Making a Good Script Great Quotes

“A myth is a story that is "more than true." Many stories are true because one person, somewhere, at some time, lived it. It is based on fact. But a myth is more than true because it is lived by all of us, at some level. It's a story that connects and speaks to us all.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Alcuni miti sono storie vere che raggiungono un significato mitico perché le persone di cui raccontano sembrano più grandi della vita e sembrano vivere la loro vita più intensamente delle persone comuni.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“The catalyst begins a story’s action. Something happens—a crime occurs, a letter arrives, Aunt Mary appears on the doorstep—and from that moment on the story is defined. Until the catalyst kicks off the story, the only information the audience has is where and when the film takes place. But once an event happens, the story suddenly has focus and direction.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“The midpoint scene occurs just where you’d expect it—about halfway through the script. Syd Field, in The Screenwriter’s Workbook, says that it divides the story in half, introducing an event or line of dialogue that helps structure Act Two. In my work consulting on more than 2,000 scripts and teaching many of the best films, I don’t find a midpoint scene in every film. But when I do find one, it functions as an excellent tool to help structure a difficult second act.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“It turns the action in a new direction. It raises the central question again and makes us wonder about the answer. It often requires a decision or commitment on the part of the main character. It raises the stakes. It pushes the story into the next act. It takes the audience into a new arena, where a character’s actions may be seen with a new focus.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“For writers, a beat works in a script much as a beat works in a piece of music. In a song, single beats are grouped to make up a measure. By adding more beats (thus more measures) you create a phrase, and eventually an entire melody. In the same way, single dramatic beats or moments, placed together, create a scene. And the beats in a scene, together, create the beats of an act, and the beats of an act, together, create an entire film.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“The word “beat” in drama tends to be somewhat vague. Actors sometimes use the term to designate a pause, as in “I want to take a beat after I pick up the knife but before going after my victim.” Writers may use the term to define a series of events, big (a murder) or small (taking a tomato out of the refrigerator). For example, a writer might decide to create six beats to show a meeting between the two soon-to-be lovers: Beat #1: A cute guy comes into a café. Beat #2: A gorgeous waitress asks him if he wants a cinnamon cappuccino or a mint latte. Beat #3: She brings him his coffee. Beat #4: She knocks it over. Beat #5: They both jump to clean up the mess. Beat #6: They bang heads; their eyes meet under the table, and it’s clear this is love at first sight.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Every story, in a sense, is a mystery. It asks a question in the setup that will be answered at the climax. Usually, a problem is introduced or a situation that needs to be resolved is presented. This situation or problem raises a question in our minds, such as “Will the detective find the murderer?,” “Will these two beautiful young people fall in love and get married?,” “Will the mountain climber reach the summit of Everest?,” “Will the woman get promoted?,” “Will the man get cured of his terrible disease?” Once it is raised, everything that happens in the story relates to that question, which keeps coming up throughout the story. With each turning point and each setback and each step forward, the question is repeated subconsciously. At the story’s climax, there’s an answer, which is almost always “yes.” Will the detective solve the crime? Yes. Will the lovers get together? Yes. Will the mountain climber reach the top? Yes. But since we don’t learn the answers until the end, we remain interested in what will happen along the way and how the objective built into the central question will be accomplished. Once the central question has been asked, the setup is complete, and the story is now ready to unfold.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Sometimes a catalyst is situational, made up of a series of incidents that add up over a period of time. This sort of catalyst is rare, because hinting at action is usually not a strong way to start a story. Three films that have situational catalysts are Tootsie, Back to the Future, and Some Like It Hot. Tootsie, for instance, introduces the New York theater world, showing how difficult it is to get a job.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“that she must leave the convent to teach seven children (The Sound of Music) or that he’s given a chance to fight the champion (Rocky). Although this type of catalyst isn’t as forceful as an event, in relationship-based stories it might be very appropriate.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Sometimes the catalyst can be a piece of information that a character receives. Such a catalyst orients the audience to the subject of the story through dialogue”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“The strongest catalysts are specific actions.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Sometimes this catalyst presents a problem that must be addressed (there’s pollution or someone is ill) or a need (the need for a cure, the need to find the killer, the need to find someone who will commit to a true love). Sometimes the catalyst is a disturbance, something jarring that starts an extraordinary journey.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“A marketing hook, as opposed to a logline, is anything that entices an audience into a theater. In Transformers, Toy Story, and G.I. Joe, the marketing hooks were the toys themselves. In Spider-Man and Iron Man, the marketing hooks were the familiarity many moviegoers would have with the comic books. The marketing hook for West Side Story could be “A modern day Romeo and Juliet set among the gangs of New York.” Sometimes a marketing hook puts together two successful elements, so if you did a film about a predatory lion in Africa that kills people, you might say it’s “Jaws meets Out of Africa.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“A logline is a one-or two-sentence distillation of a story. It usually tells us who the protagonist is, what challenge or conflict or situation the protagonist will confront, and when the story takes place if it isn’t set in the present. Used by writers to keep themselves on track or as a marketing tool to pique the interest of a producer or an audience, a logline is not meant to tell the whole story or to reveal a surprise ending. A logline for Jaws could be, “A shark threatens a seaside town on the Fourth of July weekend.” A logline for Little Miss Sunshine might be, “In spite of innumerable obstacles, Olive and her family are determined to get to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant on time.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Is there a particular trick to rewriting? Yes! Only rewrite what doesn’t work, and leave the rest alone. This often means working against the temptation to do more and more. It means not getting carried away by new and different ideas that are exciting but don’t fix your script’s problems. It means following suggestions that are designed to get the script on track, not off. It means holding back on a new creative stamp because the writer’s original creative stamp is “just fine, thank you.” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! And if it is broke, do something!”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“in the three-act structure there are two turning points that must happen to keep the action moving—one at the beginning of Act Two and one at the beginning of Act Three. These”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Where is the character coming from? What’s motivating the character? What’s the central conflict? Who’s the antagonist? This is Act One development.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“Until the catalyst kicks off the story, the only information the audience has is where and when the film takes place. But once an event happens, the story suddenly has focus and direction”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great

“If possible, create a visual metaphor for the film, telling us something about its theme.”
― Linda Seger, Making a Good Script Great