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This is why you make it specific. The more specific and personal and imaginative you make the general idea, the less likely someone else already did it that way. - Bill

Any common word is a chance to add character. And if all of your characters just "look", they are all the same - are they all the same? Part of the problem may be that these are *non-actions* - when someone is already seated, there is no action (and this violates my Sit & Speak Rule -...

This is why they have rewrites. Writing is rewriting. Finish it, put it aside and write something else, then come back and rewrite it. Fix the problems you find this time around, set it aside (etc) and eventually you get to the rewrites that are changing a word or two - and you are done...

Before you figure out shots or lines of dialogue or anything, figure out your story. 1) Who is your lead character. 2) What do they want. 3) What prevents them from getting what they want? 4) What are the consequences for NOT getting what they want? and/or: 1) Who is your lead character? 2)...

START with the punchline, *then* write the set up. What you are doing is writing the set up without knowing the punchline - so how can you know what you are setting up? Just like with any script - you have to know the end before you start writing. - Bill

Be more specific - right now you have the emotional conflict, but no clue as to what the physical conflict is - and that's the part we can see. So - what is the conflict on the screen? Put that in the logline somewhere. - Bill

Not correct. If your spec is made into a film, the worst that happens is you get a Story By credit (there are some exceptions). Two two guys who wrote NOTTINGHAM (spec) which was completely rewritten into ROBIN HOOD got a Story By credit because the film began with their spec. My spec...

Just write them. Writing is rewriting - so what you write today may not even be ready to shoot for years. You catch up with it later. Write while the idea is hot. - Bill

1) Be creative and imaginative and come up with something you believe hasn't been done - then twist that idea one more time. 2) Also - be personal. Find your personal connection to the idea and focus your story on that. What you have now is a *character* but not a story. - Bill PS: The movie...

Check out Buster Keaton movies - many of them had him alone trying to deal with machines or other devices. Some of my early shorts only had one actor - one was a trip to the laundramat... and all of the things that can go wrong. But even some of my shorts with lots of folks in the cast often...

How the person is killed changes everything else... But I'd feed him to critters. Pigs will get rid of the body - they'll eat it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton - Bill

If you know it doesn't make sense - and you know it needs heavy revisions - do those things before you waste people's time reading it. Make the script as close to great as you can, *then* let people read it to find those things you did not see or things that make sense to you but not to readers...

In the VHS days it was common to release a TV movie with an R rating, just so people would saw the movie for free on TV would now rent the video. My USA Net film was *shot* with R rated material for the video release, but many had added footage - post airing reshoots! Drew Barrymore was famous...

This is backwards: 5. Story that's told and not shown. And somehow, *concept* didn't make it onto this list. If you are selling the script, or even just want to get people to read it, the concept is critical. But here's where your teacher's advice is completely wrong: yes, they will not be...

The audience understands them, and the villain is the hero if the story were told from their pov. The most interesting example is THE JOKER from DARK KNIGHT. He *appears* to be crazy. But we understand that he is an anarchist - his plan is to remove all plans and see what happens. He is doing...

When all else fails, Kuleshov them.

Also what Adei said. I think it was Capra who said drama isn't when the character cries, it's when the *audience* cries. So it's sometimes better to have the character straining *not* to be emotional, so that the audience jumps in and cries for them. I think if a character shows too much...

WRONG! Not a fan at all... but also not a reactionary hater. I am all about the facts. AVATAR - before there were blue people in 3D - made 2 Top 10 Unproduced Screenplay lists. That's a fact, Jack. Cinemascore audience poll gave it an A grade - so you may not know anyone who really liked it...

Ideas Some Script Tips on Ideas: Story From Character: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip166.htm Idea A Day: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip360.htm They Stole My Idea: http://www.scriptsecrets.net/tips/tip352.htm High Concept/Small Budget...

Did you miss when AVATAR made Empire Magazine's list of Ten Unproduced Screenplays in 2005? Or when some other mag listed it as Top Ten Unproduced Screenplays back in 2000? No graphics involved there - just words on the page. I think it is easy to miss quality in stories told visually...