A Technique-Based Approach to Screenwriting  : by David S Freeman who opens his bag of tricks to reveal some of the techniques the best screenwriters keep up close at hand.

We know that painters have techniques for their craft, such as mixing colors and utilizing perspective. And actors have all sorts of techniques for "getting into character."

But what about screenwriters? Can they also have a palette of techniques they can employ?

By a "writing technique" I mean:

1. It can be identi...

How to Plug the Holes in Your Script - veteran script doctor Michael Ray Brown runs down a few questions to ask yourself before you send that script out into the world.

Writers often ask me what I look for in a script. I have only one rule: the script must capture my interest and keep me wanting to see what happens next. But how do you do this?

• Do you load up your script with action?
• Do you keep trying to shock or surprise your audience?
• Do you create a "Whammo Chart" like Joel Silve...

1. Is it properly formatted?

2. Proper spelling and punctuation. Sentence fragments okay.

3. Is there a discernible three-act structure?

4. Are all scenes needed? No scenes off the spine, they will die on screen.

5. Screenplay descriptions should direct the reader's mind's eye, not the director's camera.

6. Begin the screenplay as far into the story as possible.

7. Begin a scene as late as possible, end it as early as possible. A screenpla...