Advice

by Michael Hauge The opportunities in Hollywood for 20-minute pitch meetings are fairly rare, especially for newer screenwriters. But as soon as you complete your first screenplay, you'll repeatedly face the challenge of having less than 60 seconds to convince the people in power to read it. Every time you phone an agent or production company to discuss your story or script, you must be prepared to answer the question, 'What's your movie about?' Your response will often make the difference between getting rejected and getting your material read. The recent advent of pitch marts has further increased both the...

If you're an emerging novelist or screenwriter, it's likely that you've attended or are thinking of attending a writers conference. Where else can you take classes to help you hone your craft, listen to panels of experts giving advice, or meet with an agent, editor or executive to pitch your latest book or script - all in one day or one weekend? From Boston to Maui, from Miami to Toronto and in nearly every metropolis in-between, there are hundreds of writing conferences going on throughout the year. But if you're a 'newbie' heeding your first 'conference call', the very thought...

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...