What goes into writing a great movie script?

Primary characters must change polarities. Secondary characters can change less.

Maintain a slush pile/idea file. When you are ready to write, choose the best seeds to plant.

Don’t direct from the page. Everyone, from the director on down, wants to be part of the process of making movies. Let them do their work.

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Audiences are smarter than you think. Something about turning down the house lights makes their IQs go up.

A critical function of storytelling is wish fulfillment. This is why video games are so popular. “That protagonist is JUST LIKE ME.”

What you leave unwritten is as important as what you write. SUBTEXT.

My marriage is fixed. My future husband repeatedly calls me to meet me in private and pressure me to have a relationship. What should I do?

The DSM 5 is a wonderful character compendium.

All rules are made to be broken, but you damn well better know WHY you’re breaking them.

A scene should change valence from beginning to end. Up to down, down to up.

What are some good interior design tips for mixing lots of colors together in a room?

Write in reverse time. Major characters need to change polarity; minor characters may remain the same at the end.

Only God gets it right the first time. Rewrite everything.

Conflict is your power source; without it you have no drama and hence no script.

Why is the left keep misrepresenting what Trump said about his daughter? When asked if he would date her if he weren’t her father, it simply reflected pride in raising a smart, respectful, and loving daughter with good morals all men want that no?

To develop a unique voice for each character, try interviewing your characters.

Make sure to pack enough explosives into the rocket.

Learn to tell a story orally and not through writing. Try telling your story to a friend.

Why can't white people just surrender their white privilege?

Use status to help drive conflict. King Lear/fool. Upstairs/downstairs.

People choose what to see based on the high concept. Make sure to deliver an ending consistent with the high concept -- it is what the audience paid for.

Outline everything. Use story beats. Keep character’s mouths taped up, until they absolutely MUST speak. Write the script and the dialogue at the last minute, after you’ve revised the hell out of the outline.

Why do we typically sing songs during Christmas instead of other holidays like Easter or Thanksgiving?

Actors give better feedback than writers do.

Leave holes. Write and unwrite. Put it in, take it out.

Get up there yourself. Be in a movie. Take some acting (not writing) classes. Learn how a trained actor approaches a text. Learn why actors take roles. They do as much if not more than the writer does.

Is "Cancel Culture" a Threat to Free Speech? Many argue that cancel culture has gone too far, leading to the silencing of unpopular opinions or voices. But is it really a violation of free speech or a consequence of people holding others accountable?

Your primary job is to create situations. Modern actors will fuck up your dialogue, despite whatever your contract says.

Cut everything that is not a payoff, or a setup for a specific payoff. “Omit needless words.” Think about the sparseness of joke telling, or Grimm Brothers.

Research the facts and then throw away the research.

Architecto dolor quo cumque.