FROM THE DESK OF
Amy Suto
Hello! 👋 I’m Amy Suto, a published author and freelance memoir ghostwriter. Subscribe to my newsletter & writing job board here!
The Last Piece of Writing Advice You'll Need
Some gurus tell you that the three act structure will kill you, while others tell you that if you don't hit every story beat, your screenplay will be doomed. Still, others tell you that outlining is a hoax and you should just write a screenplay with no structure at all because that kills your creativity. Then there are the champions of the outline who say that without it, your script will die in the rough draft phase, and if you do manage to get a final draft out of it, it will take you twice as long as if you'd done an outline.
5 Things You Forgot About Rough Drafts
Working screenwriters tend to have several screenplays in the pipeline at once, all at different levels of completion. This way, they can bounce around between all the stages of the writing process without getting fatigued, and always have an answer for the dreaded question, 'what else do you got?' But balancing a pipeline of different projects -- and actually completing them -- takes time. When you start off, chances are you'll just focus on one screenplay at a time. And sometimes, it's easy to forget about the messiness that is the rough draft.
The Doomed Love Trope (And Why It's Awesome)
You've seen it before.Two starstruck lovers fall into such a perfect, idealized form of true love that their passion for each other could burn out the sun if it was one kilowatt brighter. These two youngsters resemble all of our romantic hopes and dreams, and we want them to overcome every obstacle in their path in order to be together.But, of course, their love is doomed due to timing.
3 Reasons Why Screenplays are Like Lattes
Welcome to AmySuto.com! You may also know this website by its alternate name, "Gratuitous Photos of Delicious Caffeinated Beverages."Now, you may be asking "Amy, how on earth are you able to craft an extended metaphor around lattes and screenplays?" And to that I laugh and exclaim, "silly readers! I'm a writer! I make extended metaphors for a living!"Anyways.Here are four reasons why screenplays are like lattes:
5 Storytelling Lessons We Can Learn From Rian Johnson
Hey Amy, was this blog post partially created out of you wanting to tell people that you saw LOOPER before it was even out in theaters? Why yes, yes it is. That, and writer/director Rian Johnson's films make all of my top ten movie lists. If I were stranded on a deserted island, I'd bring his high school noir film Brick with me. If I had three hours left to live, you can bet I'd be watching his feel-good con man love story adventure, The Brother's Bloom. What's that you say? There's been a nuclear war and I'm only allowed to save five movies from the impending destruction? Looper, consider yourself saved.
Pre-Writing Checklist: 6 Things To Do Before Starting Your Screenplay
I've learned some very important lessons from my overseas travel, but one message actually applies to screenwriting: always prepare yourself for the journey ahead. Writing a script, is, in essence, a journey. Don't be that guy who gets stopped at the border because you forgot your passport and who drinks the water the moment his boot hits Mexicano soil.
9 Creative Approaches to Screenwriting
Over the past year, I've been studying the science behind creativity and how it works while conducting a study of my own. Because when you think about it, being creative is one of the fundamental skills required for screenwriters to be wildly successful. The execs aren't gonna fed ex you buckets of cash unless you've some kind of genius who can pitch and write things they've never seen before.
7 Essential Habits for Writers
So "caffeine dependency" didn't make this list, but it's an important part of my creative process. Caffeine's great for productivity! Especially in latte form! Or any form, really!
Novels vs. Screenplays and Why Writers Should Try Writing a Novel
You should write a novel.I know, I know, you're a screenwriter. You're a movie person. Why write anything that doesn't have a chance of appearing on the big screen?Here's why: you can learn quite a bit from studying different mediums. (This goes for novelists, too!) There's power in crosstraining. That's why professional football players do ballet and yoga in their offseason.
8 Tips for a Successful Writing Marathon
In the novel writing community, word sprints and word wars are common practice, especially during National Novel Writing Month month of November. On forums and Twitter, novelists set word count goals and race other writers to that goal. One word war I participated in had a goal of 7,000 words within 24 hours.
Writing About Guns: 7 Screenplay Do's and Dont's
I'm an action/thriller writer with an emphasis on the spy and assassin subgenres, so most of my scripts have guns. Scratch that: ALL of my scripts have guns. That's why my research brought me to the largest indoor gun range in the country, where I got to learn all about firearms from one of the experts in the industry.
4 Ways to Distance Yourself From Your Story
One rampant problem common amongst amateur writers is that they cannot take criticism. They are so close to their work, they cannot bear hearing anything but praise for what they've written, even if it isn't the truth.This tendency isn't completely their fault. The problem with writing as a career is that everything we write is a reflection of who we are.
5 Lessons Screenwriters Can Learn from The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is set to have the highest grossing opening weekend of all time for a non-sequel movie. What makes the story work? What can we learn from this smash hit?
The "Will They Won't They" Plot Device: Is it Overused?
The "Will They Won't They Get Together Romance" is possibly one of the most annoying-- yet extremely addicting if used effectively- plot device on television today.
