Scott Myers

More than EVER, we need good storytellers. Put a human face on The Other. Shed light on a Deeper Truth. Engender Empathy. Fan the flames of Hope. Motivate people to Act. Make us Laugh. Make us Cry. Make us Thrilled. Make us Think. But mostly, make us feel our Shared Humanity.

Ray Bradbury: “I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 years now, which reads ‘Don’t think!’ You must never think at the typewriter — you must feel.” My Go Into The Story reflections on Bradbury's sage advice. gointothestory.blcklst.com/d… #writing #screenwriting

The original spec script for A Quiet Place is 67 pages long. In part because there's so little dialogue. "Make a sound. You die." That was the idea Beck & Woods had as students in college. Years later, they wrote AQP. Paramount marketing ran with that concept for posters.

Here is a video where I interviewed Beck & Woods about writing A Quiet Place. youtube.com/watch?v=xHRG11Cv…

Complex characters. Compelling situation. Emotional core. Protagonist's journey. Entertaining scenes. Engaging plot. Cinematic writing. It's the STORY that matters most.

Check out my 15-part Go Into The Story series: "So-Called Screenwriting 'Rules'". gointothestory.blcklst.com/s… #screenwriting

Grace Kelly reading a screenplay. #screenwriting

Arash Amel: “It’s all about that conflict between passion and discipline and making yourself write when you don’t want to write. That’s the difference between the professional screenwriter and a hobbyist.” #screenwriting

Michael Chabon: “A writer shapes their story to bring into being a little world that, like God’s, is at once terribly imperfect and filled with astonishing life.” #writing

If your characters are compelling, the plot engaging, the pacing tight, the emotion authentic, and the story concept strong, none of the so-called screenwriting rules matter. The only thing that does is how your story plays on the page. #screenwriting

Nancy Meyers: “My first draft was exactly 250 pages. I didn’t have brads long enough. It took me eight or nine drafts to edit. It’s impossible to see what it is at first. You just keep taking away and it begins to shape up. Keep following the story.” gointothestory.blcklst.com/s…

My blog GoIntoTheStory.blcklst.com with 34k+ articles – FREE! My eBook: “Spec Script Deals: From 1991-2025” – FREE! Now my Patreon. For as little as $1 per month, videos, lectures, office hours, live Zooms. Film School on a Microbudget. patreon.com/cw/GoIntoTheStor… #screenwriting

Arash Amel: “My one note of screenwriting advice is: Make sure you can *see* the movie before you start writing the actual script.” #screenwriting

Michael Chabon: "To do your very best work as an artist, whatever the discipline, takes complete immersion in the work." #writing

Hollywood has *always* operated with this business principle when it comes to movies: "Similar but different." They feel most comfortable with projects that are similar to successful movies, but different enough to stand on their own. gointothestory.blcklst.com/s… #screenwriting

This is *precisely* what my book The Protagonist's Journey is about. The outer journey (Plot) is really about the Protagonist's *inner* journey, a journey of self-discovery to answer this question: "Who am I?" We see it in movie after movie after movie... amazon.com/The-Protagonists-…

Arash Amel: "Almost any story becomes a visual enactment of the psychological dilemmas faced by the lead character." #screenwriting