Sean Lawrence

FADE IN: on Screenwriting, by Jeffrey Scott By Jeffrey Scott | Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 7:01 pm Posted In | Blog Categories: Writing Tech | Site Categories: Cartoons , Education and Training , Television , Writing 2.19.11 updates in red. Several of you have asked me for instructions on how to set up Microsoft Word “styles” for script writing.  A style is simply a saved bundle of formatting instructions.  If you are familiar with screenwriting software such as Final Draft or Screenwriter , you know that what they basically do is make it easier to write scripts by automatically formatting script elements, fonts, paragraphs, etc.  If you follow the instructions below you will turn Microsoft Word into a simple but effective screenwriting program.  As I noted in an earlier post, I have used Word with styles to write hundreds of scripts and actually find it easier than the top screenwriting software. I use Word 2007.  I think...

Seven Deadly Sins of Writing… from Your Screenplay Sucks! Using Find (Ctrl F or Apple F) in your computer, chase down these words in any form you find them. Losing them or changing them will strengthen your work. “Find” space is space should find only the word you’re looking for, not every “is” in your screenplay. is He is grinning… becomes … He grins. are The convicts are singing opera… The convicts sing opera. the Nacho hightails it out of the town… Nacho hightails it out of town. that Ralph can’t tell that she’s French… Ralph can’t tell she’s French. then She laughs. She then looks at Alice… She laughs. She looks at Alice. walk Tika walks down the hall… Tika prisses down the hall. sit Sitting at the poker table, Doc deals the cards… At the poker table, Doc deals… stand The surgeon stands at the operating table and works… At the operating table, the surgeon works… look Cheryl is looking at Stephanie… Cheryl studies Stephanie. just I am just ...

TIMOTHY M C SWEENE Y ’ S rough beasts have decent posture. Check out holiday shopping deals at the McSweeney’s store , updated daily just for you. DEAL OF THE DAY : Holiday subscription bundles and special offers , only two days left! Back to the front page BY Garth Horn - - - - 1. Decide that you want to write a screenplay This may seem obvious to some but what a lot of people don’t realize is that the first and most important step in not writing a screenplay is actually wanting to write one. If that wasn’t the case then pretty much everyone you know would qualify as a non-screenwriter rendering the pursuit of not screenwriting totally pointless. Nobody wants that. By taking the time to connect with your desire to write a screenplay, you are in fact taking the first vital steps to not writing one. Feel good about that. 2. The “everything’s bee...

Screenplay Help Writing Your Own Screenplay Edited by Keifer Albin, Ben Rubenstein, Marshall "Disgrace", Sondra C and 43 others Have a great idea for a movie? Here are the steps to get it onto paper. Edit Screenplay Help Sample Script Outline Sample Script Edit Writing Your Own Screenplay Read screenplays. Read as many as you can. Think of a movie you liked, (or hated), and get a sense of how the page translates to the screen. A great place to find scripts to read is Drew's Script-o-Rama [1] or ScreenWriterCenter [2] or just look around on the web for other sites. Familiarize yourself with the format of a screenplay. There are many books regarding the format, as well as the content of screenplays. Don't get too hung on this, but there are conventions to be obeyed. Great beginners books include "How Not To Write A Screenplay" by Denny Martin Flynn, "Screenwriting For Dummies...

by Gina VanName The hook is just that--a hook. It must "hook" your reader into the story. The hook needs to be established within the first five pages ( Yes and No ) of your screenplay. Hooks became necessary after the MTV age, where shorter attention spans required the writer to jolt the viewer. Movie-goers and readers now have less patience to wait for a screenplay or a movie to "get going." Horror, suspense, and crime films are notorious for using a death or a murder as a hook. Nowadays, a murder has become cliché and if one is going to be used the writer must make ...

Joe Marine 07.6.12 @ 3:26PM Tags : scottmyers , screenwriting , script , writing Scott Myers and the Go Into The Story blog is a tremendous resource for screenwriters , regardless of whether you’re an amateur or a professional . Over the past few years Scott has been writing about simple tricks that can help get you unstuck when you’re writing your screenplay. Most of them are straightforward, but a few are a little unorthodox. There’s a good chance you’ve heard some of them before, but I’ve compiled a list of 17 tips that Scott has shared on his site. For detailed descriptions of each, go to the Go Into The Story blog at The Blacklist : Say all of your dialogue aloud to make sure it works and each character is distinguishable. If you’re stuck on a scene, close your eyes, open a completely new document, and begin free associating without thinking about the wo...

By Pilar Alessandra I know you’re busy. Trust me, I’m with you. You’ve got work, school, kids, you name it. Family counts on you, friends need you – someone’s probably e-mailing, texting or instant messaging you right now! So how in the heck are you going to find time to write ? Well, look down at that smart-phone or computer. You already are. Be honest. How many times a day do you sneak in a Facebook post, send a brilliant thought through Twitter or entertain a far-away friend with a text? Every time you do, you’re writing. You’re relating an anecdote; describing a person you met, engaging in a conversation. In other words, you’re focusing on story , character and dialogue all day long. So, you might as well do it for your screenplay. Try it. Apply those same stolen moments of time to your script. Instead of telling your friend what happened that day (really, she can wait), quickly synopsize your movie idea. Instead of texting gossip about that person y...

Actor David Morrissey , who plays the Governor on AMC’s  The Walking Dead,  talks about some presidential inspiration for his character and psychoanalyzes what’s really going on in the Governor’s head.  Q: When did you find out that you were going to have to grow out your hair and your beard for this season? A: Yeah they gave me a little heads up with that. I had about a month, really. But also that hair is a wig. I couldn’t have grown my hair out — that would have taken me like four years. Q: Was that an aesthetic change you embraced? A: I kept thinking I should go and get myself a Harley or something! In that Georgia heat it can get pretty uncomfortable with the old beard, but I liked it. Q: The Governor takes shelter with Tara, Lilly and David. Have you ever been taken in by strangers? A: I’ve done a lot of traveling on my own around the world and there’s been many times where I’ve met people where they’ve helped me out, and taken me in and given m...

Veteran actor Scott Wilson , who plays Hershel Greene on AMC’s  The Walking Dead,  talks about how the show has eclipsed his other iconic roles and his recommended reading list for the apocalypse. Q: You’ve starred in classics like In the Heat of the Night and In Cold Blood . Has your fame from The Walking Dead surpassed the recognition you get for all those other movies?  A: Certainly I get recognized a lot, that’s a new condition of life. It’s not totally new, but to the degree it is now, it is new. I’m probably more recognizable with the beard and the ponytail. A lot of people in airports recognize me too — a lot of the agents when I’m passing through. And you have more of people stopping and wanting to take pictures of you and you saying, “I have a plane to catch.” The fans are really nice and they’re upfront and the people that talk to me are certainly pro-Hershel. I’ll hear things like, “Ah, you grew your leg back!” Q: Have you been getting intere...