When you read scripts for a living as I do, you notice an interesting phenomenon: certain common elements tend to recur in a majority of the scripts that you read in a specific period of time. These common elements can be premises and story concepts (e.g. after never having read a single script about female [...]

One of my consulting clients – a very nice fellow who is just getting started on his very first script – asked me to outline the process of writing a screenplay for him. I was originally just going to jot down a few brief notes, but as I got into it, I found myself developing [...]

Alfred Hitchcock once said that 90% of the effectiveness of his films was determined in preproduction, based on the decisions he made in the scripting, storyboarding, design, and casting phases. I’m of a similar mind when it comes to screenwriting – I think that the success or failure of most scripts is determined in large [...]

The Writers Store’s advice on writing a script is a great starting point for getting your next script off the ground. Read on for Script Reader Ray Morton’s advice. Professional script readers will often claim that they can tell if a screenplay is going to be good or not after reading just a few pages. [...]

I was talking with a writer friend lately about what qualities a person needed to have in order to be a good screenwriter and this is what we came up with: 1. You have to love movies: You’d think that would be a given, but it never fails to amaze me how many people that [...]

A note before we start this month. Lately, a number of readers have been reposting my columns on a number of other websites and in a number of other blogs. While I am certainly flattered that people think enough of my work to want to share it, I need to advise you that this is [...]

The James Bond film series turns fifty this year. There have been twenty-two movies in this remarkable cinematic line featuring the superspy character created by novelist Ian Fleming, starting with 1962’s Dr. No. and followed by From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live [...]

I am frequently asked how I go about the task of assessing and analyzing a screenplay, so I thought it might be interesting and (hopefully) informative to do a column explaining my process. Obviously, the first thing I do is read the script. I always do this in one sitting so I can experience the [...]

Last month I wrote a column on how to deal well with the critiques and criticisms of your screenwriting. After the column posted, I was taken to task by a few people for painting too rosy a picture of the industry. Most of these brickbats were triggered by this paragraph: Keep in mind that everyone’s [...]