bklierman
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A-Story/B-Story
From Wally: We have all heard the term A-story and B-story… But what do they mean? What’s their function? The A-story is what the film is about (or in a series, what the episode is about), AKA the primary story. The B-story (or subplot) is a secondary story that unfolds as the A-story progresses. The…
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Power Ballad
From Betty: I just saw the movie POWER BALLAD and I wanted to say a few words about writing a movie about a song or where the song is the theme. Just stop. Don’t do it. Unless you are John Carney who wrote and directed the movie ONCE and owned the rights to the Oscar…
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A Word About REDUNDANCY
From Betty: Don’t write anything in your screenplay twice. Don’t put in the description: Debbie takes off her hat, exposing her long blonde hair.Then have her best friend say:Wow. Your hair is so long. I wish I had blonde hair! Instead, you can say something like: Description: Debbie takes off her hat and shakes out…
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Let’s Talk About Subtext Baby
From Wally: I’m sure you all have read or heard “Your dialogue is too on-the-nose.” You need more subtext. So, what is subtext and why is it so important? Without subtext, scenes can come across as unrealistic or melodramatic, which can cause the audience to disengage from the story. Subtext allows the character to express…
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A Quick Note About Montages
From Betty:April 15, 2026 Montages are a great, easy tool to use to show a passage of time, or a way to express where a story stands in the beginning versus the contrasting/foil montage in the second half of a movie. Often overused and unnecessary, the montage can become redundant and in many cases an eyerolling, “Here we go now…”…
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Give Your Characters Unique Voices
From Wally:April 8, 2026 Earlier I talked about getting to know your character through their psyche and psychological scars, which in turn will tell you how they will act in different situations. Knowing this will also tell you a lot about that character’s speech patterns and how they might converse with others. Why is that…
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Pace Yourself
From Betty:April 1, 2026 We are often so caught up in the pacing of our screenplay that we forget to pace our own writing! At the Austin Film Festival, I heard Caroline Thompson (EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) explain her writing process. She says that every day she goes to her shed and writes five pages. Full stop.…
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Get To Know Your Character
From Wally:March 25, 2026 Before you start to write your screenplay get to know your characters. By that, I don’t just mean height, weight, hair, and eye color. Delve into their psyche… mind, soul and spirit. Be aware of their psychological scars… the past injuries that cause the character to act or react the way…
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Lazy Writing
From Betty:March 18, 2026 I was watching YOU PEOPLE the other night. It was so funny, so smart, and so good that this was actually my second time watching it. So well written…until the end. At 1 hour and 44 minutes (the movie should technically be over by now…no wonder they’re tired of writing), Julia…
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Implied Subject
From Wally:March 11, 2026 I read somewhere that “the ‘implied subject’ is a sentence component that is not explicitly stated but is understood from context.” Why is that important to a screenplay writer, you might ask? An “implied subject,” where the subject of a sentence (the action of a character) is omitted because it is…