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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.

Lessons on Creating an Effective B Story in Your Script from 'NOPE'

Jordan Peele’s latest sci-fi/horror installment NOPE aka Not Of Planet Earth centers around brother and sister OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer). After the mysterious death of their beloved father, Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith ...

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How To Create an Emotional Through Line in Your Screenplay

Many aspiring screenwriters might not be aware of the term “through line” and how it’s frequently used in the development process. When I first broke into the film industry I wasn’t aware of the term myself, and I definitely wasn’t thinking of themat...

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Spin Me Round' writer-director subverts expectations while embracing fan favorite tropes

Spin Me Round sets up a rom-com world: its poster looks like the cover of a romance novel, and the premise has that rom-com-y wish fulfillment element. Alison Brie’s Amber is being dipped dramatically by Nick Martucci (Alessandro Nivola), who found s...

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Take 5: Writing 'A League of Their Own' series for new and original fans

Thirty years ago, a script about the first female professional baseball league was produced and released in theaters. A League of Their Own captured the hearts of countless movie-goers then, just as the adapted TV series of the same name does today.

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5 Tips to Writing a Great Opening

In my article 5 Clichés to Avoid in the Opening of Your Script, I stressed the importance of grabbing industry professionals in the first couple pages of your spec script. Whether it’s a feature screenplay or a television pilot, most managers, agents...

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Right Story, Right Character

In my article about National Lampoon's Vacation, I wrote that one of the reasons for the film’s success was it paired the right character with the right story. Sometimes there is a tendency for screenwriters to focus more on plot and less on the prot...

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Write On with 'Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.' Filmmakers Adamma and Adanne Ebo

Based on writer-director Adamma Ebo's 2018 short film of the same name, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. follows Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall), the first lady of a prominent Southern Baptist Mega Church, as she attempts to help her pastor-husband, Lee...

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5 Screenwriting Takeaways: 'The Black Phone' dials up tension by drip-feeding clues

On the surface, The Black Phone is a story about a 13-year-old boy named Finney who is kidnapped by a serial killer known as the Grabber, but something more mysterious haunts him throughout this story. In the soundproof room where he and many others ...

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5 Clichés to Avoid in the Opening of Your Script

Sometimes in life — when talking and expressing ourselves to the people around us — clichés are unavoidable. There are only so many ways to convey the most common feelings and situations that we all go through. When writing a screenplay, however, it’...

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