After the preliminary script reading: Rewriting the screenplay for the better

by George Thomas Jr. 20 July 2011

Well, after listening to the 22-minute audio recording of the script reading of the sitcom I’m developing, I came to two cruel-reality realizations: I can write better; and, I can direct better. No worries, though, because, well, there is no [...]

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Recommended book: “Dr. Format Tells All”

by George Thomas Jr. 19 July 2011

Script magazine’s Dr. Format (Dave Trottier) is the go-to reference for the constantly changing landscape of screenplay formatting minutiae, and his latest compilation of what the industry expects in terms of properly formatted screenplays

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How to write a sitcom (step #4): Delivering the snappy dialogue

by George Thomas Jr. 18 July 2011

Sometimes it’s tempting to start pounding out dialogue for a scene before you’ve fully plotted the story or thought about core character traits, but such hastily written dialogue quite often is the worst thing screenwriters write — at least during [...]

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The importance of specificity and decisions for the writer

by George Thomas Jr. 12 July 2011

Well, as I write this I’m thinking, “George, you have a [expletive deleted] script to finish,” but specificity and decisions are top of mind for me now, so I feel compelled to address these critical issues that are key

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How to write a sitcom (step #3): Strengthen the story

by George Thomas Jr. 5 July 2011

Now that you have a strong idea of who your main characters are, how they relate to each other, and where the sitcom primarily is set, you probably already have thought of a number of funny scenarios that could drive [...]

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Write what you like and who you know

by George Thomas Jr. 21 June 2011

One of the best ways to learn how to write a screenplay is, yes, to just write one, but if you’ve never written one before, it’s easy to get derailed by the debilitating thought, “what should I write about?” Just [...]

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How to write a sitcom (step #2): The setting

by George Thomas Jr. 5 June 2011

All television shows, regardless of genre or “on location” shooting, have scenes in every episode set in a handful of primary locations: “The Big Bang Theory:” Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment; the cafeteria, Penny’s apartment. “Dexter:” The police office; Dexter’s apartment. [...]

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Recommended screenwriting book: Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great

by George Thomas Jr. 26 May 2011

Screenplay books come in different flavors and from different perspectives and offer varying degrees of instruction. William M Akers’s Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great stands apart from the crowd in a good way, and what I [...]

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How to write a sitcom and where to start

by George Thomas Jr. 21 May 2011

Since the sitcom I’m developing will be part of TheFilmSchool’s FREE staged screenplay reading series later this summer (August 1, at Seattle’s ACT – A Contemporary Theatre), I thought, for some reason, it would be a good exercise to document [...]

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Beyond dialogue: Write the story as characters live it

by George Thomas Jr. 17 May 2011

When I heard a new silent film, “The Artist,” directed by Michel Hazanavicius, was generating a bit of buzz at Cannes this year, I promptly checked IMDB.com for details, but was shocked to discover there was no writing credit, because [...]

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