A guest post by Trevor Mayes of ScriptWrecked.
Hallowed or Hackneyed?
When it comes to mainstream Hollywood story structure, there tends to be two schools of thought.
1) Hallowed — “There is a mystical reason we humans respond to the same basic story told over and over again.”
2) Hackneyed — “Movies have become far too formulaic, with their clichéd heroes journeys and fill-in-the-blanks beat sheets.”
Both are slightly off.
The Simple Truth
It all boils down to presentation and maximum impact.
Whether it’s a movie, 30 second commercial, blog post, or office gossip — an effective storyteller will …

One of the reasons why I started blogging here at scriptxray.com is because I found blogging was a great way to meet my own goals as a writer — at the time,I subscribed to the thousand words a day quota.
Though I’ve moved on from that quota (I usually write well over 1,000 words a day now), I still feel blogging is a great way for any type of writer, whether you’re a screenwriter, novelist, journalist, or poet, to continue to write every day … even when things aren’t going too well in your …

As the longest act in a three act story, the second act often becomes a daughting task for the new writer. Stalling out while writing the second act is a common problem for most new writers, so I thought we should take a look at just a few general things a writer can do to avoid stalling.
1. The first turning point
Though this might seem like a super-basic reminder, it’s something I see overlooked by writers all the time.
Starting off on the right foot is important when it comes to storytelling …

If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a pro reader in Hollywood, it’s that there’snothing more important than compelling your reader — if you can’t do that, your work simply won’t move up the ranks.
There are plenty of ways to do this throughout the screenplay, but I’d like to take a closer look at two things you can do right on page one as well as hear what you find works best for your own writing.
Create a Compelling Character Introduction
One of the first things a reader looks for when opening …

With the success of the Apple App Store and iPhone, along with the introduction of the iPad last week, the screenwriting community can’t help but wonder when the first screenwriting app for the iPad will be released — and further more, who will release it.
Let’s face it — the screenwriting apps available for the smaller devices are kinda’ silly. It would take hours to compose a compelling sequence simply due to the size of the screen and keyboard.
Unlike the screen of the iPhone, the iPad sports a 9.7 inch screen and …