Two online workshops this summer… my only ones in 2024! In September 2016, I began a new chapter in my creative journey as an assistant professor of screenwriter at the film school at DePaul University. As a result, I will only offer group workshops — Prep: From Concept to Outline and Pages I: Writing the First Draft — in the summer which means the next sessions I will lead will begin in July. Here’s the schedule: Prep: From Concept to Outline 2024–07–08 Pages I: Writing The First Draft 2024–08–26 Prep: From Concept to Outline: This 6-week online workshop guides you through the story de ..read more

My interview with 2023 Black List writer for her script Last Resort. This is a special interview for me: Laura Stoltz is one of my former students. She wrote a complex, compelling screenplay “Last Resort” which was named to the 2023 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Laura about her creative background, the craft of screenwriting, and the challenges of writing a script with such dark subject matter while infusing it with considerable humor. Today in Part 3 of a 6-part series to run each day this week, Laura discusses how in writing the script, she balanced drama ass ..read more

Sometimes it’s a great idea to put your story’s characters together in a situation that ‘rattles their cages’ — and that’s certainly what happens in this great scene from Almost Famous (2000), written and directed by Cameron Crowe. The movie’s premise per IMDb: William Miller is a 15 year old kid, hired by Rolling Stone magazine to tour with, and write about Stillwater, an up and coming rock band. In this scene, Miller (Patrick Fugit) accompanies Stillwater on an airplane to the band’s next gig. Other key players in the scene are the two leaders of the band Russel Hammond (Billy Crud ..read more

Written by Larry Cohen A trailer for the movie: https://medium.com/media/322a16387f60fd90ce97ddc3ce874151/href You may read the screenplay here. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of movie and TV scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story. For more Page One posts, go here. Page One: “Phone Booth” (2002) was originally published in Go Into The Story on Medium, where people are c ..read more

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 30 This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas. Today’s story: “The Russians Took Their Children. These Mothers Went and Got Them Back.” For weeks after Russian troops forcibly removed Natalya Zhornyk’s teenage son from his school last fall, she had no idea where he was or what had happened to him ..read more

My interview with 2023 Black List writer for her script Last Resort. This is a special interview for me: Laura Stoltz is one of my former students. She wrote a complex, compelling screenplay “Last Resort” which was named to the 2023 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Laura about her creative background, the craft of screenwriting, and the challenges of writing a script with such dark subject matter while infusing it with considerable humor. Today in Part 2 of a 6-part series to run each day this week, Laura talks about how she quit a promising career as a creative p ..read more

Photo by Yusuf Evli on Unsplash “The one thing I really like about it is… screenwriting is a kind of format where you spend six weeks or eight weeks or however long you spend, and you can have something that’s actually done. Something complete. It’s not perfect. It’ll need more drafts. But it’s ready to show to people. With novels ‑‑ I find it’s more of a marathon. You might not be ready to share anything for years.” — Isaac Adamson From my April 2016 interview For more Screenwriting 101 articles, go here. Screenwriting 101: Isaac Adamson was originally published in Go Into ..read more

Screenplay by J.K. Rowling & Steve Kloves, based upon a screenplay by J.K. Rowling A trailer for the movie: https://medium.com/media/e7af4c3897f2bdd5d1a2ab96a511efe9/href You may read the screenplay here. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of movie and TV scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story. For more Page One posts, go here. Page One: “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets o ..read more

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 29 This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas. Today’s story: “I was shunned growing up in Utah. It destroyed me mentally. The practice is alive and well.” These days, when most people think of “shunning”, they probably think of religions or cults cutting off their ex-members, like former Jehovah’s Wit ..read more

My interview with 2023 Black List writer for her script Last Resort. This is a special interview for me: Laura Stoltz is one of my former students. She wrote a complex, compelling screenplay “Last Resort” which was named to the 2023 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Laura about her creative background, the craft of screenwriting, and the challenges of writing a script with such dark subject matter while infusing it with considerable humor. Today in Part 1 of a 6-part series to run each day this week, Laura reflects on how she developed an interest in writing at an ..read more