Is Your Rewrite a Big Pain In The… Back?
[spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom=”no” pb_border_bottom=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Is Your Rewrite a Big Pain In The… Back? By Jacob Krueger [/spb_text_block] [divider type=”thin” text=”Go to top” full_width=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block pb_margin_bottom=”no” pb_border_bottom=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] (Things To Learn About Rewriting From a Truly Great Massage) You know the spot. That aching ball of tension in that one […]
The Legal Hurdles of Adapting A Novel or Book
The Legal Hurdles of Adapting A Novel or Book By Jacob Krueger [divider type=”thin” full_width=”no” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Here’s a question I recently received from a student: The Question: Given that I have very few connections to the industry, how would you best recommend moving forward if I have a novel in mind I’d like […]
Ready to TRASH your whole Script? Not Until You Read This Article.
The other day, a student asked me a profound question. It’s a problem faced by so many writers that I decided to include it and my answer in this month’s newsletter.
What do you do when you’re so fed up with your writing, you’re ready to scrap your whole project?
Whoa! Pull those pages out of the trash can– at least until you try these simple tricks to re-energize your writing and get your project rocking again…
Kill Your Outline: A Screenwriter’s Guide To Discovering Your Character
Young writers often get obsessed with writing for the audience. Even in the earliest drafts, their focus is on sneaking in tons of exposition about their characters, layering themes or symbolic motifs, or carefully outlining the mechanics for a surprise ending they think will be the key to selling their script.
It’s no wonder that this happens. After all, these are the things that film scholars rave about and film studies classes teach– complex psychological portraits and deep thematic importance, screenplay structures, beat sheets and outlines.
So why do movies written this way so often come out flat? Why does it seem like nothing is happening, when the writer has put so much effort into building the psychological life of the character? Why do all the themes and motifs just feel like smoke and mirrors? Why is no one reacting to the surprise ending you’ve worked so hard to craft?
It’s not because these things aren’t important. They are. It’s because you’re focusing on them TOO EARLY.