writing

Q & A with Suzanne Gundersen of ScreenwriteNOW

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Suzanne Gundersen is Founder of ScreenwriteNOW and Inner Story Consultant who mentors & teaches screenwriters and industry creatives how to clear the path that lets their story flow.

Since 2015, she has skillfully helped screenwriters overcome fears, worries & blocks on demand, get focused and sharpen creativity, build tremendous confidence, and deepen their emotional worldview into wisdom & truth, to hook audiences into wanting more.  She uses natural tools & techniques that relieve tension & stress, so her clients become more authentic and embodied in their work.

She expertly shares a technique she calls Neuro-Energy Tapping, a self-use acupressure technique that calms the mind and relaxes the body; combined with her 3RP Method, creates powerful shifts towards experiencing the 5C’s; centered calm, clarity, creativity and confidence! 

Her programs “Just Write Now” and “Get Pitch Ready” have helped thousands of screenwriters get focused into their creative rhythm & flow, effortlessly finish scripts and pitch with confidence.  “My Worldview”  is a program that helps writers transform their personal hero’s journey, so they can express their authentic value and emotional truth in their writing & presenting their work. 

Her work supports individuals and groups, she speaks & leads online workshops and programs. Visit www.screenwritenow.com to download her free e-book and schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your needs & goals.

What was the last thing you read/watched you thought was incredibly well-written?

So many things! But the one I’ve been watching recently has been QUEEN OF THE SOUTH. I particularly enjoyed the first two seasons because of the subplots. There were some exciting and integrated subplots that threw the main plot into a lot of twisting. I always feel like really good writing and really good shows have a lot of integrated storylines at lots of different levels; at the surface level, at the deeper level, sideways. I’ve watched other seasons since then, but the writing for those has been a little bit flatter, more one-dimensional.

How did you get started in the industry?

I’ve been working in natural stress management for over fifteen years, and about five years ago, I was approached by a writer who asked if I could help her with her writer’s block. She led me to another published author who was working on a series of books who asked if I could help her with her writer’s block. She then referred me to a good friend of hers who was a showrunner on a network show, and asked if I could come in and help her writers room. I had no idea what that meant. I just knew I could help people clear their blocks.

I got into the writers room and found out that there was a writer who was getting divorced, a writer whose child was diagnosed with autism, and there was another one who had dealt with the recent death of her mother. All of these distractions were coming into play as to why they weren’t cohesive in the writers room. I worked with them as a group to help them get back in the zone together, and I worked individually with those three to help them process what was really going on in their lives and distracting them from being creatively on focus and on point.

From there it’s been a lot of word of mouth. I’ve done podcasts, had my services offered as a prize at festivals, I get to speak and teach classes at different screenwriting schools, including through Zoom during COVID. It’s all been a lot of fun.

You focus more on helping a writer utilize their emotions as part of their writing process, which includes a spot-on accurate description as the writer’s own “hero’s journey”. Why is it important for a writer to focus on their own emotions as much as on what they’re writing?

What else are we writing if not about our own emotional wisdom? We are energy as a person. We’re energy in motion, which is emotion. We’re learning through lots of different experiences that we go through in life. The hero’s journey just seemed to be a really great way to analogize between the story that’s being written in our own lives and what we’re writing about is really our own lives. I take people on their own hero’s journey by looking at the top two or three unresolved life experiences that don’t sit with them very well. When we don’t process things, we put a closed door to it, which keeps us from being able to access the emotional wisdom. I help the writer go on their own hero’s journey to go and resolve those life experiences, so they’re not afraid to write from the places they’re trying to avoid.

When writers are writing, they’re really writing about different parts of themselves. If the writing is flat, it’s often because they haven’t done the work to transform their own hero’s journey and  the unresolved life issues keeping the rich emotionally deep parts of themselves at bay. For them to be able to focus on their emotions and writing, and do it from a place of peace and wisdom, it’s very empowering and helps them to be able to write those deeply connected storylines that are really going to grab their audience.

Another common experience for writers is the dreaded writer’s block, which can be quite an obstacle. How does your Just Write NOW! program help a writer towards overcoming it?

We are either allowing or blocking, and that can be creatively, professionally, or personally. Just Write NOW is a program I developed which shows how to use one simple effortless technique to help the writer get back into focus. And not just mental focus, but into that creative rhythm and flow; that writing zone where they sit down and go “Oh my gosh, I just wrote for hours!”, or “I can’t believe I just made it through the whole first act!”, or “Those ten pages just flowed out of me!” Often that comes from being able to clear whatever is in the path that’s keeping you from your natural creative rhythm and flow.

Just Write NOW is a program that gives the fundamentals of a technique I call Neuro Energy Tapping, and a process I call 3RP, which stands for Resolve, Release, Reframe and Project. Neuro Energy Tapping is a self-use acupressure technique that helps to calm the mind and relax the body, and help the writer get into their rhythm and flow. It’s good for anybody dealing with all kinds of personal or professional obstacles, or experiencing “blank page syndrome”, or feels backed into a corner they can’t write their way out of.

The program lays out using this tapping technique to clear those distractions, and then using the 3RP method to help them transform that stress to get to a place of broader perspective about those distractions and back to the task at hand of that creative rhythm and flow. Once they’re back in there, I ask them to write down what their formula is for that. What do they tell themselves? What do they believe about themselves? What does it feel like to write? What are the best conditions to be able to write in? Is it the temperature? Is it an environment? Is it your favorite sweatshirt? Just Write NOW helps them to clear the distractions and dip into that creative rhythm and flow and really anchor it by identifying all the characteristics that keep them in that zone. That way they can get into it fairly quickly when they’re not there.

You mentioned “the 3RP Method”, which is a big part of your approach. What is that, and how does it work?

Resolve, Release, Reframe and Project, which is a sequence of how you’re processing distractions so you can get focused.

The first R is resolving. “How do we know our distraction?” What’s our evidence or proof? Is it a blank page? Did you get a lot of feedback from a manager or agent, and you’re resistant to doing it? Or maybe you’re feeling stuck. Whatever the symptom is, we’re looking to resolve it. We use the tapping technique to help them loosen the grip on that stress.

The second R is releasing it. When we’re doing this tapping technique, we’re sending a message to the part of the brain called the amygdala, as well as to the central nervous system to say “it’s okay to calm down now”. It’s easier to release something when we’re no longer feeling threatened, so that helps our stressed-out brain start to calm down too.

Once we’ve resolved and released it, we can move on to the third R of reframing it, which means once you’ve stepped out of a metaphorical tornado of blocks in your life and you’re feeling a little bit easier about things, how can you now think about that thing that was blocking you? What new ideas can you bring, whether it’s a new inspiration to write or a new way to look at the thing that was creating the distraction that’s not as big of a deal as it was before. And this happens in a way that’s truly unique and organic to the individual.

When that happens, I guide them towards the P portion, which is to project; to really look forward into their writing and be in that zone, where we can start to identify the formula for what it’s like to be in that creative rhythm and flow, and be able to go there when they need to.

You also mentioned Neuro Energy Tapping. What is that, and what are its benefits? Not just for writers, but for everybody.

I’m kind of a neuroscience geek. I call it Neuro Energy Tapping, but you may know it out in the mainstream world as “emotional freedom technique” or “the tapping solution”. The benefits are that it helps stop and slow the momentum of thoughts, feelings, the body’s reaction experience in the moment. It also helps to be able to open up new pathways for people to feel more at ease and get a result, and start building momentum in the direction they want. It’s a self-use acupressure technique where you literally use your fingertips to tap on energy points, and when you do that, you can shift and experience how you’re feeling your body, your emotions and your mind.

And it’s not just for writers. I just happen to apply it to help writers because it’s really a great technique to help clear distractions and get people focused; specifically for creative people to help them get into their rhythm and flow. Everyone can use it. It’s a wonderful, natural stress relief technique that can be used anytime, anywhere, to break the connection between the mind and body that might be causing stress or struggle.

It goes without saying that writing a screenplay can be exceptionally stressful. Was this part of the inspiration for your “reprogramming your stress” method? Is this something anybody can do?

Yes! Writers have so many great ideas, and that’s the fun part of writing. The real work of writing isn’t just the skill of putting it together, but being able to write from those places of emotional depth and wisdom. The process I take you through for reprogramming your stress is to be able to go to those distractions and processing them with the 3RP method. You can have those experiences and thoughts sit within you with that much more peace.

Once you’re at a place of peace, you can actually write more confidently, and really be able to put all the intricate parts of a script together. This involves a lot of thinking and emotion, so all that tapping helps to reprogram the stress to help spread it out into “bite-size pieces”. Take whatever’s causing the triggers and neutralize them to be able to allow that kind of organic refrain about how to go about doing the real work of putting the story together in a meaningful way.

You also offer a “Get Pitch Ready” package, which involves building confidence as part of pitching a project. Why do you think the idea of pitching is so intimidating to writers, and what are some potential solutions to dealing with it?

Get Pitch Ready is a program I teach that shares how to be able to really connect with your inner authentic value, and that’s what sells stories: you and your willingness to be seen and be authentic. Whatever story you’re writing, it’s probably been written a hundred times, but the way you tell it and your own willingness to be vulnerable to be sharing your own wounds, to expose yourself emotionally, is really what’s going to make you and your story stand out.

I’ve listened to a lot of pitches, and people just write it all out. It sounds great while they’re writing it, but it doesn’t bring that authentic voice to when they share it. I help people connect with their confidence, or what I call “their inner lion/lioness”, so when they stand up onstage like a lion, this commanding presence. That way they can deliver their authenticity in their pitch.

We’ve got to clear whatever references that we have that are keeping us in the way from feeling safe to be seen, whether we’ve been rejected in the past, or seen other people get rejected. I truly believe there’s no such thing as rejection. It’s either you’re being redirected to deeper levels of self-connection, which the more safe you feel within, the more you can authentically express that value to other people, and that’s what’s going to get people hooked onto your story.

People reading this may say, “That’s not how it was in the past.” And that’s true. It was a lot about what people thought others wanted to hear, or what they wanted them to be, but I think the value system of the future is authenticity, and the more you know your own value and can clear any worries or fears of rejection from the past, that’s what’s going to help you stand out and pitch with success.

In your series of YouTube interviews with experienced professional creatives, you ask each person for “the one golden nugget of advice” they’d pass along. Have there been any common themes, and have any really stood out for you?

There’ve been so many! I’ve done so many interviews, so everybody has their own unique story as to why they have that particular “golden nugget”. I don’t want to share anything specifically, because something might resonate for one person, but not for somebody else. All the incredible people I’ve interviewed have had some experience that’s led them to share what they learned from it in their own unique way. That’s what I love about the industry wisdom in the series I’ve been doing.

How can people find out more about you and the services you provide?

Check out my website – screenwritenow.com, which also includes my online classes, a list of my appearances on podcasts, and if you want to find out about private or group consulting work to help writers process what might be getting in their way of being able to be the best writer they can. I’m also on Twitter – @screenwritenow1

Readers of this blog are more than familiar with my love/appreciation of pie. What’s your favorite kind?

Pecan, and I love dark chocolate in it, because why not? With some nice whipped cream on top.

A somewhat small undertaking

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With all the writing-related stuff I already have going on, I’ve decided to add more one more item to my jam-packed plate.

Every once in a while, the idea for a short film will just pop into existence. Maybe just a concept, or a line of dialogue, or an image around which a story could be built. A few have been percolating in my noggin for a while, so why not start putting them down on paper – on a weekly basis.

I’m not going to say “one a week for a year!” or any nonsense like that. More like “one a week for as long as I can do it.” If it’s just a few months, great. If for some inexplicable reason it somehow actually does end up being a year, that would be amazing, plus I’d have 52 short scripts to show for it.

Nothing too big or overly ambitious. Most likely 5-10 minutes in length, and spanning a range of genres. But knowing me, there’ll probably be a joke or two thrown in.

Why would I want to do this? A few reasons. Like I said, sometimes I just come up with an idea and want to write it. Of the ones I’ve written so far, I think it would be pretty cool to produce at least a few of them (as well as quite the learning experience regarding filmmaking). The others I would make available to filmmakers interested in adding to their repertoire. Always seeing listings for that sort of thing, so why not give it a go?

I’d never really thought about writing shorts before, but after having done it a few times, I find it to be a great way to keep those writing muscles in good shape. All the same elements of a feature-length screenplay, but in a much more condensed version.

I go into this with no goals or expectations. It’s just something I’d like to try.

Let’s see how it goes.

Q & A with Hudson Phillips of ScriptBlast

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Hudson Phillips is a writer and producer from Atlanta, GA. He’s also the founder of ScriptBlast, an online community to help screenwriters navigate the emotional ups and downs of the writing journey, and host of the ScriptBlast Screenwriting Podcast.

What was the last thing you read or watched you considered exceptionally well-written?

The short story collection STORIES OF YOUR LIFE AND OTHERS by Ted Chiang is jaw-droppingly good. I don’t think I’ve ever read a short story collection where every single story is perfect. Each one is weird and memorable and moving and smart and tackles some big gigantic idea. I’ve also really enjoyed the Zoey Ashe series (FUTURISTIC VIOLENCE AND FANCY SUITS and ZOEY PUNCHES THE FUTURE IN THE DICK) by David Wong. Both are laugh-out loud funny with incredibly memorable characters in one of my favorite grounded science fiction worlds. 

Movie-wise, NOBODY was a surprisingly fresh take on the action hero. I could use the same line to describe SHADOW IN THE CLOUD, another film that shook up traditional action films. 

TV-wise, the first season of KILLING EVE really blew me away. I can’t think of a TV show that surprised me as much as that. 

How’d you get your start in the industry?

It is a very long, very winding road that has taken me here, where I still feel like I’m just getting started! I’d always been writing, but in my mid-20s I started taking it more seriously after a music career fizzled out. I ended up writing comedy scripts with two buddies of mine and the second script we wrote together (a sports comedy about church league softball) ended up getting optioned by Lionsgate films (thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend).

For a split-second we were “local celebrities” on radio and in the newspaper and then everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The writers strike happened, pushing it back a few years. Lionsgate changed out leadership and dropped the film. A local production company picked it up and made it, but completely threw our script out. I don’t think a single word of ours ended up on screen (I still haven’t seen it). So a quick high and low right out the gate. My two writing partners both gave up after a couple new scripts went nowhere, so I broke out on my own.

The problem with having writing partners is when you start writing on your own it’s like starting fresh all over again. So I leaned into the movies I loved the most – crazy sci-fi fantasy action adventure stuff – and started to write that. I’d write a script, send it out to connections in Hollywood, no one would be interested, and I’d write another one. I’d get occasional bites from a contest or the Black List, but nothing ever gained traction. I think in large part because I was a single dad to a young kid, so I couldn’t move out to L.A.

Pro tip: it’s SO much harder to make it in this industry if you’re not in the city where it all goes down. It was during this time of rejection after rejection that I started ScriptBlast as an online haven for writers to connect, talk about their struggles in a safe space, and find encouragement and inspiration. 

Being stuck in Atlanta, I leaned into what the city had to offer, which was great filmmaking talent and started making short films. This was a great way to get to know local actors and crew, and we started pulling together our little “collective” of talent until eventually, in 2017, we shot our first feature film, THIS WORLD ALONE. It’s a post-apocalyptic drama / thriller about three women attempting to survive in a world without technology or power. And after a very long 4-year journey (with a year-long pause for COVID), the film was finally released in May and is now available wherever you rent or buy movies online. 

THIS WORLD ALONE helped get my name out there enough and allowed me to make enough connections that I’ve since been hired to write a few other indie features. So while I’m not yet making a living at it, writing is bringing in a good second income right now. And I believe all these little seeds will eventually build momentum and add up to a career. Fingers crossed that 2021 is the year that it happens! 

Is recognizing good writing something you think can be taught or learned?

It’s interesting that you say “recognizing good writing” and not “becoming a good writer.” I don’t think recognizing good writing is something that can be taught or learned. But I don’t look at good writing that way. Good writing is a feeling. Good writing is being whisked away to another world and laughing and crying and cheering and getting done and immediately wanting to go back. A technically excellent screenplay that checks all the screenwriting boxes is not necessarily “good writing.” 

But I also think most people can be taught to become good writers (some just might take more time than others). I’d put writers into three categories:

Writers who can recognize good writing and turn around and immediately write an excellent story. 

Writers who can recognize good writing but struggle to write an excellent story.

Writers who can’t recognize good writing and will therefore never write an excellent story.

The ones who can be taught are in that middle level but I think 90% of us are in that middle level. We know what a great story looks like but it takes a lot of time and work and practice and patience to create one ourselves. 

What do you consider the components of a good script?

Such a great question. there’ s probably an infinite list, but here’s the first three that popped in my head:

Set-up and payoff. This is the easiest way to make your script look smart. Just set up everything you payoff and payoff everything you set up. Need a great line for your finale? Go back to your first act and find one that’s applicable. Have an item that represents something in the beginning? Make sure you bring it back in the end. My first rewrite is always looking for these things. 

Emotional honesty. We’ve all seen the movies (usually starring Adam Sandler) where you get this pat life lesson at the end like “spend more time with family.” These kinds of lessons are ultimately forgettable because they aren’t honest. They are themes we’ve seen a million times before. The real honest emotions aren’t pat answers, they are deep questions. Mark Duplass decries this as “you know when you’re up at 2am with your best friend and you’ve had too much to drink and you talk about your biggest fears? That’s what you should write your movie about.” Give the audience an answer, and they’ll forget it right after they leave the theater. Present the audience with an honest and brave question, and they’ll keep thinking about it long after they’re done. 

Tension & release. If a screenplay is a wavelength, it should go up and down. It’s all about pacing. A script should rise and fall and feel natural. I think this is one of the toughest things to teach because it’s a “feeling”. Lean into whatever genre you have, if it’s a horror movie it should be a little scary, medium scary, really scary, and then give us a break. If it’s a comedy, it should be a little funny, medium funny, really funny, and then give us a break. 

What are some of the most common screenwriting mistakes you see?

Telling someone else’s story and not telling your own. So many writers just regurgitate their favorite movies and don’t have anything unique to say about the world. Audience members don’t care about the “what” of your story, they care about the “why.” If you’re just writing something because “it’s cool” or “it’ll sell”, the audience can see right through that. It goes back to the “emotional honesty’ thing above. It’s the old saying “write what you know” but that doesn’t mean write about your day job or your current boyfriend, it really means “write what you feel.” If you’re emotionally connected to your story, your audience will be too. 

What story tropes are you just tired of seeing?

Usually the things that make me roll my eyes have to do with masculinity on film. I get so bored with cold, stoic, masculine action heroes. I’m equally tired of female action heroes who feel like someone went into the script and just did a search to change “him” to “her.” And don’t get me started on shallow descriptions of women in scripts “nerdy but beautiful” or whatever. Like the two films I mentioned earlier – NOBODY and SHADOW IN THE CLOUD, these are films with warm, broken, interesting, action heroes who lean into their vulnerabilities as much as their strengths. 

What are some key rules/guidelines every writer should know?

Here’s kind of a checklist I try to run through for every scene I write:

GOAL: What does your protagonist want in this scene and how are they going to get it?

CONFLICT: What obstacles make it difficult for your protagonist to reach that goal?

CHOICE: What difficult choice will the character have to make as a result of the conflict? 

STAKES: What is hanging in the balance with each choice?

TWIST: What does this choice tell us about the character that we didn’t already know?

THEME: How does this choice push the character’s emotional journey forward?

CONNECTIVITY: Can the elements of this scene be set-up in a previous scene or lay the ground-work for future scenes? 

VISUALIZE: Is there a visual or item that can replace obvious dialogue or action? 

LESS: Is there a “perfect line” or action that could say it better than a long drawn-out scene?

VOICE: How can you rewrite it to be more “you”?

Have you ever read a script where you thought “This writer really gets it”? If so, what were the reasons why?

The screenplays that I love all make me feel something. They get an emotional response out of me, whether that be fear or laughing or crying or warm-heartedness. They are masters of set-up and payoff. They surprise me at every turn and never make the obvious choice, I can’t predict where the story will go. They ask big questions about the world. 

How do you feel about screenwriting contests? Worth it or not?

On their own, I think they’re worthless. I don’t know if I’d go as far as calling them scams. I think a lot of contests are well-intentioned, but it’s a model built on 99% of writers who enter paying money and getting nothing in return. That industry has created a lie that writers can write one screenplay, enter a contest, win, get an agent, and go write Hollywood films. This lie is why so many writers give up after their first script. It’s heart-breaking to me. 

Having said all that, I still enter them. Why? Because I think they do have merit when combined with other things. It’s all about stacking the deck. If you google the winners of these contests, you’ll usually find that they’ve written multiple screenplays, have already made some indie films or short films, maybe published in a different medium, might even already have representation. A contest on its own means nothing, but when you put a win on your writing resume alongside a dozen other things, it helps stack the deck. 

If you’re going to enter a contest, pick and choose carefully. First, only enter contests that actually give you something of value, whether that be notes or industry access. Secondly, don’t enter the big, giant contests where you’re competing against 10,000 other writers. Instead, find all the local film festivals that have screenwriting competitions, enter those and then attend those festivals! A strong connection with another filmmaker at a festival is worth a million times more than a laurel on your website. 

I always tell writers “don’t put your career in the hands of someone else.” Contests are relying on someone else’s validation of your work. That’s a very unhealthy way to live. Go make a short film. Go make your own $1000 feature. Attend festivals and meet people. Seek out local producers and directors and pitch them ideas until you connect on something and go make it. Make a narrative podcast or YouTube series. There are a million options to advance your career and I suggest you do all of them. 

How can people find out more about you and the services you provide? 

I’ve been doing ScriptBlast as a free service for about 5 years cause I always struggled with charging for anything that wasn’t actually helpful for writers. So I just launched a new online community in 2020 where we have weekly Zoom calls, tons of free resources and courses, accountability worksheets, share notes on each other’s scripts, etc. It’s blown my own productivity through the roof just being a part of it, and multiple writers have finished their screenplays as a result of being in the group. And it’s only $10/month. You can try it free for a week at Members.ScriptBlast.com.

I also do a podcast and provide other free resources (like online courses or one-on-one consultations) you can find at ScriptBlast.com. And if you’re interested in checking out THIS WORLD ALONE, it’s available on all digital platforms. You can learn more at ThisWorldAlone.com

Readers of this blog are more than familiar with my love/appreciation of pie. What’s your favorite kind?

It’s hard to beat a slice of hot apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But, if there is no heat source or ice cream, I might go with peanut butter pie.

Clock’s ticking…

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Just a few days left to submit your script – either film or TV – for the Maximum Z Script Showcase coming up on Friday 4 June.

The deadline is Wed 2 June. Anything that comes in after that WILL NOT BE INCLUDED.

There are over 100 listings so far, with plenty of room still available to add yours.

Send the following info here with the subject Maximum Z Script Showcase:

Title

Author

Film or TV

Genre

Logline

Awards (if any)

Your email (in case somebody wants to read your script)

Only 1 script per person. (No problem if you’ve sent it to previous Showcases. It’s totally up to you.)

DO NOT SEND THE SCRIPT!

I’ve been thrilled with the responses, along with the wide variety of material that’s been sent in.

So don’t put off what will take you all of a minute or two to put together and send.

You’ll be glad you did.

Q & A with Cody Smart of Next Level Screenwriting

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Cody Smart is an L.A.-based Latina writer, script consultant and script doctor with degrees in English Literature & Linguistics, Screenwriting, Development, and Producing, who prides herself of helping writers take their work to the next level, in both English and Spanish. She moved from Santiago, Chile to L.A. to pursue her masters, fell in love, and now enjoys family hikes chasing her toddler around in the perfect L.A. weather.

She worked as a script analyst at Sony for three years, reading hundreds of scripts, and honing her craft and learning to appreciate the development of scripts and how to best guide writers to deliver the best script possible.

She also works as a judge for seven film and screenplay competitions, where she’s learned what makes scripts engage readers and attract the attention of managers, agents and producers. As a writer herself, Cody has placed in multiple competitions, and won some awards.

Cody is also the head of coverage of Story Data, a script-hosting site, where she does a bi-monthly vlog with tips for screenwriters.

She also currently teaches two courses about Screenwriting, Script Doctoring and Get Your Script Contest Ready, as a UCLA Extension instructor in the Writers’ Program, and is developing a new TV Workshop for the fall quarter.

Cody has worked with a wide variety of clients, helping to provide in-depth script analysis, and also rewriting/doctoring hundreds of scripts in order to get them ready for production. She loves working directly with her clients, understanding their needs, and staying true to the essence of the story the client is trying to tell, in order to elevate the story and characters.

What was the last thing you read or watched you considered exceptionally well-written?

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT. I was a little bit late watching it, as it came out in 2020, but I was so legitimately impressed at the quality of the writing. They managed to take chess, a “boring” subject that doesn’t lend itself to be that visual or entertaining, and turned it into an exemplary work of character development.

How’d you get your start in the industry?

While I was in grad school, I started interning at Sony, and that’s were I fell in love with the development side of things. Before that, I always thought my path was to be a writer only. Then I discovered how interesting developing and consulting was, helping other writers improve their work, and getting scripts ready for production.

Is recognizing good writing something you think can be taught or learned?

Yes, definitely. I believe everyone can learn if they have the will and want to do so. If you study scripts and films, and study your craft, you can learn what good writing is. That’s also what makes any writer a better writer: studying the best in the craft, lots of practice, and lots of rewriting.

What do you consider the components of a good script?

A good script is a great mix of different things: amazing characters that are three-dimensional and realistic, with real wants and needs, and great arcs. A world that aligns with the tone and genre, and that hopefully is also new in some way. A premise that either feels fresh and new or that is a new take on old ideas, making it feel fresh and new. Writing that has a voice of its own, and that makes you want to keep turning pages.

What are some of the most common screenwriting mistakes you see?

As a consultant & doctor as well as a judge for multiple festivals, I’m constantly looking at issues in scripts. Doing that, I’ve found these to be the most common:

– A premise that doesn’t work from the start. Usually this means you just have an idea, but no plot. Or you have an unoriginal concept or one we’ve seen hundreds of times before.

– Not proofreading, which leads to bad formatting, typos, grammatical errors, etc.

– Not outlining first – then you don’t know where your story is going, and it shows in your draft, as the story loses aim. Part of this could be when the story/the protagonist has no clear goal.

– Dialogue that doesn’t feel natural or no use of subtext.

– Starting scenes too early and leaving them too late.

– Not killing your darlings – some scenes may be greatly written, but if they don’t advance the plot, then you don’t need them in your script.

– Directing in your script – this tends to take the reader out of the world of your story.

– Not grabbing your reader/audience in the first 10 pages (or even the first 3!)

– Overusing transitions.

– Use of flashbacks that don’t move the story forward or don’t reveal any new information.

– Zero character introduction/description. No memorable introductions, so we forget them. Also too many characters being introduced at the same time, so we forget who’s who.

– The world of your story isn’t clear.

– Long chunks of descriptions – Readers are known to skip past these. 

– Too much exposition.

– No subplots or interesting supporting characters.

– Antagonists that are two-dimensional or formulaic.

– Writing a formulaic script just with the intention of selling it, instead of writing a unique story you’re passionate about that’ll definitely get you noticed (even if just as a writing sample).

What story tropes are you just tired of seeing?

Tropes work for a reason—audiences expect certain things in certain movies, like a falling in love montage in romcoms. But just because people expect them, that doesn’t mean they don’t want to be surprised. The tropes I’m tired of seeing are those that just follow tropes to the letter. I love when a writer turns a trope upside down and surprises the audience. When they don’t and deliver the same old things, then that’s when they’re boring and I don’t want to see them anymore.

What are some key rules/guidelines every writer should know?

– Show your voice in your script. That’s what will set you apart from the thousands of scripts being written every year.

– Write the story you want to tell as a writing sample to impress people, and open doors for you, even if it doesn’t get bought or filmed.

– Formatting exists for a reason. Follow it and don’t play games, or your script won’t get read, even if it’s amazing.

– It’s hard to come up with new ideas that haven’t been told. But new takes on old ideas that make the ideas feel fresh can be a great way of creating something that feels new.

-The best antagonists are just as interesting as the protagonist, and they’re the hero of their own story. When we understand their reasoning, that makes them much more powerful.

Have you ever read a script where you thought “This writer really gets it”? If so, what were the reasons why?

I remember when I read the script for JUNO. It had such a unique voice and point of view. It had a protagonist that felt real, with flaws and dreams. It explored what felt like real teenagers. It had amazing supporting characters, and we could understand everyone’s POV in the story, as different as they all were. And it was pretty contained. It could be shot for cheap. But most importantly, it wasn’t something completely new: we’ve seen stories about teen pregnancy before but it turned the idea upside down, making it feel so fresh that it ended up winning so many writing awards.

How do you feel about screenwriting contests? Worth it or not?

Totally worth it. I even developed a course called “Get Your Script Contest Ready” for UCLA Extension that debuts in June 2021. That said, having a contest strategy, knowing what appeals to contests, identifying the best contests to propel your career forward, and understanding that you also need to network and take an active role in getting your scripts out there are key things every screenwriter needs to know.

How can people find out more about you and the services you provide?

For information about my script consulting & doctoring services, or my writer services, they can check out my Facebook page (@NextLevelScreenwriting), my Instagram page (nextlevelscreenwriting), or send me an email (nextlevelscreenwriting@gmail.com).

I can share more about my services and background information, and we can talk more in detail about what they need help with, as I offer very personalized services.

Readers of this blog are more than familiar with my love/appreciation of pie. What’s your favorite kind?

Wow, this is such a hard question, because I have such a sweet tooth. But if I had to pick just one, I’d have to say my grandma’s pecan pie recipe. It brings back so many amazing childhood memories by the smell and taste of it, especially living far away from my family, and missing them all the time.