Story & Structure · 7 min
Learn Screenwriting By Doing It – Online And In Your Own Time
The below is a report of an experiment: the trial run of the legendary Immersion Screenwriting course. The beta version was a little rough and dirty -…
The Journal
Vol. 17 · 1,240 entries
25 August 2026
Quote of the day
Take what’s useful, argue with the rest.
Vol. 17
Story & Structure · 5 min
Writing For Film – Filmmakers Quoted
Flavorwire published 20 quotes from filmmakers on writing. So you don't have to flick through all 20, I put the best ones on a single page for you.…
Story & Structure · 3 min
Great Characters In Movies Share One Thing…
People will say a lot of things about what it takes to create great characters: they require depth and complexity. They must be multi-dimensional, they need…
Story & Structure · 5 min
Ex Machina’s Secrets Show Garland’s Directing Genius
Alex Garland has mastered storytelling for a long time. I remember the novel The Beach to be a riveting read. Here I will show you how he lifted his own screenplay…
Story & Structure · 10 min
Jimmy McGovern: Soap Writer With Substance
Behind the charming accent and sweet demeanor hides a clever cynic. Angry at the injustice of society, Jimmy McGovern has a reason to write. In an…
Story & Structure · 4 min
One Surprising Scene That Earns Spotlight Best Picture
I really enjoyed Spotlight. Not a masterpiece, but a relevant story, well told. Irony is not my strong side, and some now believe that I genuinely have the…
Pitching & Selling · 3 min
7 Reasons Why Spotlight Shouldn’t Have Been Made
People go to the movies to be entertained. The emerging screenwriter should rule out writing scripts for any other reason than that. Like Spotlight. This film should not…
News · 6 min
Where Is Your Portfolio Website? [Marketing For Screenwriters]
Build it and they will come, right? In other words: just write an amazing screenplay, and producers will start hassling you. Well, not really. And I'm…
Movie Moments · 5 min
Sicario Threshold Sequence
When I saw Denis Villeneuve’s Maelstrom at a film festival in 2000, I walked out. Today, I don’t remember a thing about that film. Perhaps I…
Story & Structure · 19 min
Structure: How to train your dragon
With symbolic depth and masterful imagery, the craftsmanship of How to train your dragon exceeds that of many Academy Award-winners. Do not take the fact that…
Story & Structure · 12 min
The Force Awakens – Screenplay Analysis
THE FORCE AWAKENS - LOGLINE: An orphaned scavenger and a cowardly defector become the unlikely guardians of the location of Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi alive…
Movie Moments · 4 min
William Friedkin And The Faces Of The 70’s
William Friedkin is a big part of what I love about the 70’s. It was the decade when I became a teenager. It was also the…
Script Perfection · 12 min
Beau Willimon, Writer Out Of Necessity
Beau Willimon is a powder keg of clean-cut realism, childlike curiosity and sharp wit. During his Bafta speech, Willimon covers political writing, research in everyday life…
Structure Analysis · 19 min
Structure – The Help
Breaking down Tate Taylor's award-winner The Help (2011), proved challenging. The same issue making the piece hard to analyze, simultaneously makes it extraordinary. Taylor takes remarkable care of…
Movie Moments · 6 min
Screen Dialogue Genius: Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler is a phenomenal screenplay, and a great movie. I read the script long before seeing the film, and had such a great experience that I…