William C. Martell

What makes great dialogue? How can I make my characters each have a different and unique voice?

William Goldman says the most important single element of any screenplay is structure. It’s the skeleton under the flesh and blood of your story. Without it, you have a spineless, formless, mess… a slug! How do you make sure your structure is strong enough to support your story? How do you prevent your story from becoming a slug?

Your screenplay is going to begin with an idea. There are good ideas and bad ideas and commercial ideas and personal ideas. But where do you find ideas in the first place? This handbook explores different methods for finding or generating ideas, and combining those ideas into concepts that sell.

Most screenplays are about a 50/50 split between dialogue and description - which means your description is just as important as your dialogue.

Do you have the Act Two Blues?
Having problems with the middle of your screenplay? Running out of steam halfway through? Getting caught in subplots and slow spots? You may be having Act Two problems! Act Two has a reputation for being the hardest to write. This Blue Book will take you through the desert of Act Two, showing you how to solve those Act Two Blues!