FRIDAY'S SCRIPT TIP:
STORY INSTINCT
There's a quote that pops up over on the Wordplay site, I'm pretty sure from Nicholas
Ray (one of my favorite directors) that says you can't teach directing. I think that's both right and wrong.
You *can* teach techniques and technical stuff, what you can't teach is talent. This website is all about
providing the screenwriter with all of the tools and techniques to write a screenplay. What I can't do is
make anyone more talented.
The biggest problems I see in most scripts and movies are the basics. Those simple tools you
learned when you first interested in telling stories. Maybe the professional writers and "professional"
development people and professional producers have moved on to more complex tools and forgotten the basics?
Whatever the reason, many movies these days fail due to something that wouldn't fall into a class for Advanced
or Professional screenwriters - but something that might end up in beginners class.
Which brings us to BASIC INSTINCT 2: RISK ADDICTION, which fails for so many reasons I could
write a month's worth of tips using it as the bad example.... but that would be torture for me. So we're going
to look at two major failings that fall into the category of Screenwriting 101 - Central Question and
Boring Protagonist. The script was co-written by Leora Barish and Henry Bean (who is a good thriller writer
on his own, responsible for INTERNAL AFFAIRS and DEEP COVER and THE BELIEVER) - neither are first timers, so
the rookie mistakes are kind of shocking. The fact that neither was corrected in development (or the possibility
that both were *added* in development) is even stranger.
Caution: Actually watching BASIC INSTINCT 2 may cause permanent brain damage. Yes, it's that bad! Here's why....
WHAT IS THE CENTRAL QUESTION?
At the heart of every screenplay is the central question. It's what propels the story forward and keeps the
audience involved. In a romantic comedy, the central question might be: Will they hook up or not? In a disaster
movie it might be: Will they survive, and *who* will survive? The story begins with the introduction of the
central question and then keeps us wondering how it will be resolved for the next 100 pages. Pretty basic stuff.
Joe Eszterhas, love him or hate him, knew about the central question and milked it for a long and profitable
career. At one point in time, BASIC INSTINCT was the biggest script deal *ever* - he opened the door for the rest
of us to dream about making $3 million bucks off one spec script. Then he topped that with some scribbles on the
back of a napkin - the central question for an unwritten screenplay - that he sold for $4 million.
Eszterhas had one central question th he used in screenplay after screenplay: Did they or did they not commit
the murder? Guilty or innocent? He used that central question in what is probably his best script, JAGGED EDGE.
That film has workaholic attorney Glenn Close defending hunky Jeff Bridges on charges that he murdered his wealthy
wife. Close, of course, falls in love with him... and the rest of the script explores that central question by
bouncing us back and forth between believing that he's guilty as sin and a lovable hunk falsely accused of murder
by an overzealous D.A. (the great Peter Coyote). We hope that he's innocent so that she can find love but fear
that he's guilty. E-Z Joe manages to milk that question in interesting ways, including a great reveal of a
previous murder and a likely suspect that isn't Bridges.
Eszterhas used the same central question in the *Oscar nominated* art house film THE MUSIC BOX, this time
with Jessica Lange defending her father, Armin Mueller-Stahl, against charges that he was a Nazi in World War 2 and did a
whole bunch of evil things. Did he or didn't he? Guilty or innocent? Even though this time around it's a
father/daughter relationship, the central question still works... in fact, I think it works better! We get to
explore all kinds of family relationship issues, and zero in on that faith we all have in the goodness of our
parents (and that point in our lives when we realized that they were human, too). Eszterhas would explore the
same dynamics in his Payola script TELLING LIES a few years later.
But before E-Z Joe began his last ditch effort to reclaim some sort of post-SHOWGIRLS respect only to sink
deeper into the muck of Hollywood failure... and burn, Hollywood, burn all of his bridges... he wrote a huge
hit movie called BASIC INSTINCT.
In an ambitious search-and-replace of JAGGED EDGE, the film that changed Sharon Stone from that chick that
played Ah-nuld's ex-wife in TOTAL RECALL into an actual movie star who would get to work with Scorsese and pick
up an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, BASIC INSTINCT had a pretty strong central question. Michael Douglas is
a cop living on the edge charged with investigating the murder of rock star "Mr. Boz" (like Boz Skaggs, who really
lives in San Francisco and really owns a night club... just with a heavy metal rocker glaze). Number one suspect
is smokin' hot writer Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) who is every man's fantasy. Of course, Douglas starts a
relationship with her, even though she's their #1 suspect. Central question again: Did she or didn't she? Is she a
predatory female killer? Or innocent of murder but guilty of just about anything that can be done between the sheets?
We *care* whether she did it or not. If she did it, Michael Douglas is sleeping with a killer... if she didn't
do it, Douglas might be arresting an innocent person. Eszterhas used his old standby central question to propel
the story and keep us hooked and as emotionally involved as we can be in a story this surface and glossy.
Even though Douglas was a flawed protagonist, we cared enough to worry that he might get killed. Sure, the film
is silly (how can everyone Douglas knows have slept with Catherine?) but underneath it all is a central question
that works.
(For the non-brain-dead version of this story, check out SEA OF LOVE.)
BASIC INSTINCT 2: RISK ADDICTION opens with Catherine Tramell in London... in a really expensive spots car
with famous soccer player... indulging in sex, drugs, and rock & roll at speeds over 100mph. Of course, you can't
focus on driving with Sharon Stone climbing all over you, so the car ends up crashing into the Thames. The soccer
star drowns, Stone walks away without a scratch, the police arrest her.
Okay, now what is the central question in this scenario? In the first film, we knew a hot blonde chick killed
Mr. Boz in the bedroom with an icepick - and Tramell was a hot blonde chick. In the first few minutes of the movie,
we had set up that central question that would fuel the rest of the flick. In RISK ADDICTION we *know* Stone didn't
murder the soccer star - it was an accident. We can debate whether distracting the driver caused the accident or
not, but it wasn't *murder*. As for "did she or didn't she?" - we know exactly what she did, no question about
it. That's a mistake.
The police require her to see a shrink, played by unknown at the time actor David Morrisey (now hot in WALKING DEAD). And here's where the whole
film goes way off track. Because the shrink has a deep dark cloud over him due to a previous patient who died
named Cheslov. There were police involved and the press and it almost ruined his career. Was the shrink responsible
for Cheslov's death? Unfortunately, that becomes the central question of the film. The problem with that as a
central question:
1) It's an incident that happened in the past, so it can't really propel the story forward.
2) It has nothing to do with Sharon Stone's character.
3) If he was responsible or wasn't responsible... nothing changes *now*.
You might think this situation is like Bruce Willis in THE SIXTH SENSE, except his past mistakes had a
direct relationship to his current case. The central question there was "Will he make the same mistake twice or
will he be able to help *this* kid?" We spend the movie hoping that Bruce Willis will break through and find
out what's wrong with the kid and help him... but worry that he will fail. That involves us emotionally in the
story and propels the story forward. It's a good central question.
Cheslov?
Cheslov...
Cheslov!
Cheslov?
RISK ADDICTION doesn't use that as a central question at all. Instead, it focuses completely on the past,
with Sharon Stone's character being kind of a subplot. The whole film is about Morrisey's past screw up on the
Cheslov case! Whether he screwed it up or not doesn't matter now (except in some internal way - should Morrisey
feel guilty or not?). It has nothing to do with Stone... or even risk addiction. Every once in a while Stone shows
up for an appointment, and there's even a scene or two where she has sex with Morrisey. But these things have nothing
to do with Cheslov and Cheslov has nothing to do with Stone or the dead soccer player or anything else. Which brings
us to the next problem...
IDENTIFICATION CHARACTER
David Morrisey is a good actor, but wasn't a movie star - no one was paying just to see him. Sharon Stone is the star of this
film... but it's not about her character. Now, I've watched many films where the star is an actor I'm not familiar
with. David Thewlis is in RISK ADDICTION as the possibly crooked cop, and I "discovered him" in some movie where
he did an amazing job and now I go out of my way to see movies that he's in. But to "discover" an unknown actor,
you need to see them in a role that is interesting or flashy or emotionally involving. Most people "discovered"
Sharon Stone in TOTAL RECALL, where she completely steals the show. If Morrisey had been a supporting role in
RISK ADDICTION with some great dialogue and an interesting character, we might have "discovered" him here...
but he's the lead. The story is all about him and his past with the Cheslov case. He's the whole focus if the film...
And they've given him the dullest character ever to be put on screen.
He's an uptight, boring, civil servant.
He even wears boring *clothes* and because this whole film is about some incident in his past, his dialogue is
one huge chunk of exposition after another. Instead of showing us things as they happen, the film is about things
that happened long ago - so he's forced to *explain* the past again and again - booooring!
Now, I'm sure that someone was thinking that by making him *dull* hooking up with Catherine Tramell is a
huge "risk" on his part... but we don't care about him and we don't care about his past with this Cheslov case
and we don't care whether Tramell screws him to death or lures him into a speeding sports car or whatever.
We don't care about him, we don't care about anything else. Characters have to be interesting enough that we
want to hang out with them for 2 hours, and this guy? When will he ever get over his sad-sack past and get
on with his life?
This script has so little to do with Catherine Tramell that I suspect it began life as a non-BASIC INSTINCT
script and they just shoved her character into it to make the deal. I know that this was supposed to be one of
the worst scripts in Hollywood before it was made - they actually had to sue Stone to star in it! I know that
Stone had issues with every star they tried to cast in the shrink role - my guess is that she knew the script
was not about her and was trying to get them to rewrite the script by casting a non-star. Didn't seem to work.
Instead, we end up with a movie that's not about Stone's character and has a bland lead character.
OTHER SEQUEL ISSUES
Since the central question is about incidents in the past, *all* of the dialogue ends up being expositional.
The story is obvious, the dialogue trite, and no matter how hard they try... no one can act their way out of
this script.
Plus we have weird logic-defying scenes. Tramell has been sleeping with a reporter... who asks Morissey
for *basic* information about her for his story. Wait? Wouldn't he know this stuff just from pre-sex small
talk? Even if he didn't, can't he use his position (sleeping with her) to coax a couple of answers from her?
None of the Tramell plot stuff makes any sense, which is why I think she was added to an existing screenplay.
If the script was going to be about the Cheslov case... why not just make it about the Cheslov case and
take place as Morissey is working on the Cheslov case?
I think you run into trouble with sequels like this because the killer ends up the star... and you're just
remaking the first film. The central question from the first film no longer works, because if Catherine Tramell
is again accused of a murder, we don't wonder if she is guilty or not... we saw the first film and *know the
answer*. So we'd just have the dumbest cop in the world who can't keep his pants zipped. The key to a good
sequel is to give us the same characters in a similar-but-different experience (like ALIEN and ALIENS).
Sequels fail when they give us the exact same experience or go so far off track that it has nothing to do with
the first film at all. THE FUGITIVE has Agent Gerard chasing an innocent man accused of murder, Dr. Richard Kimble,
and eventually discovering that he really is innocent and (sort of) teaming with him to find the real killer.
The big problem with the sequel U.S. MARSHALS is that it has Agent Gerard chasing an innocent man accused of
murder (Wesley Snipes), and eventually discovering that he really is innocent and teaming with him to find the
real killer. Been there. Done that. A better FUGITIVE sequel would have had Gerard chasing a *guilty* man and
maybe uncovering a much larger conspiracy behind the gulty man.
A more inventive sequel idea for BASIC INSTINCT might have been to rip off THE FUGITIVE and have mystery
novelist Catherine Tramell framed for a crime, on the run, trying to figure out who the killer is before the police
catch up with her. Who would believe that she's innocent? We've seen the first movie - she's guilty as hell!
But we've seen the opening of the sequel and know she is innocent of *this* crime. Wow, knowing her past - how's
she going to get out of this one? She would be portrayed warmer and sympathetic (Sharon Stone is a star, now)
and we might wrap the story around her work as a mystery novelist - did she discover something by accident
while researching her new novel? And what if she has no idea *what* she has discovered? The woman who knows too
much... except she has no idea what she knows! It would be a totally different movie - and that might alienate
some audience members who came to see Sharon Stone as a bad girl who doesn't wear underpants. But I prefer
the ALIENS type sequels over a complete rehash of the original. I'd rather see something I didn't expect,
than something I've seen before. I like the idea of changing the central question to: will she be able to
prove that she's innocent by finding the real killer *before* the police catch her? There's a kick ass Robert
Young movie called THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME! about a guy accused of murder once being accused of a second murder
he didn't do... and struggling to convince people that he's innocent. I would have looked at that as a model.
Now to the stuff you really want to know: Does she get nekkid and does she look okay? Well, I think you
see more in the original than in the sequel... and that's a good thing, because Stone is about the same age
as I am, and even though she has taken care of herself, you can't beat gravity. You won't be seeing *me*
naked any time soon. I'm sure Stone is proud of how good she looks, now (though she seems to have had some face
work done) but she should be trying to find roles that play off her hard-edged persona, not her rack.
There - now you don't even have to rent it!
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made from this website.
BRAND NEW!
How Do I do That?
101 SCREENWRITING ANSWERS Blue Book!
New to screenwriting? You probably have questions! How do I get an Agent? How do I write a phone conversation? Do I need a Mentor? What’s does VO and OC and OS mean? What is proper screenplay format? Should I use a pen name? Do I need to movie to Hollywood? What’s the difference between a Producer and a Production Manager, and which should I sell my script to? How do I write a Text Message? Should I Copyright or WGA register my script? Can I Direct or Star? How do I write an Improvised scene? Overcoming Writer’s Block? How do I write a Sex Scene? And many many more! This book has the answers to the 101 Most Asked Questions from new screenwriters! Plus a Glossary of terms so that you can sound like a pro! Everything you need to know to begin writing your screenplay!
All of the answers you need to know, from a working professional screenwriter with 20 produced films and a new movie made for a major streaming service in 2023!
Only $4.99
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
Making Your Own Movie?
WRITE IT: FILM IT BOOK!
Making Your Own Movie?
Writing An Indie Film?
Writing A Low Budget Genre Script To Sell?
Writing A Made For TV Holiday Movie?
You will be writing for BUDGET. On a standard spec screenplay, you don’t have to think about budget, but these types of screenplays writing with budget in mind is critical!
If you are making your own movie, budget, is even more important - and you need to think about budget *before* you write your screenplay... or you will end up with a script that you can’t afford to make (or is a struggle to make). Everyone is making their own films these days, and even if you have done it before there are lots of great techniques in this book to get more money on screen - for less money! You can make a film that looks like it cost millions for pocket change.
344 Pages - ONLY: $7.99!
THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL!
*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Kindle!
*** THE SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING *** - For Nook!
Why pay $510 for a used version of the 240 page 2000 version that used to retail for $21.95? (check it out!) when
you can get the NEW EXPANDED VERSION - over 500 pages - for just $9.99? New chapters, New examples, New techniques!
"SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING is the
best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read."
- Ted Elliott, co-writer of MASK OF ZORRO, SHREK, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and the sequels (with Terry Rossio). (ie; 4 of the top 20 Box Office Hits Of ALL TIME.)
Only $9.99 - and no postage!
Tips FAQ
THE BLUE BOOKS!
FIND A GREAT IDEA!
*** YOUR IDEA MACHINE ***
Expanded version with more ways to find great ideas! Your screenplay is going to begin with an idea. There are good ideas and bad ideas and commercial ideas and personal ideas. But where do you find ideas in the first place? This handbook explores different methods for finding or generating ideas, and combining those ideas into concepts that sell. The Idea Bank, Fifteen Places To Find Ideas, Good Ideas And Bad Ideas, Ideas From Locations And Elements, Keeping Track Of Your Ideas, Idea Theft - What Can You Do? Weird Ways To Connect Ideas, Combing Ideas To Create Concepts, High Concepts - What Are They? Creating The Killer Concept, Substitution - Lion Tamers & Hitmen, Creating Blockbuster Concepts, Magnification And The Matrix, Conflict Within Concept, Concepts With Visual Conflict, Avoiding Episodic Concepts, much more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
FIGURE OUT YOUR STORY!
*** OUTLINES & THE THEMATIC ***
Your story is like a road trip... but where are you going? What's the best route to get there? What are the best sights to see along the way? Just as you plan a vacation instead of just jump in the car and start driving, it's a good idea to plan your story. An artist does sketches before breaking out the oils, so why shouldn't a writer do the same? This Blue Book looks at various outlining methods used by professional screenwriters like Wesley Strick, Paul Schrader, John August, and others... as well as a guest chapter on novel outlines. Plus a whole section on the Thematic Method of generating scenes and characters and other elements that will be part of your outline. The three stages of writing are: Pre-writing, Writing, and Rewriting... this book looks at that first stage and how to use it to improve your screenplays and novels.
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
GOT STRUCTURE?!
*** STRUCTURING YOUR STORY ***
William Goldman says the most important single element of any screenplay is structure. It’s the skeleton under the flesh and blood of your story. Without it, you have a spineless, formless, mess... a slug! How do you make sure your structure is strong enough to support your story? How do you prevent your story from becoming a slug? This Blue Book explores different types of popular structures from the basic three act structure to more obscure methods like leap-frogging. We also look at structure as a verb as well as a noun, and techniques for structuring your story for maximum emotional impact. Most of the other books just look at *structure* and ignore the art of *structuring* your story. Techniques to make your story a page turner... instead of a slug!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
STORY: WELL TOLD!
*** STORY: WELL TOLD ***
This book takes you step-by-step through the construction of a story... and how to tell a story well, why Story always starts with character... but ISN'T character, Breaking Your Story, Irony, Planting Information, Evolving Story, Leaving No Dramatic Stone Unturned, The Three Greek Unities, The Importance Of Stakes, The Thematic Method, and how to create personal stories with blockbuster potential. Ready to tell a story?
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 85,000 words - 251 pages!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
HOW DO I DO THAT?
*** 101 SCREENWRITING ANSWERS ***
New to screenwriting? You probably have questions! How do I get an Agent? How do I write a phone conversation?
Do I need a Mentor? What’s does VO and OC and OS mean? What is proper screenplay format?
Should I use a pen name? Do I need to movie to Hollywood? What’s the difference between a
Producer and a Production Manager, and which should I sell my script to? How do I write a Text Message?
Should I Copyright or WGA register my script? Can I Direct or Star? How do I write an Improvised scene?
Overcoming Writer’s Block? How do I write a Sex Scene? And many many more! This book has the answers to
the 101 Most Asked Questions from new screenwriters! Plus a Glossary of terms so that you can sound like a pro!
Everything you need to know to begin writing your screenplay!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
START STRONG!
*** HOOK 'EM IN TEN ***
Your story doesn't get a second chance to make a great first impression, and this book shows you a
bunch of techniques on how to do that. From the 12 Basic Ways To Begin Your Story, to the 3 Stars Of
Your First Scene (at least one must be present) to World Building, Title Crawls, Backstory, Starting
Late, Teasers and Pre Title Sequences, Establishing Theme & Motifs (using GODFATHER PART 2), Five Critical
Elements, Setting Up The Rest Of The Story (with GODFATHER), and much more! With hundreds of examples
ranging from Oscar winners to classic films like CASABLANCA to some of my produced films (because
I know exactly why I wrote the scripts that way). Biggest Blue Book yet!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is over 100,000 words - 312 pages!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
MOVIES ARE CHARACTERS!
*** CREATING STRONG PROTAGONISTS ***
Expanded version with more ways to create interesting protagonists! A step-by-step guide to creating "take charge" protagonists. Screenplays are about characters in conflict... characters in emotional turmoil... Strong three dimensional protagonists who can find solutions to their problems in 110 pages. But how do you create characters like this? How do you turn words into flesh and blood? Character issues, Knowing Who Is The Boss, Tapping into YOUR fears, The Naked Character, Pulp Friction, Man With A Plan, Character Arcs, Avoiding Cliche People, Deep Characterization, Problem Protagonists, 12 Ways To Create Likable Protagonists (even if they are criminals), Active vs. Reactive, The Third Dimension In Character, Relationships, Ensemble Scripts, and much, much more. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is once again around 205 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - Kindle Version
I WRITE PICTURES!
*** VISUAL STORYTELLING *** - For Kindle! (exclusive)
Show Don't Tell - but *how* do you do that? Here are techniques to tell stories visually! Using Oscar Winning Films and Oscar Nominated Films as our primary examples: from the first Best Picture Winner "Sunrise" (1927) to the Oscar Nominated "The Artist" (which takes place in 1927) with stops along the way Pixar's "Up" and Best Original Screenplay Winner "Breaking Away" (a small indie style drama - told visually) as well as "Witness" and other Oscar Winners as examples... plus RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 200 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - Kindle Version
*** DESCRIPTION & VOICE ***
IS HALF OF YOUR STORY IN TROUBLE?
Most screenplays are about a 50/50 split between dialogue and description - which means your description is just as important as your dialogue. It just gets less press because the audience never sees it, the same reason why screenwriters get less press than movie stars. But your story will never get to the audience until readers and development executives read your script... so it is a very important factor. Until the movie is made the screenplay is the movie and must be just as exciting as the movie. So how do you make your screenplay exciting to read? Description is important in a novel as well, and the “audience” does read it... how do we write riveting description?
Only $4.99 Kindle version
PRO DIALOGUE TECHNIQUES!
*** DIALOGUE SECRETS ***
Expanded version with more ways to create interesting dialogue! How to remove bad dialogue (and what *is* bad dialogue), First Hand Dialogue, Awful Exposition, Realism, 50 Professional Dialogue Techniques you can use *today*, Subtext, Subtitles, Humor, Sizzling Banter, *Anti-Dialogue*, Speeches, and more. Tools you can use to make your dialogue sizzle! Special sections that use dialogue examples from movies as diverse as "Bringing Up Baby", "Psycho", "Double Indemnity", "Notorious", the Oscar nominated "You Can Count On Me", "His Girl Friday", and many more! Print version is 48 pages, Kindle version is over 175 pages!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
WHAT IS A SCENE?
*** SCENE SECRETS ***
What is a scene and how many you will need? The difference between scenes and sluglines. Put your scenes on trial for their lives! Using "Jaws" we'll look at beats within a scene. Scene DNA. Creating set pieces and high concept scenes. A famous director talks about creating memorable scenes. 12 ways to create new scenes. Creating unexpected scenes. Use dramatic tension to supercharge your scenes. Plants and payoffs in scenes. Plus transitions and buttons and the all important "flow"... and more! Over 65,000 words! Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 210 pages!
Only $4.99 - Kindle version
SUBPLOTS?
*** SUPPORTING CHARACTER SECRETS ***
Expanded version with more techniques to flesh out your Supporting Characters and make them individuals. Using the hit movie BRIDESMAIDS as well as other comedies like THE HANGOVER and TED and HIGH FIDELITY and
40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and many other examples we look at ways to make your Supporting Characters come alive on the page.
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is around 170 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - Kindle version
ACT TWO SOLUTIONS!
*** ACT TWO SECRETS ***
Expanded version with more techniques to help you through the desert of Act Two! Subjects Include: What Is Act Two? Inside Moves, The 2 Ps: Purpose & Pacing, The 4Ds: Dilemma, Denial, Drama and Decision, Momentum, the Two Act Twos, Subplot Prisms, Deadlines, Drive, Levels Of Conflict, Escalation, When Act Two Begins and When Act Two Ends, Scene Order, Bite Sized Pieces, Common Act Two Issues, Plot Devices For Act Two, and dozens of others. Over 67,000 words (that’s well over 200 pages) of tools and techniques to get you through the desert of Act Two alive!
Print version was 48 pages, Kindle version is well over 200 pages!
ONLY $4.99 - Kindle version
Can You Make It bigger?
***BLOCKBUSTERS (and BEACH READS) ***
Thinking about writing a big Disaster Movie? An Historical Epic? An Epic Adventure Film? Or maybe you like Gladiator Movies? This book looks at writing Blockbusters and those Big Fat Beach Read novels - anything epic! Usng movies like JAWS, POSEIDON ADVENTURE, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, and those MARVEL and FAST & FURIOUS flicks as examples. What *is* a Blockbuster? 107 years of Blockbuster history! Blockbuster Characters. Blockbuster Story Types! Why modern Blockbusters are soap operas! Social Issues in Blcokbusters? Big Emotions! Keeping All Of Those Characters Distinctive! How to avoid the Big problems found in Big Movies and books! More! If you are writing a Big Event Movie or a Big Fat Novel, there are tips and techniques to help you!
ONLY $4.99 - Kindle Version
NO KINDLE REQUIRED! Get the *free* app (any device, except your Mr. Coffee) on the order page on Amazon!
All About Rewrites!
*** REWRITES Blue Book! ***
When You Finish Your Screenplay Or Novel...
The Rewrites Begin!
The end is just the beginning! You’ve finished your story, but now the rewriting begins! This 405 page book
shows you how to rewrite your screenplay or novel to perfection. Everything from Character Consistency to
Shoeboxing to How To Give And Receive Notes to 15 Solutions If Your Script’s Too Long! and 15 Solutions
If Your Script’s Too Short! to Finding The Cause Of A Story Problem to Good Notes Vs. Bad Notes to Finding
Beta Readers to Avoiding Predictability to Learning To Be Objective About Your Work to Script Killer Notes and
Notes From Idiots to Production Rewrites and What The Page Colors Mean? and a Complete Rewrite Checklist!
The complete book on Rewriting Your Story!
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
Want To Look Like An Expert?
*** RESEARCH & WORLD BUILDING BUILDING! ***
Using movie examples like TOP GUN, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, BLUE CRUSH, ADVENTURE LAND, several of my produced films,
JOHN WICK, the novels of Donald E. Westlake and Thomas B. Dewey, SPY KIDS, the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, SOYLENT GREEN
(which takes place in the far off future of 2022), and many others we will look at researching stories and creating worlds.
The 8 Types Of Research, the 10 Types Of Information To Look For, 12 Important Elements Of World Building. Plus chapters on How
To Rob A Bank and Commit Murder And Get Away With It for those of you interested in crime fiction, and Researching The Future
for those writing science fiction, and Levels Of Reality if you are writing about a version of the real world.
Only $4.99 - Kindle Version
All About LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING!
*** LOGLINES, TREATMENTS, and PITCHING! ***
You have written a brilliant 110 page screenplay, but how do you get anyone to read it? You need to distill
it down into some form of verbal moonshine or story rocket fuel that will ignite that bored development executive
or manager or agent and get them to request your screenplay. But how do you shrink those 110 pages into a 25
word logline or a 2 minute elevator pitch or a one page synopsis or a short paragraph? This 100,000 word book
shows you how! Everything you need to know! From common logline mistakes (and how to solve them) to how
your pitch can reveal story problems to the 4 types of pitches!
ONLY $4.99! - Kindle version.
READY TO BREAK IN?
*** BREAKING IN BLUE BOOK ***
Should really be called the BUSINESS BLUE BOOK because it covers almost everything you will need to
know for your screenwriting career: from thinking like a producer and learning to speak their language,
to query letters and finding a manager or agent, to making connections (at home and in Hollywood) and
networking, to the different kinds of meetings you are will have at Studios, to the difference between
a producer and a studio, to landing an assignment at that meeting and what is required of you when you
are working under contract, to contracts and options and lawyers and... when to run from a deal!
Information you can use *now* to move your career forward! It's all here in the Biggest Blue Book yet!
Only $4.99 - Kindle version.
STORY IN ACTION SERIES!
THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES
NEW: Updates On Films 7 & 8 Casting!
The First Six Movies analyzed! All of the mission tapes, all of the “that’s impossible!” set pieces and stunts, the cons and capers - and how these scenes work, the twists and double crosses, the tension and suspense (and how to generate it), the concept of each film as a stand alone with a different director calling the shots (broken in the sixth film), the gadgets, the masks, the stories, the co-stars and team members (one team member has been in every film), the stunts Tom Cruise actually did (and the ones he didn’t), and so much more! Over 120,000 words of fun info!
THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIES - 347 Pages -
Only $3.99 ! - Kindle Version
*** THE BOURNE MOVIES
All five "Bourne" movies (including "Legacy" and it's potential sequels) - what are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? Reinventing the thriller genre...
or following the "formula"? Five films - each with an interesting experiment! A detailed analysis of each
of the films, the way these thrillers work... as well as a complete list of box office and critical
statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just fans of the series.
Only $3.99 - Kindle version
Over 240 pages!
*** THE TERMINATOR MOVIES ***
He's back! The release of "Terminator: Dark Fate" is set to begin a new trilogy in
the Terminator story... 35 years after the first film was released. What draws us to these films about
a cybernetic organism from the future sent back in time? Why is there a new proposed trilogy every few
years? This book looks at all five Terminator movies from a story standpoint - what makes them work
(or not)? What are the techniques used to keep the characters and scenes exciting and involving? How
about those secret story details you may not have noticed? Containing a detailed analysis of each of
the five films so far, this book delves into the way these stories work... as well as a complete list of
box office and critical statistics for each film. This book is great for writers, directors, and just
fans of the series.
ONLY $3.99 - Kindle Version
HITCHCOCK FOR WRITERS!
Strange Structures!
*** HITCHCOCK: EXPERIMENTS IN TERROR! ***
Contained Thrillers like "Buried"? Serial Protagonists like "Place Beyond The Pines"? Multiple Connecting Stories like "Pulp Fiction"? Same Story Multiple Times like "Run, Lola, Run"?
HITCHCOCK DID IT FIRST!
This book focuses on 18 of Hitchcock's 52 films with wild cinema and story experiments which paved the way for modern films. Almost one hundred different experiments that you may think are recent cinema or story inventions... but some date back to Hitchcock's *silent* films! We'll examine these experiments and how they work. Great for film makers, screenwriters, film fans, producers and directors.
Only $5.99 - Kindle Version
LEARN SUSPENSE FROM THE MASTER!
*** HITCHCOCK: MASTERING SUSPENSE ***
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed 52 movies, was known as the *Master Of Suspense*; but what exactly is suspense and how can *we* master it? How does suspense work? How can *we* create “Hitchcockian” suspense scenes in our screenplays, novels, stories and films?
This book uses seventeen of Hitchcock’s films to show the difference between suspense and surprise, how to use “focus objects” to create suspense, the 20 iconic suspense scenes and situations, how plot twists work, using secrets for suspense, how to use Dread (the cousin of suspense) in horror stories, and dozens of other amazing storytelling lessons. From classics like “Strangers On A Train” and “The Birds” and “Vertigo” and “To Catch A Thief” to older films from the British period like “The 39 Steps” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” to his hits from the silent era like “The Lodger” (about Jack The Ripper), we’ll look at all of the techniques to create suspense!
Only $5.99 - Kindle Version
FICTION
Featuring Shelly Steele !
*** THE SHOTGUN APPROACH ***
A Pop Star is murdered on the VIP floor of a luxury hotel by a shotgun blast to the face... completely ruining an original piece of art
on the wall behind him. Violent SFPD Homicide Inspector Shelly Steele must find the murderer... without killing anyone in the process.
That won't be easy! A locked room, A handful of clues. A chase and shootout on the hotel's fire stairs.
Who is the killer? His ex-Partner? His ex-Wife? His ex-Record Label Owner?
THE SHOTGUN APPROACH 105 pgs!
ONLY $.99 - Kindle Version
Featuring Smart & Final !
*** A FINE UPSTANDING CITIZEN ***
25 years ago Senator Milano killed a man. Now he's one of a dozen suspects in an information leak.
Being interrogated in the executive boardroom on the 30th floor of an office building...
The informant will not be leaving by the elevator. Can he solve the crime before they discover his secret?
Fnd the rat before the trap springs on him?
A FINE UPSTANDING CITIZEN (CRIME TIME THRILLER) 86 pgs!
ONLY $.99 - Kindle Version
Crime Time Thriller !
*** FOLLOWED HOME ***
Bowden knew the best place to find a victim is somewhere they feel safe. Diane Taylor would be his next victim...
It began with a car jacking at an upscale grocery store, but fresh out of prison Bowden decided to take everything -
forcing Diane to drive him her her luxury home. Trapped in her SUV with a violent man, can she find a way to turn the tables on him and survive?
FOLLOWED HOME (CRIME TIME THRILLER)
ONLY $.99 - Kindle Version
Featuring Smart & Final !
*** PRIME RATE ***
Chuck Skinner brought his father's failing butcher shop back into the black with the help of modern day cattle rustlers. Nice story if it ends there...
But now the head of the MaryAnn Mob of cattle rustlers suspects him of cooking his books, and has brought in an "accountant"
nicknamed Smart & Final... to hold him accountable. Can Chuck talk his way out of this?
PRIME RATE (CRIME TIME THRILLER)
ONLY $.99 - Kindle Version
MITCH ROBERTSON MYSTERIES
Mitch Robertson #1
*** THROUGH THE RINGER ***
Screenwriter Mitch Robertson just wants to sell a script, but ends up solving the mystery of a whiz kid writer whose new script stinks.
From an upscale vodka bar in Beverly Hills to the Writer's Guild Library to an old mansion in the woodsy Brentwood district, Mitch follows
the clues to uncover the secret of the hot new writer who has suddenly turned cold.
THROUGH THE RINGER
ONLY $.99 - Kindle Version
Mitch Robertson #2
*** THE FAMILY'S JEWEL ***
"The Presidential Suite of the Hollywood Hoover Hotel looked like a bloody battlefield: bodies everywhere, furniture broken, red liquid dripping from the walls, dead soldiers littering the elegant Berber rug as clouds of smoke overhead bounced between two air conditioning vents.
Mitch Robertson stepped over the body of an ex-child star turned sex tape star turned pop star and entered the room, spotted a gun on the floor and picked it up... careful not to spill his coffee with three pumps of mocha syrup from Penny’s Coffee Shop. That coffee was gold, the only thing keeping him going in this dazed state of wakefulness. The gun felt light. Holding it, he saw the silhouette of an 80s action star sitting sideways on a tipped over chair. Motionless. Was he dead? Mitch was still hung over from the Awards Party the night before, and wondered whether this was all some sort of crazy nightmare that he would wake up from... but when he tripped over the brown legs of a bottomless Superhero, flaccid junk encased in a condom but still wearing his mask, and hit the edge of the sofa, gun skittering and coffee spilling, he realized that it was all very real. What the hell had happened here?"
Short Novel. Only 99 cents! - Kindle Version
Mitch Robertson #3
***
THE UNHAPPY MEDIUM ***
When Warren Moultie, the "Psychic To The Stars", private files, with dirt on everyone in Hollywood, are stolen, Mitch must find them and the
thief before the blackmail begins! But when studios and movie stars and pop music stars and TV stars begin receiving demands for millions
typed by an ancient typewriter on cheap paper, the entire Entertainment Industry is depending on him. Who stole the files? The Psychic? His wife?
His mistress? One of his famous clients?
Novella. Only 99 cents! - Kindle Version
