If you are an aspiring screenwriter, odds are you have heard of the Writer’s Guild of America. As America’s most prestigious professional association of writers, a WGA membership is not granted freely. So how do you join the WGA and how easy is it? To be eligible for a WGA membership, you must meet specific requirements. In this article, we’ll discuss the primary types of WGA memberships and WGA requirements for eligibility.Continue reading How Do You Join the WGA — A Guide to WGA Requirements
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre. It exists outside of the tightly-controlled Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it uses its freedom to pursue a thrillingly original take on the thrice-rebooted hero we thought we’d seen every angle of. Spider-Verse’s originality doesn’t solely come from its stunning animation (though that helps). Its story is an achievement in creativity, at once recreating Spider-Man while also paying postmodern homage to his many iterations of yore.The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse screenplay moves a mile a minute and is touching, hilarious, and action-packed. By dissecting the script’s structure,…
The ending of The Godfather Part II is one of the best movie endings of all time. Today, we’re going to break down everything that makes The Godfather Part II ending great – from plot and characters to music and production design. By the end, you’ll know how Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo, and all the other artists involved in the film crafted an unforgettable moment in cinema history. Continue reading The Godfather 2 Ending Explained (& Why It’s One of the Best)
What is abductive reasoning? We know that “abduction” means “ to take away,” so is abduction what we take away through reason? Well, it is and it isn’t. Abductive reasoning is the least referenced type of critical reason, but it plays a huge role in how we understand the world. We’re going to break down abductive reasoning by looking at some examples and real world use. By the end, you’ll know how to apply abductive reasoning in your everyday life.Continue reading What is Abductive Reasoning — Problem Solving for Writers
You may have seen something out of time in a period piece, like machine guns in the Middle Ages. You may have come across a story where everyone in the 22nd century is still using 20th century technology. It’s the sort of thing you may notice immediately or not at all, depending on how subtle or obvious it is. It’s called anachronism and it has existed in art for many centuries. But what is anachronism, what does it look like, and how can you spot it? We will cover an anachronism definition, along with the different categories and examples.Continue reading…
What is a plot twist? It’s a term we’ve all heard before – but we rarely ever hear it defined. So today, we’re going to define plot twists by looking at some good twist examples in literature and film. By the end, you’ll know how to write a plot twist like the greats, including Christopher Nolan and M. Night Shyamalan. Continue reading What is a Plot Twist — Definition, Examples and Types Explained
Spider-Man was a colossal moment in superhero cinema, reorienting the genre toward the massive blockbuster machine that it is today. Spider-Man 2, stunningly, was equally important. While its first entry crystalized the superhero origin story, Spider-Man 2 perfected the superhero sequel. Spider-Man 2’s success is shocking when one looks at the path its screenplay took to get to a final draft. Director Sam Raimi cherry-picked three distinct screenplays from four different screenwriters to Frankenstein together a narrative he was happy with. We’ve got our hands on Michael Chabon’s draft, and in this analysis, we’ll look at why Raimi took what…
Noah Baumbach already had a respected and beloved career before he made Marriage Story. However, this film about divorce, love, and acceptance was a major commercial breakthrough for the writer-director. On top of being a Netflix film starring two big actors (Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver), the film was a critical hit. We’ll be breaking down the script to see how Baumbach’s characters, dialogue, and themes come together to create one of the best movies of the 2010s.Continue reading Marriage Story Script PDF Download — Plot, Dialogue, & Themes
What is Save the Cat? If you are interested in screenwriting or currently learning the trade, then there is a good chance that you have heard the phrase “save the cat” thrown around in one context or another. Explaining Save the Cat requires some added context as the term is both a verb and a noun. In other words, “save the cat” is both a book on screenwriting and a storytelling mechanism. Let’s get started with an overview of the book, then we’ll dive into the book’s titular piece of advice and take a look at everything else the book…
Sentences are at the core of any language. We all speak them, but we might not know exactly how to label them. One of the most complex (if you will) sentence structures is the compound-complex sentence. Understanding what this type of sentence structure looks like will give you a firmer command of your writing. But first things first, what is compound-complex sentence structure? Continue reading What is a Compound-Complex Sentence Structure — Examples
