Advice — advice

Bring your screenwriting up to the power level with these 10 quick-reference tips from author/screenwriter/script consultant Derek Rydall. 1. DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE EVERY DAY Write something every day - whether it's your project or an assignment. If you find yourself stuck just staring at a blank screen, try staring at a great script instead -- and try to figure out how it's put together. It might inspire you to get your own writing done. The point here is to keep exercising and refining your craft, building your knowledge, and keeping the momentum - all of which will give you a...

Reader Melissa Gallardo from San Francisco, CA asks: Do I need an agent or a manager or both? Expert Fran Harris replies. I speak at about 15 writing conferences and film festivals a year and I'm always asked the same question, "Do I need an agent, a manager or both?" And my answer is always the same. Forget about trying to land an agent or a manager. That's right. I said it. Stop trying to get an agent - at least for the next 6 months. I want you to block it out of your mind. I want you to...

Writers write. A journal is way to do that, without knowing where you are going with the writing, to unload thoughts, obsessions, insights and observations, and sometimes to imitate other writers, seeing how your perceptions might come across in the voice and sentence structures of those you admire. Sometimes you can imagine your writing addressed to others with whom you feel a resonance or are angry. Sometimes you are in gathering mode, storing images and ideas, facts and details, sometimes remembering dreams or merely playing with words. Whatever the reasons for taking to the pages or computer files of a...

See that kid over there? The one with the video camera. She's trying to tell you something. That kid is in the process of shooting her first short over the next three days with the help of a handful of classmates and a useful book or two. What is she telling you about? The changing nature of media and the role of the writer? The new digital tools that are now so widely available? The future? This kid and others like her are certainly up to something. Writers should take note. When the barrier to filmmaking began to lower with...

Reader Alexa Adams from Milford, CT asks My scene count is making my screenplay too long, but I can't see cutting any of the scenes I've written. What should I do? Expert Martha Alderson replies. The job of a good writer is to know which scenes to cut and which ones to keep. You, as a writer, needed to write each and every one of those scenes to better understand the characters. A movie-goer or reader needs only scenes that work on a multitude of levels at once. Tips: 1) Write your project all the way through each draft. If...