Final Draft Blog
All the tips, tricks and information you need to inspire your writing!
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Write On: 'Suitable Flesh' Writer Dennis Paoli
“I’m not happy with a script unless I can look through it and find at least five or six pages where there’s no dialogue – where the story tells itself through imagery,” says horror screenwriter Dennis Paoli. Feeling strongly that the screenwriter’s j...
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Why You Should Write Dark Comedy
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.
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Write On: Joy Ride's Screenwriters Teresa Hsiao and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
When one woman's business trip turns into a quest to find her family, things get super funny in the new comedy Joy Ride, a raunchy road trip movie with a global spin. The film stars Oscar-nominee Stephanie Hsu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu...
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How to Write Action According to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
In a cinematic world where superheroes fly effortlessly through multiple universes and the tentpole summer films have been a staple for decades, how does a movie stand out for its action sequences? For screenwriters, the thought of creating an action...
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What Does "Breaking the Fourth Wall" Mean?
What is "breaking the fourth wall?" You may not know what it means or where the phrase originated — but you've definitely seen plenty of examples of it in movies and TV shows.
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Internal Conflict Vs. External Conflict
Over the years, I’ve read my share of scripts from aspiring screenwriters. If it’s a character-driven drama, there is plenty of internal conflict; if it’s an action/adventure, sci/fantasy or thriller/horror there’s a good deal of external conflict.
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How To Make Genre-Bending Work in Your Screenplay
Sometimes you have an idea for a screenplay, but it’s not suited for just one film genre. In fact, it might contain tropes from two different genres or even multiple genres! If this is the case, you’ve just dreamed up a genre-bending screenplay.
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What is the Iceberg Theory and How Can It Help Your Writing?
Ernest Hemingway was not a screenwriter.
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Worldbuilding 101 Using the Star Wars Model
“Worldbuilding” is when writers create a world for their characters to inhabit and story to take place.
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What’s new in Final Draft 13?
WRITING GOALS &
PRODUCTIVITY STATS
Set goals and get valuable insights to take your work to the next level
TYPEWRITER
A new typewriter-like view option improves your focus
EMOJI
Craft more realistic onscreen text exchanges and make your notes more emotive
And so much more, thoughtfully designed to help unleash your creativity.
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