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.

Weekend Writing Inspiration: Use "Systems" to Keep Your Writing Organized

March 8, 2019

In part one of our organization series, we reviewed methods to tackle your writing space organization, along with giving thought to all of the tools we need to keep it organized (it’s more than you’d think!).

Beyond Words 2019: Award-Nominated Screenwriters Talk Breaking In and Breaking Story

March 6, 2019

Photo credit: Michael L. Jones This year’s Beyond Words panel hosted by the Writers Guild Foundation, the Writers Guild of America West and Variety, was moderated by Stacey Wilson Hunt and featured an exceptional array of the WGA-nominated screenwrit...

Write On with AFF Script Competition Director Steven DeBose

March 5, 2019

Austin Film Festival’s Steven DeBose discusses his journey from festival employee to newly appointed script competition director, the culture that defines Austin Film Festival, and the VIP access afforded to all attendees who come prepared for the en...

The Weekend Movie Takeaway: March 4, 2019

March 4, 2019

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World maintained the top spot at the box office over the weekend with a $30 million gross, once again showing how much goodwill audiences have for how franchise writer/director Dean DeBlois has kept this story mov...

All The Write Moves: 'Whiskey Cavalier'

March 4, 2019

Few hybrid genres are as appealing as the romantic comedy/thriller mashup because when this style of storytelling clicks, audiences get to savor the excitement of action sequences and the warmth of a love story, with jokes sprinkled into the mix for ...

Weekend Writing Inspiration: Create Places for Your Writing Materials to Live

March 1, 2019

This week we’re continuing to discuss how you can corral your writing space and your writing materials to keep them more organized and conducive to writing. In last week’s article, we reviewed mindset shifts and strategies for getting your writing sp...

Film School Spotlight: USC's John Wells Division of Writing for Screen & Television

February 27, 2019

Jack Epps Jr., known for his screenwriting credits on such popular films as Top Gun and The Secret of My Success, now lends his screenwriting expertise as Professor and Chair of the John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television at the Univ...

All the Write Moves: Russian Doll

February 26, 2019

Songwriters face an inherent conundrum when trying to innovate because the chromatic scale of Western music includes only 12 unique notes. The challenge is to arrange and combine these limited resources in surprising ways. A similar conundrum faces t...

Write On with 'Fighting with My Family' writer-director Stephen Merchant

February 26, 2019

Fighting with My Family writer-director Stephen Merchant talks with us about his career in both film and television, how he determines what is vital to a story during the editing process, and the creative ways he moved the story along through comment...