by Trevor Mayes | Jun 13, 2018 | Modern Craft, Style, Writing |
Efficiency Screenwriting is all about efficiency. Maximum impact with the minimum number of words. So one of my biggest pet peeves is when I see the following in scripts: She shakes her head no. There are two big things wrong with that action line: Why is the word...
by Trevor Mayes | Dec 20, 2017 | Style, Words, Writing |
Dude, aren’t all verbs active? Good question, smartass! The truth is, there are passive and active forms of verbs. The active form (without the “ing”) is almost always the best one to use. For example, I often see a variation of the following...
by Trevor Mayes | Jan 22, 2017 | Writing |
When do you capitalize god, mom and dad? Based on the frequency with which I encounter these capitalization mistakes while proofreading scripts, there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding this question. Luckily, there’s a really easy trick to...
by Trevor Mayes | May 17, 2016 | Dialogue, Formatting, Proofreading, Writing |
The Problem In a previous post, I discussed the difference between using dashes (hyphens) and dots (ellipses) at the end of a sentence — a common source of confusion. Recently, I’ve discovered a new and erroneous trend with hyphens. With increasing...
by Trevor Mayes | Jun 23, 2014 | Motivation, Screenwriters, Writing |
Anyone else out there a fan of MMA (mixed martial arts)? No? Doesn’t matter, this lesson applies to any professional endeavor — including screenwriting. So there’s this fighter named Benson Henderson. He’s got about as much genuine swagger as...
by Trevor Mayes | Jun 11, 2014 | Feedback, Proofreading, Rewriting, Script Notes, Words, Writing |
There are many writing achievements that I’m proud to have accomplished: placing in/winning script competitions… having my first script optioned… getting my first paid writing gig… And now I’ve been asked to be the first guest script...
