Screenwriter Blog Posts

Avoid Common Formatting Pitfalls: How to Ensure Your Script is Format-Ready Before You Submit

Screenplay formatting adheres to specific industry standards that are essential for professional recognition. The accepted format includes using Courier font in 12-point size, which ensures ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Literary Agent Or Literary Manager For Screenwriters?

Once you finish your screenplay, you have to get it out to the market to find an agent or manager, but most screenwriters don't know ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

How To Write a Treatment For Your Screenplay: 7 Critical Tips

Previously I wrote about the great benefits of writing treatments for your screenplays instead of jumping directly into writing the scenes themselves. In case you ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Show Your Screenwriting Talents With A Short Film

If you've written a screenplay, if you're even thinking about it, or if you've already completed one or more, then you've probably imagined what it ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

How to Make Dialogue Better in Your Screenplay – Simple Tricks To Be Creative

Nothing kills a good story faster than bad dialogue. If your screenplay dialogue is predictable, if everybody speaks in the same rhythm, or if every ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Selling A Script: How To Increase Your Odds

Maybe you’ve just completed re-writing the last page of your script. Now you’re excited about the idea of selling your screenplay to a studio or ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

What Every Screenwriter Should Know About Branding

Thousands of screenplays and ideas get submitted to Hollywood every month so it becomes a big challenge to get your screenplay read and to have ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Planning for Success in Screenwriting: Actions (Part 2 of 2)

As I covered in Part 1 of Success in Screenwriting, there are two types of goals: 1. Results Goals: These are the final results you ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Interest A Star With A Great Character Arc

A great Character Arc not only makes a story work, but it’s “acting bait” for a movie star. Every action your main character takes should be toward ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Where Are You Going With Your Plot?

Every scene in your screenplay must be doing one or more of three things: revealing character, advancing the plot, or expanding the theme. All three ...

Written by

Melody Jackson

Screenwriting Contests: 5 Ways to Use Them In Your Career

When it comes to contests, you may have noticed that there are countless screenwriting contests or script competitions that promise a great deal about the ...

Written by

Melody Jackson