What goes into writing a great movie script?

Make sure to pack enough explosives into the rocket.

Leave holes. Write and unwrite. Put it in, take it out.

To develop a unique voice for each character, try interviewing your characters.

Over 7 million Americans are unemployed — the most since 2017. Why it won’t get better anytime soon. - MarketWatch

Conflict is your power source; without it you have no drama and hence no script.

What you leave unwritten is as important as what you write. SUBTEXT.

Write in reverse time. Major characters need to change polarity; minor characters may remain the same at the end.

Where and how did ballet originate?

Primary characters must change polarities. Secondary characters can change less.

Your primary job is to create situations. Modern actors will fuck up your dialogue, despite whatever your contract says.

Audiences are smarter than you think. Something about turning down the house lights makes their IQs go up.

What is the original source of the discord between Princes Harry and William? Does it go back to their childhood, or did it start with Meghan Markle?

Use status to help drive conflict. King Lear/fool. Upstairs/downstairs.

All rules are made to be broken, but you damn well better know WHY you’re breaking them.

Get up there yourself. Be in a movie. Take some acting (not writing) classes. Learn how a trained actor approaches a text. Learn why actors take roles. They do as much if not more than the writer does.

How do Flat Earthers explain time zones?

Outline everything. Use story beats. Keep character’s mouths taped up, until they absolutely MUST speak. Write the script and the dialogue at the last minute, after you’ve revised the hell out of the outline.

A scene should change valence from beginning to end. Up to down, down to up.

Don’t direct from the page. Everyone, from the director on down, wants to be part of the process of making movies. Let them do their work.

Is Computer Science worth 5 years from now? I am interested in learning Python. Should I start studying on my own? Will AI fully replace the coders? Lastly, should I change my career?

Maintain a slush pile/idea file. When you are ready to write, choose the best seeds to plant.

Actors give better feedback than writers do.

People choose what to see based on the high concept. Make sure to deliver an ending consistent with the high concept -- it is what the audience paid for.

Killer Inn is Square Enix’s new ‘murder mystery action’ game - The Verge

Cut everything that is not a payoff, or a setup for a specific payoff. “Omit needless words.” Think about the sparseness of joke telling, or Grimm Brothers.

Research the facts and then throw away the research.

Learn to tell a story orally and not through writing. Try telling your story to a friend.

Did you know that by the end of the Biden/Harris regime, the United States' population will have increased by 7.46% in just 4 years? And historically, this type of mass immigration leads to a housing crisis and unaffordable housing for all?

The DSM 5 is a wonderful character compendium.

A critical function of storytelling is wish fulfillment. This is why video games are so popular. “That protagonist is JUST LIKE ME.”

Only God gets it right the first time. Rewrite everything.

I’ve a dismissive avoidant partner who said that he’s overwhelmed by our relationship and that he wants to break up, how do I get him back?