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Final Draft Blog

All the tips, tricks and information you need to inspire your writing!
Read interviews with the pros, catch up with industry news, and listen to Write On: A Screenwriting Podcast by Final Draft.

How 'The Penguin' Brings 'The Sopranos' to the Superhero Genre

Warning - spoilers ahead! It’s rare for a superhero spinoff to become great prestige TV, but that’s exactly what The Penguin is doing. Written and helmed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin follows Oswald “Oz” Cobb (Colin Farrell) in the weeks ...

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Write On: 'Here' Screenwriter Eric Roth

“I think [ Here] has some of the imagination of Forrest Gump, but it’s not Forrest Gump. It’s a different animal. I mean, it has the same kind of humanity to it, which is what I’m pretty good at,” says Eric Roth about his latest film Here, co-written...

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‘The Wild Robot’ Screenwriter Chris Sanders Tells How to Write for Animation

If you want to learn how to write for animated films, there is probably no better person to learn from than Chris Sanders. He’s a veritable titan in the industry, with story credits on Disney classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion ...

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Five Lessons in Horror Writing from 'Smile 2' Filmmaker Parker Finn

Writer/director Parker Finn has mastered a specific brand of horror with 2022’s Smile and this year’s Halloween hit, Smile 2. It’s dour, it’s high-concept, it’s ghastly and gory and great. The story might lead viewers to ask certain questions. How do...

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How to Write a True Crime Drama like ‘Monsters’

Warning - spoilers ahead for Monsters and Woman of the Hour.

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Creating a Sympathetic Monster

A Sympathetic Monster is an archetype that can be found in various “monster movies.” In addition to scaring us, these monsters also tug at our heartstrings, and we find ourselves caring about them despite the carnage they cause. Over the decades, the...

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What Are Static and Dynamic Characters in Screenwriting?

Characters are essential to storytelling. They drive conflict, provide a point of view for the story, and become the audience’s reason to stay rooted in the experience. But what kind of character are you writing to motivate your story?

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Write On: Seth Sherwood Horror Masterclass

“Comedy and scares are so similar. I’ve found that in a lot of my scripts, it’s almost like you’re taking the peaks and valleys of humor, and the peaks and valleys of scares, and flipping them on each other. So, you have the scare that you come down ...

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Writing Visceral Horror: Interview with 'Daddy's Head' Creator Benjamin Barfoot

Benjamin Barfoot, a screenwriter, director, editor, and composer, is a self-taught filmmaker and self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades. After getting his start in shorts and animation, he’s moved on to bigger and more ambitious projects—which brings us ...

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