“Unlock the Secrets of Screenwriting: 30 Unforgettable Insights That Will Change Your Creative Process Forever!”
Have you ever stared at a blank page, your mind racing with thoughts that seem to stumble over each other, while the words just won’t flow? It’s a universal struggle, isn’t it? Writing is such an intricate dance between thought and emotion—both critical ingredients that bring a screenplay to life. In the words of the legendary Ray Bradbury, “Don’t think! Feel!” This captures the essence of what many writers, especially in the field of screenwriting, grapple with day after day. The balance between intellectual rigor and heartfelt expression can feel like walking a tightrope. I’ve been there myself, and after years of teaching and learning the craft of storytelling, I’ve come to appreciate how vital it is to embrace that feeling. So, let’s dive into my journey of understanding this duality in writing—how thinking deeply about the craft can coexist (and sometimes clash) with the instinctive urge to just let the feelings pour out. If you’re ready to explore this captivating tension in storytelling, let’s get started! LEARN MORE.
With writing, there are times to think… and times to feel.
“I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 years now, which reads ‘Don’t think!’ You must never think at the typewriter — you must feel. Your intellect is always buried in that feeling anyway.”
— Ray Bradbury
I do a lot of thinking about the craft of screenwriting. I come by it honestly. I never went to film school or had any formal training before I broke into the business, so I had to do whatever I could to get my act together to sustain a career as a screenwriter. Moreover, I had trained to become an academic, albeit in a completely different field, before I took my “year off from school” which subsequently became the rest of my life.
Put those two together and the result is applying a significant amount of my gray matter to reading, studying, analyzing, questions, concerns, ideas and concepts related to writing screenplays.
When I began teaching screenwriting in my spare time over a decade ago, that only intensified my thought process. Writing is one thing. Teaching writing is quite another. The former is pretty much just ‘doing.’ The latter requires one to… well… think about the doing, then articulate that process in a coherent form which can be conveyed to students.
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