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.

5 Steps for Developing Great Characters

August 8, 2023

Let’s say you have a great concept for a feature film or a television pilot, but you haven’t considered the characters yet. More often than not, aspiring screenwriters will populate their scripts with “stock characters,” meaning the characters are de...

Write On: Apple's Physical showrunner Annie Weisman

August 8, 2023

The Apple TV+ series Physical, starring Rose Byrne, is set to launch its third and final season on August 2. Set in the idyllic but fragile beach paradise of sunny 1980s San Diego, Physical is a half-hour dark comedy following Sheila Rubin (Rose Byrn...

10 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block According to Science

August 4, 2023

If you’ve ever tried to write a script or short story or article or term paper, you’ve no doubt experienced what’s known as “writer’s block” – that somewhat mysterious, maddening condition comparable to an athletic slump, or just a bad day when you c...

How to Start Writing that Christmas Rom-Com Now

August 1, 2023

Christmas movies shoot throughout the entire year. Even in the 90-degree summers, there will be two characters struggling to find romance walking through down a small town’s Main Street as fake snow fills the frame. As the holiday season approaches, ...

6 Storytelling Lessons from Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'

July 26, 2023

J. Robert Oppenheimer was a complex person with a complicated life who was tasked with designing the near-impossible. All of this makes him a perfect character study in the new film by Christopher Nolan. Oppenheimer focuses on a few periods in the co...

What Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' Teaches You About Screenwriting

July 26, 2023

What’s it like to be a Barbie girl in a Barbie world? In Greta Gerwig’s highly-anticipated new movie, Barbie, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and director weaves a complex tale of a “Stereotypical” Barbie who experiences an existential crisis and must...

What is a Subplot?

July 21, 2023

You've almost certainly heard the term "A story." This self-evidently means the main plot of a movie or TV show. The one the logline is about. That protagonist who wants something and the major obstacles, etc. etc. etc.

Why You Should Write Dark Comedy

July 19, 2023

Dark comedy, also known as black comedy, is a style of comedy that finds humor in serious or taboo subjects. At its best, dark comedy can be cathartic, helping people confront the absurdities and injustices of existence while making them laugh.

Write On: Justified: City Primeval's Showrunner Michael Dinner

July 18, 2023

The world out there is a brutal place. If you have a hankering for some of the rough justice you remember from old-school lawman Raylan Givens – you’re in luck. Justified: City Primeval is about to drop on FX starring the same Raylan (Timothy Olyphan...