Interstellar stands out as a cinematic achievement not only for its stunning visuals and Hans Zimmer’s evocative score but also for its screenplay, which skillfully navigates complex scientific concepts while keeping the human experience at its core. The plot follows former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper, who discovers a covert NASA operation. With humanity’s survival at […]
Author: Punit Thakkar
If you’re a screenwriter working in the business or someone who’s just started their journey of becoming one, you would have most certainly come across the term “inciting incident”. It’s the defining incident that set the story in motion. Definition Any event or circumstance (big or small) that changes the direction of the protagonist’s life […]
One of the most celebrated movies of the last decade, “PK”, directed by Rajkumar Hirani and co-written by him and Abhijat Joshi, is a Bollywood movie which was the highest-grossing hindi movie at the time. Released in 2014, this satirical science fiction comedy-drama takes a bold and unconventional approach to tackle societal norms and religious […]
One of the key structuring decisions, before you begin writing your screenplay, is whether to keep it linear or non-linear. Both are techniques that deal with time. Unlike the three-act structure which primarily concerns itself with the overall narrative arc, linear and non linear structures dictate the sequencing of events ie. the order in which […]
In contemporary storytelling, screenwriters and authors often draw from a variety of structural models, including the traditional three-act structure, to shape their narratives. This is the most common and basic structure for a new writer to get started to understand the foundations of constructing a story. Once you go deeper, you will find many such […]
Books are great for learning the technical aspects of screenwriting. They can be especially useful before you start writing. But often when you’re in the middle of writing your screenplay, what you need most is motivation. That’s where podcasts come in handy. They’re not just more convenient to consume; they also offer a more dynamic […]
Everyone is a storyteller. The medium may differ, and the talent may vary but innately everyone has at some point worn the hat of a storyteller. Not everyone has or needs to read technical books to learn screenwriting. Whether you’ve told them through writing short stories or by narrating a funny incident that happened to […]
The three act structure is a general storytelling blueprint. Whether you’re a novelist, playwright, or a screenwriter, it serves as a useful guide in crafting your narrative. While some writers find this approach in constructing stories to be formulaic and unartistic, the three act structure isn’t a storytelling “hack” or prescription but a framework that […]
Writing a screenplay is already difficult. And when you have thought of what you want to write, the last thing you want to be worried about is how to write and format it correctly. It can be intimidating to know the rules and this article hopes to serve as a guide to help you format […]
The first step in writing a screenplay is having an idea. The tool required in order to come up with a compelling, unique idea is knowledge or life experience. The next step is to translate this idea into a story and screenplay. While you can technically use a pen & paper or standard word processing […]