Art of Dramatic Writing, Part 5: When You Write Your Script

Are You Ready to Write Your Script…? Egri offers a checklist for making sure you’ve put the necessary thought into your work before you start.  If you’ve done the following 11 steps, your script will be ready to go! Formulate a premise. Choose the protagonist. Choose the antagonist. Create a unity of opposites. Choose the … More Art of Dramatic Writing, Part 5: When You Write Your Script

Art of Dramatic Writing, Part 4: Crisis, Climax and Resolution

Once you’ve defined your premise and created 3-dimensional characters with a “Unity of Opposites,” how to realize your plot on the page…? Point of Attack At what point do you attack a story?  People always say “start late, end early.”  What does that really mean?  What sets a story in motion?  What makes a character … More Art of Dramatic Writing, Part 4: Crisis, Climax and Resolution

7 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Dialogue

Don’t spoon-feed the audience. Don’t give your readers the answers, make them work for it.  Rather than your characters stating their reasons and conclusions, let your readers figure out the subtext on their own. Don’t pad the work. Avoid meaningless words. There’s no need for “throat clearers” like: “Well…,” “Um,” “Er;” or questions like “What?” … More 7 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Dialogue

On Language in Scripts – Scenes and Narrative (Part 3)

Only tell the reader what is being seen. When describing people, places and situations never tell the reader something that can’t be seen by a person sitting in the theater watching the movie unfold.  Resist the urge to explain or provide exposition.  Do not give us backstory or the inner monologue of any character. Do … More On Language in Scripts – Scenes and Narrative (Part 3)

On Language in Scripts – Scenes and Narrative

Dialogue and description.   Dialogue and description are the two functions the words in your script serve.  How you choose to describe a scene and what you have your characters say are where your reader lives.  They are the two elements that define the experience of your screenplay for the reader. Writing dialogue and description … More On Language in Scripts – Scenes and Narrative

Dialogue: The Do, the Don’t and the Out Loud

There are lots of ways for dialogue to be less effective than it should be.  Let’s examine a few: Show, Don’t Tell Characters in a scene are trying to resolve a problem.  If you’ve done your job well, the audience is right there trying to solve the problem with the characters.  Rather than spoon-feed your … More Dialogue: The Do, the Don’t and the Out Loud

Dialogue: Subtext

A person cannot speak unless he or she has had a thought.  A person does not have a thought unless he or she has a need.  That is never more true than in all dramatic writing.  Characters in a script speak because they want something. Another way to think of it: the average person speaks … More Dialogue: Subtext