Advice — advice

Plot or character? Which is more important? This debate is as old as the art. Aristotle weighed each side and concluded that story is primary, character secondary. His view held sway until, with the evolution of the novel, the pendulum of opinion swung the other way. By the nineteenth century, many held that structure is merely an appliance designed to display personality, that what the reader wants is fascinating, complex characters. Today both sides continue the debate without a verdict. The reason for the hung jury is simple: The argument is specious. We cannot ask which is more important, structure...

Reader response has been overwhelming on this article series - impatiently awaiting our second installment. We're glad to present today: Part Two Equally well known as the Hero is the Villain. And just as the Hero is actually made up of several distinct qualities, so is the Villain. In fact, for every quality the Hero possesses, the Villain embodies a counterpart. And, of course, just as there is a difference between being heroic and being a Hero type in a story, so too is there a difference between being villainous and being a classic dramatic Villain. In real life, we...

A Reader Asks: I sold a five-year option to my screenplay three years ago, and it appears that we're going nowhere with the company that bought it. I recently "pitched" my story to a well-heeled friend in the film business, and he showed interest, which waned immediately when he heard about the option. Is there a cool way of having the first buyer releasing his rights without having to pay back any of the (very small) option price? Larry Zerner Esq. Responds: My question for you is, "What were you thinking when you gave someone a five-year option." This is...

You wake up one morning with a great idea for a movie about a guy in his late sixties-to-early-seventies. The concept pours out of you like a dream. You go to your computer. Before lunch you've done a rough outline of the first act. By dinner you've mapped out Act Two. By the time you go to bed you've got a decent third act, even though you're not exactly sure how it's going to end. All day long you're thinking that it would be a great vehicle for Clint Eastwood. Or Dustin Hoffman. Or Robert Redford. Maybe your idea is...

Some of the greatest movies and TV series have been written by script partners, from Billy Wilder's legendary collaborations with Charles Brackett and I.A.L. Diamond to the Academy Award-winning work of the Coen Brothers. Each year the list of script partners and their successes grows longer. Why? Because collaborative scriptwriting is one of the most productive and successful ways to write. If you find the right writing partner. Okay, you may be thinking, but how do I do that? It's a question many writers have asked us since we started our collaboration, and a question we've asked many collaborative writers....