Hello, screenwriters. For those of you who are interested, I’ve just completely redesigned my website. So for those of you who would like to know more about my background, the films I’ve written, testimonials from writers in my workshops, etc please check out the new website at: https://www.glennbenest.com Much appreciated. We now have over 14,000 […]

Hello, screenwriters. This might be a good opportunity to take a short time-out and consider a larger view of what we’re doing. We’ve been concentrating fiercely on the small points which make up a whole. That is, the parts of what makes screenwriting a powerful form of communication: Dialogue, writing effective narrative, construction of scenes, […]

Hello, everyone. I wanted to point out in this week’s post how crucial it is to be as succinct as possible with your narrative. This has changed dramatically over the years. Let’s take another example from “Inception.” As you recall Cobb has been offered a job to go into the mind of the son of […]

Hi, everyone. As we saw in this last scene from “Inception,” Cobb (played by Leonardo Di Caprio) is a reluctant hero. That is — he doesn’t jump at the chance to go on a daring mission or journey. It’s occurred to me that we haven’t talked about this particular aspect of the Protagonist’s character arc. […]

Hello, everyone. As you’re all aware, I do these posts to provide information you wouldn’t normally receive in your typical screenwriting class, screenwriting workshop or screenwriting course. This certainly fits that bill. Do you all realize that although “Inception,” didn’t win many Academy awards it’s made over 850 million dollars worldwide gross box office? That’s […]

Hello, screenwriters. In these posts I attempt to provide information that you don’t normally get in your typical screenwriting course, screenwriting class or screenwriting workshop.  We are now back to examining some exceptional scenes from the work of professional writers who will hopefully inspire us and help us understand what makes great screenwriting. The following […]

Hello, everyone. As you all know I try and present material that you don’t normally get in your typical screenwriting course, screenwriting class or screenwriting workshop. Today, let’s take a minute and think about the value of looking at these scenes every week from great screenwriters, who are writing films for today’s marketplace. Not only […]

Hello, everyone. I can’t emphasize enough how important the read is. I work relentlessly with the writers in my screenwriting workshops on their story structure, their characters and the protagonist’s character arcs and of course on the dialogue and scene construction. But when we get down to the 3rd or 4th draft – I emphasize […]

Remember this. That the person who reads your script has read many, many scripts. He or she knows what a professional screenplay should read and sound like. It shouldn’t feel like a first draft. Every sentence has to have energy and rhythm and punch. It’s not just the dialogue that has to connect with the […]

Hello, everyone. I was just published in a screenwriting book: “Now WRITE! SCREENWRITING” — Screenwriting Exercises From Today’s Best Writers and Teachers. I wrote a chapter devoted to writing Great Film Narrative: Chapter 14: It’s The Read – Writing Great Film Narrative. I thought you might enjoy some of the lessons I laid out for […]