Scriptshadow Secrets (500 Screenwriting Secrets Hidden Inside 50 Great Movies)

Flip the cliché - Always look for places to flip the cliché on its head.

payoff, in part, depends on the audience forgetting the set-up.

Beginner writers are notorious for leaving out important information when they write. As a result, the scene they’re writing and the scene we’re reading are two completely different things.

Since this is the point at which Annie is furthest from her goal (winning her best friend back), she’s officially at rock bottom.

give your dark protagonist some personality. Rocky makes jokes to Adrian. He talks to his turtles. He gives advice to a wayward girl on the way home. He plays with a racketball wherever he goes. Your movie may cover heavy subject matter, but it doesn’t mean your main character has to be a bore.

crying character doesn’t start smiling just because the next scene begins. So a trick is to have a surprise of some sort JOLT your characters out of their solemn state.

Quirks help distinguish a character - In rom-coms, you need little quirky traits that annunciate a character’s personality.

Only the best writers in the world can pull off passive heroes. So be careful when using the hidden goal!

your dialogue is weak, look for things you can setup before the scene to bring the dialogue to life.

A good logline should include the main character, the objective, and the major source of conflict