Resources
Ask ten screenwriters how many acts a screenplay has and you'll get a range of answers — three, four, five, depending on who you're talking to and whether they're writing film or television. The honest answer is that it depends entirely on format. Here'
Resources
Writer credits are complicated, and unpacking them for any particular project may be an impossible task without talking directly to those involved.
Resources
John tackles a difficult question for writers who wonder how long is too long to keep trying.
Resources
John surveyed current and former TV assistants to create a document that is both specific to the world of television and also can broadly apply as a template for how to be a better boss.
Inneresting
John talks about knowing what medium would best suite the story you're trying to tell.
Resources
In screenplay scene headings, INT. and EXT. stand for interior and exterior, respectively. You use INT. when the scene takes place inside a location and EXT. when it occurs outside.
Resources
Colored pages are used in film and television to keep track of revisions to a script as it goes into production.
Resources
One easy way to show one character interrupting another is to use double-dashes or an ellipsis to indicate the first character’s dialogue is being interrupted.
Resources
V.O. (voice over) and O.S. (off-screen) are similar terms, but they have slightly different applications.
Resources
John talks about how to define those moments when the writing isn’t happening when you need it to.
Resources
John looks back at the Writers Guild contract negotiations with the AMPTP, and explains an important part of how screenwriters are paid for their work.
Resources
The standard screenplay font is 12-point Courier – or any close variant like Courier Prime, Courier New, or Courier Final Draft. This has been the industry standard since the era of mechanical typewriters, and it remains the rule today for a straightforward reason: Courier is a fixed-pitch font, meaning every character