You’ve worked hard. You did everything you were supposed to do. Yet, you keep running into brick walls. How do you keep your sanity? You’ve taken the classes. Learned your craft. You’ve scored considers and third-party validation. Moreover, you’re diligent about networking and you’re on the ball when it comes to marketing your scripts. (If you have any…
You’ve done the rewrites. Addressed the notes. You’ve proofread and even ran a grammar check. Think you’re ready to rock? Well… maybe! How many times has this happened to you? You finish your first draft, still glowing from the thrill of creation. Of course you want to share it with everyone! And then a few…
You’ve heard it many times: great dialogue will set you apart; whereas pedestrian dialogue will get you a pass. So, without further ado, here are five dialogue hacks. Employ liberally. 1. Specificity In a perfect world, we could read the script while covering up the character names and still know who is talking. How do…
Often we’ll get emails from writers wondering about the marketability of their project. Let’s face it, we all think our projects are marketable because we are passionate about them. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t have put months of blood, sweat, and tears into a story. So when somebody asks us about their high-budget period piece,…
You’ve got a feature script over 130 pages, or a 1-hr TV pilot over 70 pages. Where do you send it for feedback? Well, not to us. So why doesn’t Coverage Ink accept feature scripts over 130 pages, or 1-hr pilots over 70 pages? A couple reasons. First, let’s establish the baseline for feature and…
Happy Labor Day, fellow scribes! Just a quick update this week as to where we’re at with Get Repped Now – and what happens next. We’ve been working overtime all summer long to review all the Get Repped Now submissions. And I’m happy to say the end is finally in sight. We’ve got around 80…
Many of you will have at some point exchanged emails with her–CI’s Manager Anna Siri. Anna is also an accomplished writer and mentor with many years of development and running contests under her belt. Now her Girl in Trouble Stories Substack is hosting a few new and exciting writing workshops, the first of which focuses on…
Every time we do Get Repped Now, we’re reminded of the common mistakes we all make — because we see them over and over and over. Sometimes (often) it’s because we’re inexperienced and/or don’t know any better; sometimes it’s due to ego and/or wishful thinking; and sometimes it’s just not taking the job (you do…
Many, many features began as shorts — DISTRICT 9, WHIPLASH, BOOGIE NIGHTS, to name just a few. If you’re interested, there are many lists of such films online, such as this one. This is especially true in the horror space of late; recent short-to-feature adaptations include SMILE, OCULUS, and NIGHT SWIM. As a proof of concept, a short is invaluable….
Query letters! Your key to the castle of the entertainment industry… maybe… or maybe not. Often writers are surprised that they can send out dozens of queries and the response is still crickets. Okay, hard truth first: going in cold (without an intro, without a connection, without any heat,) radio silence is what you’ll get 99% of…