Script Notes
Screenwriter and Novelist, Turned YA Author, Christopher J. Moore: Author Spotlight
Christopher J. Moore started his writing career in screenwriting, working on successful TV shows, but soon realized he wanted his stories to reach a broader audience. After adapting several of his screenplays into stand-alone novels, he embarked on a new YA series, "The Switch Family."
Take Two: How to Adapt a Book Into a Screenplay
When adapting a novel for film, Script Magazine editor Jeanne Bowerman says your number-one job is to tell an amazing story—enhancing it for the format.
Take Two: Ways to Submit Your Story to Hollywood
If you dream of your story being on the big screen, Script's editor, Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, gives you a peek inside the filmmaking industry and shares ways to submit your story to Hollywood.
10 Screenwriting Techniques Every Writer Can Employ
Applying these screenwriting techniques to your fiction can offer benefits like sharper dialogue, improved pacing and stronger characters.
The Power of Theme: Turning Books Into Movies
Books to Movies: Barri Evins reveals how to harness the power of theme to entice publishers, captivate readers, and attract the film and television industry.
Two Authors Discuss How Their Debut Novels Were Picked Up by Hollywood
Film adaptations aren’t typically in the plotline for debut novels, but two new thriller/suspense authors, Kathleen Barber and Rea Frey, have capped their debut dreams with film contracts for books seemingly written for the screen.
Screenwriting Tips & Insights from Michael Zam, Writer of the Emmy-Winning Series Feud: Bette and Joan
In this interview, screenwriter Michael Zam offers screenwriting tips for beginners and veterans, and discusses his success with the Emmy award-winning FX series Feud: Bette and Joan, starring Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Stanley Tucci and more.
Script Classics: Everything I Needed to Know About Character Development I Learned From a Fish
Author, playwright and screenwriter Wendy Whitbeck delves into the unique underwater characters of the box-office hit Finding Nemo to explore how combining this particular mix of characters melded to create a totally memorable movie with strong character development.
From CBS's Cold Case to Kick-Butt Cozies: Kellye Garrett Discusses Screenwriting and Black Women in the Mystery Genre
Kellye Garrett discusses her years as a Hollywood screenwriter (with the CBS drama Cold Case among her credits) and the representation of black women in the mystery genre.
Interview: The Oscar-Nominated Writers Behind The Disaster Artist (Part Two)
Screenwriters Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter describe their creative process and the decisions that went into writing their Oscar-nominated comedy, The Disaster Artist.
Interview: The Oscar-Nominated Writers Behind The Disaster Artist (Part One)
Screenwriters Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter dig into details about the development and writing behind their Oscar-nominated comedy, The Disaster Artist.
Writer's Digest and Script Mag Are Joining Forces
We're thrilled to announce that Script Magazine and the Writers Store will be joining Writer's Digest on an all-new, fully redesigned website at writersdigest.com in 2018.
4 Lessons Writers Can Learn from 'The Good Place'
The success of NBC's The Good Place relies on its flawed but lovable characters, charming humor and, especially, its game-changing twists. Here are some hands-on lessons you can learn from the show’s terrific writing.
New Literary Agent Alert: Annie Hwang of Folio Literary Management
Literary agent alerts (like this one with Annie Hwang of Folio Literary Management) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building their client list.
3 Things Screenwriting Taught Me That I Applied to Fiction
1. Structure. Screenplays follow a rigorous three-act structure with a strong midpoint and an inciting incident somewhere in the first 10-15 pages. For fiction, I take this basic structure and emphasize the inciting incident and the midpoint. I think of them as smaller turning points—almost like adding "mini-acts" to the traditional beginning, middle, and end set-up of a screenplay. For me, this has been a great way to break up the plot into manageable chunks so I can orchestrate the pace of the story before I even start writing. 2. Beats. Once I have an outline for the plot that follows this modified three-act structure I break it down even further into beats, just like a screenwriter.
Interview: Tim Kring, Creator of ''Heroes'' and Author of ''Shift''
Tim Kring, accomplished showrunner/writer of "Heroes" and "Touch," sits down to discuss his debut novel: SHIFT, released in 2010 by Crown.
5 Things Television Teaches Writers
We’ve all watched television—dramas, police procedurals, reality shows, newscasts. Although television is a different medium than writing, it provides an abundance of advice wrapped inside the programming that’s relevant to today’s writers. Guest column by Janice Gable Bashman, co-author of Wanted Undead or Alive: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil (Citadel Press, 2010) and contributing editor of the Big Thrill (the newsletter of the International Thriller Writers).
5 Screenwriting Tips All Writers Can Learn From
No. 2: Start late. In individual scenes, don't waste valuable time on unnecessary entrances and hellos. See if a scene can be started in the middle. A writer who is willing to self-edit will often find that a scene is strengthened by cutting the first two, and often last two, lines of dialogue. No. 12: A flawed protagonist is more compelling than a perfect protagonist. Inexperienced writers may fail to imbue a protagonist with undesirable traits because they want him or her to appear likable and their cause noble. But a completely capable hero leads an audience to relax its attention: If he can handle anything, why worry?
