Here is the script for It’s Kind of a Funny Story. This script was made available by Drew’s Script-o-Rama. It was written by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden based on the novel by Ned Vizzini.
October 28, 2011
Quote of the Day: Mark Twain
Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
October 27, 2011
Screenwriter Profile: Shane Black
Every screenwriter should read scripts, watch movies, write, write, rewrite, and write.
But there’s an often overlooked task that up-and-coming screenwriters should add to that to-do list: Learn about other screenwriters. Knowing who the players are, who the legends are, who wrote your favorite films, who has had the most commercial success — it’s all valuable information that will help us writers move forward in our own careers.
So let’s start this series off with one of the fathers of the action genre, Shane Black.
The Writer:
Shane Black is known for his sparse writing style and his prowess in the action/adventure genre. He sold the script for Lethal Weapon in 1987 at the age of 22. Black holds the record for the largest sum paid for a spec script — $4 million for The Long Kiss Goodnight.
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October 27, 2011
Quote of the Day: Allan Sillitoe
The art of writing is to explain the complications of the human soul with the simplicity that can be universally understood.
October 26, 2011
Script: Abduction
Here’s the script for Abduction provided by myPDFscripts. This script written by Shawn Christensen was on the Blacklist a few years back. See what it takes to get on there yourself.
October 26, 2011
Quote of the Day: CJ Cherryh
It is perfectly okay to write garbage–as long as you edit brilliantly.
October 25, 2011
What Agents Have to Say About Loglines
InkTip.com has a new article about writing loglines that get attention. It’s a fascinating read, and I recommend taking a look at the full article here. But if you’re in a rush, here is what a few successful agents told Inktip they’re looking for in a logline:
Nouns + Verbs + Irony = Logline
No proper nouns needed ergo…
Clause 13 – A security guard father-to-be (noun) pisses off (verb) real super heroes (noun) by accidentally killing one (verb), and has to run for his life(verb)-when he learns you don’t have to be super to be a hero (irony.)
When writers do this, they nail it.
I learned from the best: Blake Snyder, RIP.
– Barbara Bitela, The Silver/Bitela Agency
It should be in the active voice. No more than 2 lines or so. Mention what it’s in the tone of or vein of, but never say in the vein of ________meets_________. A lot of people find this annoying. Convey the genre and the central conflict of the script. Avoid run on sentences. If you can’t fit in one sentence, make it two.
For example, “Hang Up and Drive” by Bob Gale:
To impress a girl, a teenager figures out how to call bad drivers in their cars and harass them for their poor driving…only to inadvertently become the target of an infamous ‘freeway killer’.
– An Anonymous Coordinator at APA
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October 25, 2011
Quote of the Day: David Mamet
Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement – they offer not drama but thrills.
