Advice — expert series

Writers practice the advice of Sir Francis Bacon, even if they are not aware of his precise words: 'A (wo)man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought are commonly the most valuable and should be secured because they seldom return.' Most writers carry a notebook, scraps of paper, old envelopes, to jot down 'thoughts of the moment.' A journal is another medium in which a writer can keep a record, albeit a slightly more unified one. Incorporating journaling into your writing practice may not only...

What is a Screenplay? Most people ask me the same thing about the craft of screenwriting: What's the most common problem I find with people writing scripts? I tell them that most of the problems I encounter deal with 'telling their story in dialogue,' not pictures. A screenplay is a story told with pictures, in dialogue and description, and placed within the context of dramatic structure. On Exposition The most evident change in screenwriting within the last 10 years is this: There is no explanation needed. As a writer, you do not have to explain to the audience the thoughts,...

This past summer (1999) 12 movies earned more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. Though they ranged from low budget horror to big budget sci-fi western, and included romantic comedy, broad comedy, children's special effects comedy, mystery thriller, occult thriller and a classic animated love story/adventure, they all had five things in common: 1. Each one had a HERO, a main character we rooted for, and whose motivations drove the story forward; 2. We IDENTIFIED with the heroes, we put ourselves inside those characters psychologically, and experienced emotion through them; 3. The heroes each pursued at least one...

If creating a successful romantic comedy really was as easy as plugging a couple of stars into a standard boy-meets-girl, boy-loses- girl, boy-gets-girl structure, the market would be glutted with genuinely funny romantic comedies. But can you remember the last truly great 'rom-com' you've seen? Only one or two in the past few years topped the box office. And as a story analyst who sees-and rejects romantic comedy specs on a weekly basis, I can tell you that the ones that really work are all too rare. So in the interest of helping fellow writers (and good date movie-starved audience...

I would like to address a problem that many writers contend with every day. It's a problem that can delay a project's completion by a few days, or it can stop work dead in its tracks, leaving it permanently unfinished. It can hinder a single project's momentum, or it can lay waste to an entire writing career. And the most amazing aspect of the problem is that most writers don't consider it a problem at all. What I consider a plague on the entire creative process is something many writers would consider an ideal, a work ethic, something to struggle...