Last month, Screenwriting duo Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart, whose feature screenplay Seuss, a biopic of iconic children’s author Dr. Seuss, which placed No. 2 on the 2012 Black List and launched their career in studio animation a decade sgo, have signed with Paradigm for representation.

Writing good dialogue is hard.  We all struggle with it at times and sometimes we struggle all the time.  Finding the right tone, voice, etc. to make characters sound real is hard enough let alone focusing on moving the plot forward or developing character.   One thing I have noticed is the needless dialogue some people use.  Is it really necessary to dialogue your characters saying “hi” and “top of the morning” to one another?   Maybe it is, but most likely it's not.  Besides, the actors will play with how they "ad lib" their greetings, remember it's a collaborative endeaver (making a movie) and actors bring life and character to their own to the process..

Every writer can use a refresher, no matter how seasoned or new. It's mindset, a learning and evolveling one that produces the best writer, the best anyone really.  You are evolving as a writer, you are not static, you change and adapt.  A good writer is always thinking and learning.  We are wroking even when we do not have pen or computer in hand.  

Character is revealed through their actions, obviously.    What your central character (protagonist) does and how he or she does it usually says a lot about them as a person.  The word protagonist comes from the Greek words protos first and agonistes actor.  He or she is the conveyor of your theme.

Dr. Linda Seger is the original script consultant having literally inventing the job in 1981; before her it didn't exist.  Since then she has consulted on over 2000 scripts and presented screenwriting seminars in over thirty countries around the world. Seger has written nine books on screenwriting making her the most prolific screenwriting author we have.   Seger consulted for Peter Jackson’s break-through film, BRAIN DEAD and Roland Emmerich’s breakthrough film, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER. She also has given seminars for studios, networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, production companies, television series (MacGyver, The Mary Show), film commissions, universities and film schools. 

This is an interview I was really happy to get back in 2004, it was a pleasure to interview such a screenwriting legend as John Michael Hayes.  We have also added a neat short interview with him where he discusses characters and Hitchcock.

Rear Window is considered to be Hitchcock's most "cinematic" picture. At times it had to communicate a lot to the audience without a word ever being spoken. This isn't surprising as Hitchcock started directing in 1922, during the silent era, making several silent films. By 1954, the year Rear Window was released he had clearly mastered the art of directing. However, before he could unleash his visual brilliance there had to be a great script from which to allow such a great movie to be made.

Twenty-two years ago Christopher Wehner wrote his first screenplay.   Like most writers he dreamed of seeing his work make it to the big screen.  After many struggles, rejections, and disappointments he is on the verge of his dream.   When you go to his IMDB page it shows EL CAMINO CHRISTMAS as his sole writing credit.   From that perspective you might considered him an overnight success; only its been a twenty-two year in the making one.   And like almost all of these kinds of success stories it took chance encounters, some luck, and a lot of perseverance. 

First let me stop writing the script I am currently working on so I can pound out this short editorial. Though I should say allow me to stop bleeding at the keyboard as I struggle with the current scene I am writing. I have to admit that I am my own worst enemy as a writer.  I procrastinate, often, and it can sometimes be so debilitating that I never finish some screenplays. Why?

The Oscar nominated movie NEBRASKA, with an award winning screenplay by Bob Nelson, is in my opinion one of the better scripts recently produced for screenwriters to learn a little something about the craft. Why? It’s the epitome of efficient and dramatic storytelling. The script is pithy, direct, yet it has depth and emotion (theme) that is so subtle in its presentation.