Writing Archive
Announcing the 2014 Comedy Script Contest!
We’re excited about this one! Let’s just get right to it – we’ve lined
The Ardavany Approach for WMM: Step One
Step One: The Script From the Actor’s Perspective We must make the script real
Cumulative Advantage and Women Playwrights
At The Summit, a public conversation with prominent DC theatres’ artistic directors convened by Washington
6 Tips to Writing Great Female Characters: An Open Letter to My Male Allies
Creating female characters that defy sexist clichés is one of the easiest ways to
10 Commandments for Directing (& Writing) Comedy from Director David Dobkin
What is the funniest movie you’ve ever seen? Do you lean towards the slapstickiness
Inside Amtrak’s (Absolutely Awesome) Plan to Give Free Rides to Writers
Amtrak has begun offering “writers’ residencies” to, well, writers – long roundtrip rides aboard Amtrak trains
10 Takeaways from the (Life-Changing!) Sundance Screenwriters Lab
It takes a village to make an independent film, and there are few villages
Academy’s 2014 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting Competition Now Underway
The 2014 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition is now underway. In November, as
TNT & TBS Partner with The Black List to Tap Talented Writers
TNT and TBS are partnering with The Black List on an initiative to promote
How To Kill a Baby
DISCLAIMER: This DevelopMental Breakdown is about maintaining uncompromising creative standards, and not about killing
Telling the Truth Without Paying For It
Adapting a true story for film can be tricky. On the one hand, reality
RESOLUTIONS FOR FILMMAKERS: A COLLECTION by WMM
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM WMM! One thing we do here on our site is
BBC and China Central TV to Open Story Development Center
State broadcast giants seek documentary, live event collaboration. HONG KONG — The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Inside the Dark Literary World of ‘American Beauty’ Screenwriter Alan Ball
Some of the most important screenwriting advice you’ll ever hear is to write what
Learn About Taking Meetings & the Development Process from the Austin Film Festival
One of the most important career skills a screenwriter should learn is how to
‘American Psycho’ Screenwriter Guinevere Turner Wants You to Write the Worst Scene Ever Written
Writer/director/actress, and one of the most influential proponents of LGBT cinema, Guinevere Turner, sat
Joe Eszterhas’ 10 Golden Rules of Screenwriting
Legend has it (okay, well, actually it was theLos Angeles Times) that Joe Eszterhas once
Tony Gilroy’s 5 Simple Rules for Writing an Original Screenplay
Narrative film is certainly a collaborative medium, but almost always it begins with a
‘Twilight Zone’ Creator Rod Serling Shares Great Screenwriting Insight in Final Interview
To many he’s just that eerie, stilted voice of The Twilight Zone, but to others he
And the Lord Declared: Let There Be Really High Stakes!
Attention all Screenwriters, Graphic Novelists, Novelists-Afraid-Of-Screenwriting, and Waiters, Bankers, Accountants, Teachers, Custodians, Firefighters, Cashiers
“Three of One Kind” Premiere Proves Scripts Really Do Get Made!
Nearly two years ago, when New York City filmmaker Perri Pierre and I first
How To Write a Killer Logline
People get obsessed with writing their logline. And so they should. It’s a crucial
The Single Biggest Dialogue Sin
Dialogue that is over real can kill your script stone dead – which is
How To Write A Screenplay That Breaks Through To A Mass Audience
Here’s ten headlines. Ten rules of thumb. Ten writing magic stepping stones I follow religiously. Follow
Formatting Your Script – The Basics
I’ve been asked by some people how to properly format a script. Note that
Matt Damon and Gus Van Sant on the Fifteenth Anniversary of Good Will Hunting
Get ready to feel old: This month marks the fifteenth anniversary of Good Will Hunting,