*Spoiler alert: the endings to several popular movies are revealed in this article. Revealing the End at the Beginning Sometimes you want to reveal the ending at the beginning then explain the story through flashback.  This is a favourite temptation with rookie writers who try to resolve their story issues by putting the ending up [...]

The other day I attended a script reading that got me thinking about what was missing from his writing beyond the basic structural flaws, story issues, and underdeveloped characters.  The writer lacked one major thing: a basic understanding of the human condition. Sadly, a handful of people, writer included, couldn’t see that all the female characters were either bitches [...]

When creating your characters, they should each have a specific role and serve a purpose in telling your story.  There’s more to adding characters than giving them lines.  (See the article on Creating New Characters for further explanation.)  Every lead and supporting character should fall into one or more of these archetypal categories:  Archetypes Hero: admirable, likeable, lead to story [...]

Yesterday, I went over location descriptions; today, I’ll go over character action.  Character action is a little bit subjective.  Some writers prefer to leave it up to the actors, others believe they should put in every movement and gesture.  I think it’s best to work somewhere in between. Less is more A simple rule of [...]

I watch these shows about how actors got their big breaks and in one episode, they interviewed Sean Connery.  About his Oscar Award-winning role in The Untouchables, Connery said it was the dialogue that appealed to him; it’s not often an actor gets great dialogue.  When you want to attract A-listers like Connery, you not [...]