by Trevor Mayes | Sep 2, 2019 | Action Lines, Dialogue, Modern Craft, Writing
Barking up the wrong tree Sometimes, it’s the easy things that can trip you up in a script. Take yelling and screaming, for instance. Seems like it would be an easy thing to indicate, but there are some common problems I’m seeing in scripts that are...
by Trevor Mayes | Aug 27, 2019 | Dialogue, Modern Craft, Writing
Streamline Screenwriting is all about streamlining things. Any redundancies have to go. Such is the case with interruptions. And I’m seeing this mistake a lot: DON’T DO THIS TED Gloria, I can’t be in all places at onc– ...
by Trevor Mayes | Aug 16, 2019 | Formatting, Modern Craft, Text Messaging, Writing
Superman, I defy you! I’m a big fan of David Trottier, AKA “Dr. Format” and his books, “The Screenwriter’s Bible” and “Dr. Format Tells All.” I’m also really impressed by Christopher Riley’s book, “The...
by Trevor Mayes | Aug 4, 2019 | Blake Snyder, My Experiences, Structure
Blake Snyder: October 3, 1957 – August 4, 2009 Ten years ago today, the world lost an amazing soul. At just 51 years of age, Blake Snyder — author, screenwriter, educator and all-round helluva guy — died unexpectedly and left everyone who knew him...
by Trevor Mayes | Jul 17, 2019 | Punctuation, Scene Headings, Writing
CUCKOO FOR COLONS I’m seeing things like this a lot lately: MONTAGE: — Gail washes dishes. — Gail does laundry. — Gail collapses on her bed. Why is there a colon after MONTAGE? NEVER put a colon after a scene heading like MONTAGE or SEQUENCE OF...
