the mythical orthodoxy of screenwriting

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  • #16
    all the good ones have been taken.

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    • #17
      Rule 1: Write as original a story as you can, write it as well as you can, make it look as much like a screenplay as you can.

      Rule 2: There is no Rule 2.

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      • #18
        Totally unfair. I attempted twice to start a thread on the rules of Brads, and they both got deleted.

        I'll add these:

        All dialogue must have subtext. If your characters EVER actually say what they're thinking, then you've failed.

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        • #19
          kullervo:

          great article. highly entertaining and informative. thanks for sharing the link.

          noh1:

          pssst... "we see"

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          • #20
            What do you mean APW? Damn!!

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            • #21
              Tony: I got it. That was ****in hilarious.

              I only have one rule, but it's nothing I have to enforce. I just do it anyway.

              If you say

              EXT. DOWNTOWN STREET - DAY

              Do you really have to describe it?

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              • #22
                never use "we see" or "we hear". Never. If you do, you will be mocked from Chatsworth to the O.C., from Santa Monica to San Bernadino.





                pssst... William. Thanks.

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                • #23
                  The Zen Koans of Screenwriting. :lol

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                  • #24
                    Oh and if you're in England don't write another god awful Sarf Lundin gangster movie.

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                    • #25
                      The prohibition against '-ing' verbs as in: Bob is nodding off when the telephone rings and wakes him.

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                      • #26
                        "Don't use adverbs in your exposition." Yet I always see them used in professional scripts. The first ten pages of the script "Sideways" contains: Instantly, fitfully, hurriedly, finally, carefully, blandly.

                        Why do the gurus deliberately, repeatedly, and carefully warn us that such verbalism undoubtedly screams amateur. Many pros contstantly do it.

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                        • #27
                          * don't even bother typing FADE IN at the top of the page if you don't live in LA.

                          * all your writing shortcomings will be forgiven if you have a killer story.

                          * all your story shortcomings will be forgiven if your writing is awesome.

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                          • #28
                            Don't Suck.

                            kullervo

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                            • #29
                              Myth: you need 'connections' to get into the business.

                              Maybe that's not a screenwriting "rule/myth" but it comes up a lot and it's bunk.



                              Edited: of course you need to create relationships with people, but you don't have to be born into the business.

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                              • #30
                                The prohibition against '-ing' verbs as in: Bob is nodding off when the telephone rings and wakes him.
                                I agree with that one. When you have a construction like that, there's almost always a better way to write it.

                                But that's not just true of screenwriting. And I forgot we're not discussing the rules. Never mind.

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