What goes into writing a great movie script?

All rules are made to be broken, but you damn well better know WHY you’re breaking them.

Outline everything. Use story beats. Keep character’s mouths taped up, until they absolutely MUST speak. Write the script and the dialogue at the last minute, after you’ve revised the hell out of the outline.

What you leave unwritten is as important as what you write. SUBTEXT.

What are the main issues that have historically and currently divided Republicans and Democrats?

A scene should change valence from beginning to end. Up to down, down to up.

Learn to tell a story orally and not through writing. Try telling your story to a friend.

Leave holes. Write and unwrite. Put it in, take it out.

Can you recommend a simple song with an awesome solo? What makes the solo stand out?

Make sure to pack enough explosives into the rocket.

Your primary job is to create situations. Modern actors will fuck up your dialogue, despite whatever your contract says.

Get up there yourself. Be in a movie. Take some acting (not writing) classes. Learn how a trained actor approaches a text. Learn why actors take roles. They do as much if not more than the writer does.

How do you get free followers on TikTok in 5 minutes?

Research the facts and then throw away the research.

Actors give better feedback than writers do.

To develop a unique voice for each character, try interviewing your characters.

How do you think Donald Trump will respond to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's statement that Ukraine will consider nuclear weapons if it does not get NATO membership?

Only God gets it right the first time. Rewrite everything.

A critical function of storytelling is wish fulfillment. This is why video games are so popular. “That protagonist is JUST LIKE ME.”

The DSM 5 is a wonderful character compendium.

How do we write and pronounce "it's my pleasure" in Italian?

Use status to help drive conflict. King Lear/fool. Upstairs/downstairs.

People choose what to see based on the high concept. Make sure to deliver an ending consistent with the high concept -- it is what the audience paid for.

Audiences are smarter than you think. Something about turning down the house lights makes their IQs go up.

Why do Indian guys love Russian girls?

Cut everything that is not a payoff, or a setup for a specific payoff. “Omit needless words.” Think about the sparseness of joke telling, or Grimm Brothers.

Maintain a slush pile/idea file. When you are ready to write, choose the best seeds to plant.

Primary characters must change polarities. Secondary characters can change less.

I'm a 28-year-old guy who has never been in a relationship, nor can I seem to find someone who wants to be in one with me. Why do I feel like a freak?

Write in reverse time. Major characters need to change polarity; minor characters may remain the same at the end.

Don’t direct from the page. Everyone, from the director on down, wants to be part of the process of making movies. Let them do their work.

Conflict is your power source; without it you have no drama and hence no script.

Why is it so hard to date nowadays?