Page #

Quotation

28

A screenplay is not a shooting script. A Screenplay is an instrument for telling a story. A Shooting Script is a blueprint for the production of a motion picture.

43

Golden Rule of Character: Who we are is revealed in what we do.

66

(Definition of story) Footprints in the sand left by a character in quest of his or her heart’s desire against impossible odds.

75

As conflict is argument between characters, plot is argument between events.

90

It is far more interesting when a character needs to HAVE information than when a character needs to GIVE it.

95

The inciting event establishes the stake of the story.

102

The single most important structural event in your screenplay is the event that ends act two.

120

(The Snowplow method of writing) (1) Do not start where you left off. Start at the beginning. (2) Do not look back at what you did the previous day.

143

(Conflict Agreement) I solemnly swear that in every screenplay I write, every scene will have woven into its architecture the element of CONFLICT.

147

Every scene you ever write is an arena for the characters doing everything in their power to get what they most want in that moment.

170

(Writing Character Descriptions) Age range and body type are usually all we need to supply.

179

Whatever in your script doesn’t move the story forward does not belong in the script.

194

We are not told about the characters. We experience them.

221

This continually moving intersection of plot and character is called the story.

236

Take the time necessary to really know your act breaks.

244

A short film is almost always about one thing. One moment. One event. One punchline. One revelation. One life-changing or illuminating occurrence.