Tom Vaughan’s Post

I say to myself at least once on nearly every screenplay, "This is not working. I am wasting my time." Usually around page 35. 👇 This is so expected with my screenwriting now that as soon as it happens, I think, "Here we go again..." And then I just... carry on. ------ Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 4,900+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email. https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

One way to capture that real-time rhythm is that nothing should take longer to read than it takes to happen on screen. This significantly improves the reader's experience and helps them visualize a movie. Always have a plan. For every word, every sentence, every paragraph, know what you're trying to achieve. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 5k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email: https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

Very careful about who I collaborate with and who's feedback I seek so long as they don't tell me how they would write it. That's it. 1️⃣ What worked for them? 2️⃣ What didn't? 3️⃣ Any questions? All for the greater good of the project itself. Fortunately at a point with one script where (countless rewrites and edits in) I'm able to invite actors to sit around a table and try to bring it to life. Will it get commissioned? 99.9% not but that's not the goal. Doing it to do it rather than be one of those onliners who criticises "lazy writing" despite never having put pen to paper themselves. #scriptwriting #scriptediting #tips #writingtips #development

If you keep asking for notes, you will keep getting them. At some point, you need to put the current project down and write the next. That’s where you’ll see the most improvement in your screenwriting as a whole. You're a different writer now. Take everything you've learned and put it into the foundation of a brand project. You'll be amazed at what the difference is. - Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 5k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email. https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

That need to "get started" before I knew where I was going hobbled my screenwriting for years. The three sins of the outline phase for your screenwriting: 1. Impatience (I want to get to the fun stuff!) 2. Laziness (It's easier to just write it!) 3. Indecisiveness (I can't make a decision.) Do the work. You can’t tell a story if you don’t know what story you’re telling. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 5k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email. https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

Don't just ask what needs to happen in the scene. Get more specific in your screenwriting. Ask what needs to change. What is true at the end of the scene that wasn't true in the beginning? This will help you stay focused on the emotional journey, not just the plot. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 6k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email: https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

Remember when you were a kid, and you were okay with not being great at something? As long as you had fun and you were getting better, you did it. And that’s how you got great at it. Recapture that spirit in your screenwriting. Find the excitement in just getting better. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 5k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email. https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

1) You need a phenomenal logline. This is the whole point of the logline. Make someone want to read the screenplay. 2) Don't be weird. Be normal. Just be a normal person someone doesn't mind communicating with. Sure, you can try additional stuff, and some of it might work. But it doesn't need to be any more complicated than the two things above. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 6k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email: https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

The three most fundamental elements of narrative drama. 1. ) Someone wants something. 2.) They're having trouble getting it. 3.) Something will happen if they fail. If you can't identify all three in your screenwriting, you did something wrong. Rework whatever you're doing until you can. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 5k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email. https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc

Deviating from good story structure in your screenwriting is rarely where you will shine. Structure isn't about formula; it's about momentum and emotional resonance. The scenes, the characters, and the unexpected directions are where you will surprise and delight the reader. -------------- Interested in #screenwriting? If you want to: - Make more compelling choices. - Find a more consistent process. - Maximize the emotional response. Join 5k+ other screenwriters every Tuesday for The Story and Plot Weekly Email: https://lnkd.in/gQPvsGgc