What goes into writing a great movie script?

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.

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

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.

Why is our generation so unhappy?

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

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

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

There is any scientific evidence that we live in a sphere. Why do others say that we lives in a flat Earth but there is no evidence that they have proven the existence of a flat earth?

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.

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

The DSM 5 is a wonderful character compendium.

Bill Goldberg challenges Gunther for Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 12th in Atlanta, GA - NoDQ.com

Make sure to pack enough explosives into the rocket.

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

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

US valley fever cases may be 18 times higher than reported - CIDRAP

Research the facts and then throw away the research.

Actors give better feedback than writers do.

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

Why do many people think that Japan is not a gay-friendly country whereas 72% Japanese support same-sex marriage (the same number as in the US)?

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

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

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

Why does my best friend call me ugly and act like she’s joking, but today she looked at me and said “I wouldn’t lie to you”? What should I say back to her?

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

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

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.

With a series of wars, Israel's military reshapes the Mideast - NPR

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

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.

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

Why do some of those who believe in a god refuse to consider the possibility they could be wrong?