You’ve seen it a thousand times in scripts. Two characters are having an intense conversation when suddenly: That lonely little (beat) sits there like a sad placeholder, the writer’s way of saying “insert acting here.”[…]
Every Character Sounds Like You (And How to Fix It)
Ever notice how everyone in your story somehow graduated from the same vocabulary school? Your grizzled detective, your teenage hacker, and your aristocratic villain all mysteriously share your exact language patterns, verbal tics, and favorite[…]
Bridge the Gap: Scene Transitions That Work in Any Medium
Ever read a book that gave you literary whiplash? One minute you’re in a steamy bedroom scene, the next you’re at a funeral, with zero explanation of how we jumped from passion to passing. The[…]
Playing with Genre: Two Exercises to Shock Your Muse Awake
Let’s face it: genres are like those friends who insist on using TikTok slang in professional emails. They mean well, but sometimes you need to show them a better way. Genre conventions exist for a[…]
The Essential Divide: Why Television and Film Are Not As Interchangeable As You Might Think
Ever watch a movie that felt like six different stories crammed into two hours, leaving you emotionally exhausted but somehow also unsatisfied? Or perhaps you’ve suffered through a ten-episode series that could’ve—should’ve—been a tight 90-minute[…]
When the Words Won’t Come: A Survival Guide for Stuck Writers
Ever stared at a blank page so long you swear it’s staring back? That white void mocking you with its emptiness while the cursor blinks like a judgmental eye? Yeah, me too. We’ve all been[…]