Book Reviews · 7 min
Reviewed: Personality
“Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are” by Daniel Nettle. Oxford University Press, Oxford 298 pages. ISBN-978-0-19-921142-5 Amazon Price: US $10.17 I recently watched “Public…
The Journal
Vol. 17 · 1,240 entries
26 August 2026
Quote of the day
Take what’s useful, argue with the rest.
Vol. 17
MM on Monday · 5 min
On Adaptations
Let me get on my Project Gutenberg soapbox. One of the most under-appreciated opportunities for aspiring screenwriters is Project Gutenberg. As many of you know very well, most…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best o/t Web 21 Feb 10
:: Independent film, the new horizons. :: Why companies toss your spec script. :: Using dialect in your script, and how to go about it. ::…
Story & Structure · 8 min
Make Our Myths
What is the motivation for our films? How does the Australian film industry maintain its identity in this new age of filmmaking? What should a screenwriter…
Book Reviews · 6 min
The Sequence Approach
“Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach” by Paul Joseph Gulino. Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. New York, NY 2004. 230 pages. ISBN-13: 0-8264-1568-7 Amazon Price: US $14.25 Paul…
Story & Structure · 5 min
The Incident versus The Call
On the one hand there are the followers of Syd Field who speak of 'Inciting Incident'. Then there are the believers in mythology who speak the…
MM on Monday · 2 min
The Reverse Arc
I saw Barefoot in the Park the other night. It was okay. But something interesting happened in the Third Act that might be worth sharing. We reach…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best o/t Web 14 Feb 10
:: Happy Valentine! Mernit and the Revenge of the Romantic :: Download the Moonstruck script at MyPDFscripts.com :: The Dorothy Effect: travelling to another world. ::…
Script Perfection · 5 min
Translating Visions
At one time or another, all of us, have been told by those wiser that we should “write visually” as screenwriters. It’s good advice and frankly…
Book Reviews · 6 min
Understanding Screenwriting
“Understanding Screenwriting: Learning from Good, Not-Quite-So-Good, and Bad Screenplays” by Tom Stempel. Continuum New York, N.Y. 2008. 230pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-8264-2939-1 Amazon Price: US $17.05 ABOUT THE…
Pitching & Selling · 4 min
Writings of a Reader
Ever wondered what goes on inside the minds of the fragrant few who get hired to read our screenplays? Those who rip through our darlings, scribble…
MM on Monday · 8 min
On Breaking Structure
First, let me be clear about one thing. All new, aspiring writers must master the three act structure first. That’s the most basic building block of…
Best of the Web · 1 min
Best o/t Web 7 Feb 10
:: UNK is BACK! :: Do what works for you. :: Finding that Great High Concept Screenplay Idea. :: The carpentry metaphor, about polishing a script. ::…
Book Reviews · 7 min
The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver
The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver: How to Recognise, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems” by Syd Field. Bantam Dell. New York, NY 2006. 363 pages. ISBN-13: 978-440-50491-7 Amazon…
Stuff · 1 min
Which screenplay deserves it most?
The noms are known. Some are in, some are out. The survey question this week is not who do you THINK will win, nor who would…