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"How To Write" Articles

Free Screenplays, Movie Screenplays - it's a Mistake to Just READ Them!

It’s not too surprising that many people start to write a screenplay without ever having read any. We’ve all seen thousands of hours of television and thousands of movies, so it’s easy to assume that has given us an instinctive understanding of the form. That is true for some lucky people – but even they can’t have an instinctive understanding of how a screenplay looks on the page – there are certain conventions you must follow if you don’t want to get your screenplay filed in the laugh-and-junk-pile. (And, you know, just reading free screenplays isn’t enough. You should be working on them too.) Here’s a guide to where you can get masses of free screenplays – and what you should be doing with them when you have them.

 

When To Use Dialogue - And When Not!
silence85-115.jpgHow do you know what should be done in dialogue, and what should be done in scene description? Here are some solid guidelines.
 

Dealing With Rejection Part 1 - Emotional

depression85-115.jpg"I finally got it together and managed to conquer all my demons and sent my screenplay out to an agency/production company/external reader. They said the story was weak/the dialogue was bland/ trashed it completely/ suggested I should give up writing. I'm really hurt by this. I'm not so crazy that I thought my very first submission would get bought, but I'm finding the negative criticism really hard to throw off. Now I'm even not sure I have it in me to be a writer. What do I do?"

 

Dealing With Rejection Part 2 - Practical
smiley85-115.jpgThe BEST practical way of dealing with rejection. A short, sharp, pep talk that goes against most conventional wisdom.
 

Personality Awareness Exercise - Traits And Types In Screenplays?
The Screenwriting Goldmine method of creating character is based on using pairs of emotional oppositions. This article extends that concept and gives you a useful set of workable examples to start you off.
 

Personality Awareness Exercise - Observing Interactions

Reality TV has its uses. One of the reasons it is so compelling is that it cuts out the boring bits in people’s lives and only shows the emotions and raw drama or comedy. You can use reality TV to develop your skills in writing characters, to keep them true to form, but also observing how people step out of character.

 

Why Understanding Personality Type Matters
Personality type indicators can be powerful tools for understanding character and behaviour. One of the more popular systems is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI. It helps you understand what motivates people, why they behave like they do, why they interact with other people in the way that they do - and how your own behaviour affects this. The benefits for screenwriting are obvious...
 

Why Understanding Personality Types Will Help Your Writing
Great drama has great characters. Characters who induce love and awe, pity, affection, and many other powerful emotions in the audience. Characters who journey deep within themselves, or who battle the world, who are heroic, cowardly, witty, to what can seem like a super human extreme. The Screenwriting Goldmine course has some very clear instructions on a specific process you can use to create great and memorable characters. (You’ll find those instructions in Step 11.) This article is a contrasting discussion of a more organic, more holistic approach which may get you thinking when you feel constructing yet another set of emotional oppositions is just too dry.
 

How Do You Hook Your Readers Instantly?
hooked85-115.jpgWriting a treatment is a strange process. You have to condense as much as two hours of story into two pages, so it’s no good just writing down the first story events as they take place – you’ve got to abstract away from the actual action, and give us a vivid, enticing impression of what happens. Here’s an exercise to help you do that for your opening sentences, where the problem is even more acute.
 

Ten Things About Adaptations
adaptations85-115.jpgWant to adapt a novel? Plenty of films are conceived this way – and they’ve been handing out Oscars for good adaptations for over 80 years. Whether it’s choosing which work to adapt, what to leave out, or which format, here are 10 critical tips to get you started.
 
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