You love to write. People have told you you’re good at it, and you sense they’re right.
But writing is one thing. Writing for a living is another. How do you know the time is right, or whether you really have what it takes?
You’d better be certain you know what you’re getting yourself into before you take the leap. Full-time writing is no hobby. And it’s not easy. But if you’re called to it—oh, the rewards.
Today we are going to write a story. A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. A story starts when something happens. A story starts with an inciting incident. An inciting incident is something that prompts action.
Writers’ conferences can launch a career. They bring writers face to face with authors, agents, editors, publishers, and other writers at all skill levels.
But they can feel overwhelming for the uninitiated. With all the offerings, how does a writer navigate a conference to get the most from it?
Polishing a screenplay, or doing a polish on a script, is a part of the screenwriting process that few screenwriters ever go into detail about when asked. Even when plied with liquor. Sure, we’ve all heard writers and producers use terms like “tighten it up” or “give it some polish” or “tweak it for production,” but what do any of those terms really mean?
Let’s break “the script polish” process down into two general goals a screenwriter needs to focus on when sitting down to polish her script. Those two general goals are maximizing impact and minimizing risk.
Not many people like antagonists. The antagonists are supposed to be antagonizing — that’s their whole purpose. They are designed to aggravate the protagonists; to foil the plans of the heroes and create conflict. They are supposed to be a villain for our heroes to defeat, right?
Sure. But what if they could be more?
