Trying to make sense of all of the dos and don’ts of scriptwriting can be very confusing, especially when so many of them seem to be contradictory. Mastering all of the rules can often seem like an impossible task and can cause many people to become discouraged and even consider giving up. Here’s why you shouldn’t.

Readers aren’t trying to steal your creativity. It’s just that if you make the process of reading your script far too arduous and time-consuming, then all you are doing is giving development people — all of whom are always pressed for time and always have a million other scripts to read — an excellent excuse to give up on your screenplay and move on to the next one in the pile.

If you have some spare time to read anything other than the next draft of your screenplay, Ray Morton recommends these texts on Hollywood history.

I recently finished reading for the Big Break™ screenwriting contest, something that I do every year. Over the course of this months-long assignment, I evaluated approximately 300 scripts, which gave me the opportunity to see what’s going on out there in spec-script land.

The Dino De Laurentiis’ production of King Kong premiered on December 17, 1976 and I was first in line to see it. I was not disappointed. As promised, in John Berkey’s striking illustration for the poster, the film made spectacular use of the World Trade Center as the stage for Kong’s heroic last stand.

Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to attend a 30th anniversary showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark at AMPAS. From a screenwriting perspective, I was impressed all over again by Lawrence Kasdan’s terrific script. It’s a textbook example of great screenwriting.

It’s an unending debate: Are contests worth your time, talent, and dollars? Here’s Ray Morton’s take, along with a list of some of the more longstanding, reputable competitions out there.

In the last installment of Meet the Reader, Ray Morton took screenwriters to task for the lies they tell themselves. In the current installment, he responds to readers’ comments and tackles yet more lies.

Annual earnings, court decisions, and awards updates are in the June/July WGA News round-up.