day, I had banged out several pages of a spec comedy after abandoning the previous style that my partner and … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Blake Snyder, Cooking, Hollywood, Save the Cat, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Script, Story
6 Comments
What a Week!
You may have noticed that HRH has been a wee silent this last week. Not because I have little to say – heaven forbid that – but, instead, I’ve been very, very busy. My partner and I have been prepping … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Blake Snyder, Hollywood, Horror, managers, market, movies, producers, Save the Cat, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Script Chat, Story, writing
4 Comments
Think Like a Playwright
The experience of sitting on Sunday’s panel at IFFF is still resonating and reverberating deep within me. One thing that startled me was the reaction of the audience, in regard to my sharing that our team is currently bypassing representation … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Blake Snyder, film, Hollywood, movies, Playwright, Procrastination, rewrite, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Script, Script Chat, Story, story structure, WGA, Write On, writing
6 Comments
IFFF Wrap-Up
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to sit on a screenwriting panel at the International Family Film Festival. The panel was titled “Sold! Getting Your Screenplay Sold and Produced”… but it ended up being so much more than that. Perhaps it … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Aaron Sorkin, coverage, film, Hollywood, Paddy Chayefsky, rewrite, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Script, Story, story structure, writing
5 Comments
Characters Count
I was speaking with an aspiring screenwriter the other day, who was reading one of my favorite books on screenwriting. She said, “Why should I pay attention to anything he says? He doesn’t have any credits on IMDb.” Oy. Credits … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Christopher Nolan, Debra Eckerling, Kevin Smith, Natalie Portman, Paddy Chayefsky, Save the Cat, Screenwriting, Script, Story, Write On
5 Comments
Winding It Up
Ah, pitch season approacheth. That time of year when screenwriters ’round the globe spend their hard-earned dollars on that oh-so-tantalizing event, the pitch fest. What is a pitch fest? Simply put, it is a happening at which writers cough up … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Blake Snyder, Charlie Sheen, film, Hollywood, movies, Save the Cat, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Story, writing
17 Comments
You Are Not a Brand
I had planned to blog about last night’s Academy nominated shorts screening; however, when I rose and checked my email, I began to turn purplish in hue. Steam funneled from my ears; one could imagine me next to Warner’s Tasmanian … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Aaron Sorkin, Christopher Nolan, Hollywood, rewrite, Screenplay, Screenwriting, Story, story structure, WGA, William Goldman, writing
8 Comments
Playing it Safe
We’ve all done it, in one draft or another. Played it safe with our story. Made the world or choices too easy. Building a story may be construction, but it is construction on a site in which hazards should be … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Blake Snyder, Christopher Nolan, Hollywood, rewrite, Save the Cat, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Story, writing
1 Comment
In Praise of Will
“Who is your favorite screenwriter?” The above is a question that I’ve been asked many times. We writers like our lists. Top Ten. Best of. I find these lists to be somewhat limiting. Men versus women, studio writers versus indie … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog, Uncategorized
Tagged Clair Danes, drama, Hamlet, Hollywood, James Cameron, Kevin Smith, King Lear, rewrite, Screenplay, Screenwriting, Shakespeare, Story, writing
4 Comments
Characters Count
I spend a great deal of time talking about structure – the principles of it, the necessity of it, and how your story will come to a screeching halt without it. That being said, kind lords and ladies of the … Continue reading
It’s Not a Script – Part 3
You have nurtured your script lovingly. You have learned to not protect your characters. You have built arcs, engineered jaw-dropping twists. You have written and rewritten. Your feedback is incorporated. You have typed FADE TO BLACK for the very last … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog
Tagged Actors, Blake Snyder, Dialogue, Hollywood, Romany Malco, Save the Cat, Screenplay, screenplays, Screenwriting, Story, story structure, Table read, Theatre, Will Akers, writing
2 Comments
The Helicopter Writer
Do you hover around your characters incessantly? Do you place them in danger – but not enough? Do you strive to protect them from their own foibles and weaknesses? Do you love them so much, that the world’s refusal to … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Blog
Tagged film, Hollywood, Paul Newman, Save the Cat, Screenwriting, Script Chat, Story, Tropic Thunder
3 Comments