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thoughts on screenwriting from writer-producer erik bork

Movie or Series?

Movie or Series?

Writers often come to me with projects that they think could be a movie or series (i.e. what used to be called television!). And they're not sure...

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Six Things that Need Fixing

Six Things that Need Fixing

Save the Cat recommends giving your main character "Six Things that Need Fixing" in the first act. Then, by the end of the script, you show how...

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Midpoint of a Script

Midpoint of a Script

Long before the Save the Cat "beat sheet" came along, screenplay structure theories going back to Syd Field talked about the importance of the...

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The Second Act of a Screenplay

The Second Act of a Screenplay

The second act of a screenplay is that long middle section where the story's main character actively struggles to resolve whatever the primary story...

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White Lotus Season 2

White Lotus Season 2

I won't tell you what happens in the finale, if you haven't seen it yet. But you might want to stay off YouTube, Twitter and the internet in general...

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The Crown Season 5

The Crown Season 5

The Crown Season 5 debuted recently on Netflix. I watched the first two episodes and if I didn't know better, I'd say it has new writers who don't...

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Scene Description

Scene Description

At its essence, a script consists of two things: dialogue and scene description (or “action”). The writer scripts what the characters say; and describes what they’re doing and what the audience would see…

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Outlining a Script

Outlining a Script

Outlining a script involves figuring out what happens in every scene before you actually start writing any of them. We screenwriters tend to always...

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30,000 feet

30,000 feet

In focusing on the details, we often lose track of the “30,000 feet” view: the story or series as a whole, and its main impact on a potential audience.

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Final Draft

Final Draft

No version of a script is the final draft.That’s how I recommend looking at it.Yes, I know the most popular script formatting software is called...

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The Dropout

The Dropout

It’s rare that I admire the writing of something so much that I make verbal outbursts about it while watching, annoying the people around me. This...

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I’m a Big Baby

I’m a Big Baby

If you’ve ever gotten candid feedback on a script from me or from other professionals, you might have gone through a variety of emotions afterwards…

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Erik Bork

I’m a screenwriter best known for my work on the HBO miniseries BAND OF BROTHERS and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, for which I wrote multiple episodes, and won two Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards as part of the producing team. I’ve also sold series pitches (and written pilots) at NBC and FOX, worked on the writing staff for two primetime dramas, and written feature screenplays on assignment for companies like Universal, HBO, TNT, and Playtone. My book THE IDEA: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage, or Fiction was released in 2018. Click here to e-mail me. And check out my free Ten Key Principles Successful Writers Understand.”

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