Articles

"I have been involved with Screenwriting U since early 2008. At the time I was a writer with a lot of concepts swimming around in my head but zero idea on what it took to be successful in the business. I started with Hal and Cheryl Croasmun's Pro series class - a six month crash

Here is a partial list of ScreenwritingU's accomplishments and accolades. Script Magazine Script Magazine listed us as #1 in their upcoming issue in an article titled “Top 9 Online Screenwriting Courses, Plus One.”   You can see it in the July/August 2010 issue that has already been sent out to their online subscribers and will soon

Whether you are trying to learn screenwriting or sell your script, it is important that you take advantage of every opportunity you can to increase your chances of success. Some people have estimated the odds of a good screenwriter selling a script to be in the neighborhood of 1 in 5,000. What if you could

See Part 1 of this Article here. Since this business seems so tough to break into, I'm always looking for ways to increase the probability of success. It is a mystery that is well worth solving. Last week, I was one of four speakers who talked about writing "Producer-friendly" scripts to a L.A. screenwriting organization.

Every week or so, another unproduced screenwriter breaks into this business and begins their career. After years of hard work and wondering if they'd ever make it, they have achieved a very big goal. I believe part of their success came from making "high- probability" decisions and taking actions based on those decisions. Last week,

See Part 1 of this Article here.So what's the problem with starting a script with a Voice Over?Two things. First, one out of two screenplays by a new screenwriter starts with a voice over and in most cases, they bore the reader to death telling them the story that should be shown on the screen.That

I'm not a big fan of voice-overs. The majority of the ones I see in unproduced screenplays remind me of a Real Estate agent going from room to room saying "This is the kitchen... and this is the living room. And this is..." By the second sentence, I wish they would just shut the hell

How important is it to have your writing be fresh and surprising for a contest, agent or producer? Very important. It immediately identifies you as a writer with TALENT. It sets you apart from all the stale scripts that came in this week and means you are "someone to watch" at minimum. In this article,

How important is a title to your success? Sometimes, it can make a huge difference. If the first thing a producer hears is a great logline and that is followed by a great title, you will be seen as a professional.Once again, a great title means EASY MARKETING and that translates into potential box office

In the first part of this Article series, we discussed different ways to surprise an audience or reader. In this one, we'll work with elevating the quality of the surprise. Remember, you aren't looking to do a Sixth Sense type of surprise every five pages. That would make your script so manic that no one