150

Screenwriting
Challenges
by Eric Heisserer
150 Screenwriting Challenges
Copyright: Eric Heisserer
Published: November 2013
Publisher: Eric Heisserer

The right of Eric Heisserer to be identified as author of this Work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without
written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in
any format.

Find out more about the author @HIGHzurrer on Twitter.

 Table of Contents
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
DIALOGUE WORK
CHARACTER WORK
SCENE WORK
BREAKING THROUGH WRITER’S BLOCK
BIG IDEAS TO GET THE BLOOD FLOWING
FINISHING TOUCHES
MAKING IT A HABIT
 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
“Oh my god, not another book about screenwriting. What is it this time,
Save The Dog? The Villain’s Journey? There’s always some angle, some
spin or formula that winds up sounding more like a diet plan than writing.
Who is this guy and why does he think he can teach me a damn thing about
writing scripts?”
I know what you mean. I have never been a fan of books on screenwriting.
They’re either too academic, too steeped in formula, or full of armchair
analysis that sounds deep at the time but later you wonder, How the hell
does any of that help me to actually write?

I can’t stand those books. This is not one of those books.

I am not a teacher. I’m a writer first and foremost, and an experiential
learner. I don’t retain much from book study, but when I roll up my sleeves
and try something out—and typically fail miserably the first time— that’s
when it starts clicking. (I’m also the same way with board games. I can’t
learn the rules by reading them, only by playing the game.) Problem is,
there aren’t very many books out in the world to help autodidacts. So I’ve
made this one to help you vibrant, swarthy screenwriters who need just a
little direction before going off and trying something dangerous yourselves.
That’s not to say you can’t devour the whole thing in one sitting. In fact,
beta-testers for this book claim they got the most out of it by powering
through it in a single reading session. But the kinds of writing resources I
use are primarily reference material, and 150 Screenwriting Challenges can
work the same way.

How you can use this book:

1. Flip to a random page, read a challenge, and give it a try.

This is the “jump right in” option that allows you to keep the book as a
reference piece. Use it when you get stuck on a current project, or you feel
yourself stalling, or you need a distraction from other writing with new
writing.

2. Pick a section you want to conquer, and work through those

challenges.

I’ve done my best to organize these exercises in categories that pertain to

the craft of screenwriting. The table of contents is your friend.

3. Read it cover to cover, digest the concepts, and then go to work.

So you’re not an experiential learner. No worries. You might not need to

actually try all these challenges with pen and paper or keyboard; you just
need to let the ideas simmer in your brain. Whatever works—although, you
shouldn’t cheat yourself out of a little homework now and then, to see what
you get from it.

4. Use it as a coaster/kindling/table evener.

Maybe you try a few challenges and develop a hatred for them. Perhaps you
aren’t a screenwriter, but you got this as a gift from your aunt and you’re
too nice to return it or re-gift it. Leave it in your bathroom and see how
many guests come out to you as closeted screenwriters. You might be
surprised.

The point is self-improvement. You’re likely reading this because you want
to get better at the screenwriting thing. So do I. What follows is a series of
challenges I developed for my own self-improvement, and now they’re all
in one place for easy access.

So let’s get to work. You didn’t get this book for some flowery prologue.
 DIALOGUE WORK
A True Story About Dialogue
On set for The Thing (2011), I was brought to an actor’s trailer to help him
with a particular piece of dialogue for that day’s shoot. He had a brief
monologue, and he was having trouble with the words. He claimed it was
because English was not his first language, but when I looked at the page I
could tell it had nothing to do with his grasp of English, and everything to
do with the way it was written.

In several places, pairs of words ended and began with the same sound,
such as “talk calmly” or “bend down.” With these word choices, the actor
must slow down and enunciate so the words don’t merge together. But this
monologue needed to be quick and full of anxiety. In addition, the speech
didn’t match the pattern and behavior of his character’s previous lines
earlier in the script, and it spelled out his intention, giving him no subtext to
employ when he spoke it. In short, it was a mess.

It was clear someone had rewritten this speech and trampled over the
previous one with a version that simply and clearly stated the goal of the
scene. This was dialogue for an overly busy studio exec who needed to
know why the hell we were all stopped to hear this character talk. At some
point, these words helped get the movie green-lit. But now they were
making life terrible for the actor who had to say them.

After talking with the actor about the purpose of the scene, I had him speak
a version of the monologue in his own words, improvising the specifics but
sticking with the clear intent of his character in the moment.

Then, I took a look at the version I had written earlier, and compared it to
the one he just improvised in front of me. There were a lot of similarities,
and he’d added two authentic little details that better meshed with the rest
of his character’s story. In an hour, we had a brand new version that was
easy on his tongue and conveyed all the vital information while still giving
him room to play with subtext. And that was my lesson on the importance
of reading dialogue aloud before it ever gets to actors.

Then I learned a lesson about coping with things out of my control when
the scene was cut from the final film.

Whatever, point is, dialogue is a thing you build for other human beings to
say. It’s a gift to an actor. So let’s get better at it.
Challenge 1:

Take a talky scene of yours and rewrite it so that no character speaks more
than ten words total. If you want, you can instead borrow a talky scene from
a movie or TV series. The point is to discover the bare essentials that must
be said.
Challenge 2:

Step 1: Write a scene where a couple argues. Their dialogue should reveal
their true, naked feelings. All of it on the surface.

Step 2: Rewrite the scene so they speak the opposite of their dialogue from
before. Hate becomes love, never = always, etc.

Step 3: Now take the dialogue from Step 1 and add it in to the scene from
Step 2 as NON-VERBAL communication. Body language. Action.

This challenge is called "Hitting Subtext with a Hammer."

Challenge 3:

Write a scene with four characters arguing over what to do about a dead
body they found. You can't give them names. No character descriptions
either. Just use a simple setup like CHARACTER #1, etc. You have to
distinguish each character by their dialogue alone.
Challenge 4:

Write an argument, interrogation, or flirtation scene with two characters, but

have them both speak in rhyme. Pay attention to the meter of their words as
well. Make sure the rhythm of their dialogue remains smooth.

This challenge accomplishes two objectives: First, it should help you refine
your ear for what rolls off the tongue for an actor. Something with rhythm
and meter is easy to speak and the best, most quotable lines from any movie
have this quality.

Secondly, paying attention to words that intentionally rhyme will help you
later when you’re writing dialogue and discover you’ve used words that
rhyme unintentionally.
Challenge 5:

Monologue. Think of a tirade you wanted to unleash on someone, and plug

those words into a character in a story.

The challenge is part exorcism and part finding your own voice in your
writing. I used this particular challenge recently as the basis for what
became the short story “The Final Interview,” on the anthology website
Popcorn Fiction.
Challenge 6:

Write a dialogue scene with three characters where a dark secret is revealed.
The hitch: No one can ask a question.
Challenge 7:

Write a scene where a character is compelled to break into song. This would
be a circumstance where normal dialogue is inadequate, ineffective, or too
little to work.
Challenge 8:

Exposition. Have your characters explain how something works three ways:

1. a secret,
2. an argument,
3. a discovery.

Exposition in a screenplay tends to grind your movie to a halt. Typically it’s

used to explain something from the past (backstory) or something that will
happen in the future (prophecy, foreshadowing, etc.). If it’s just a character
unloading the story to your audience, it’s boring. These three ways can help
you invigorate an expository scene by giving it some spin.

With a secret, we have a character whispering a story to us, or talking as if

scared others may be within earshot. The information that might otherwise
bore audiences now has an edge of mystery and makes the listener feel like
they are in on something few people know.

An argument is great for spicing up a prophetic speech, as an example. The

wise monk may be telling your hero that the oracles foretold of a chosen
one who would lead the kingdom, blah blah blah… We are well trained as
audience members to know this is where writers help paint the obstacles
and ultimate conflict of the movie well before we get there, or it’s used to
demonstrate why the hero is so significant to the story. Rather than just
have one lone wise monk or other soothsayer explain the challenges and
importance of the hero’s quest, add a second character that argues the
interpretation of the prophecy, contradicting the major points. This not only
makes the exposition dialogue more interesting, it now offers up uncertainty
about the fate of our hero.

A discovery helps exposition. If your protagonist is reading something

aloud that s/he has just found, they are learning the backstory or prophecy
on their own versus having it fed to them by someone who appears more
knowledgeable in the story. This benefits your actor because their character
can react emotionally to the revelations as s/he speaks them versus listening
to another character’s delivery and having to react to that.
Challenge 9:

Take a great line of dialogue you have stashed away somewhere and make
it the first line in the scene. Go from there.

As writers, sometimes we zero in on a brilliant line of dialogue. But often

that line is at the end of the scene, or the middle. Make your best line your
first one, until you come up with material even better. With some effort, the
new best line will land at the end.
Challenge 10:
Record a casual conversation between two people. Transcribe it in script
format, including all the ums and uhs .
Hopefully this challenge will remind our writer-brains about naturalistic
dialogue. And make us feel a little like Hackman in The Conversation .
Challenge 11:

Find and read a contemporary, produced play, preferably one from

Broadway. Discover how much story and/or character is derived from
dialogue.

Today I'm going to reread "Race" by David Mamet and follow it up with
"Good People" by David Lindsay-Abaire. With a notepad and pen nearby.
Challenge 12:

Has a line of dialogue from a movie stuck in your brain recently? What was
your favorite line from the last movie you saw? Pick a favorite line of
dialogue from a recent movie and dissect it. Discern what kind of line it is
and why it's good.

Is it a retort to someone else? Is it a stand-alone line? If it stands on its own,

is it an observation? A philosophical statement? A witty one-liner?

If it's a retort or response, what makes the line work? Does it come from
character or is it simply a funny punch line?

Give yourself three paragraphs to explain why the line is so effective.

Knowing what works and why is vital to improving your writing.
Challenge 13:

Track down and transcribe your favorite monologue or soliloquy from

movies, TV, or stage. The transcription step is important. By writing
something you love that another writer wrote, you get a sense of how the
words and phrases were designed. Pay attention to the rhythm of the words.
Let it rub off on you.

Bonus Challenge: Locate the script from which the monologue was taken,
and compare it to the one delivered by the actor in the final cut.
Challenge 14:

Take your hero or villain from a screenplay you're working on. Interview
them as if you were an investigative reporter. Grill them about their
background, their profession, their lovers. Ask them why they do the things
they do. This challenge is all dialogue, but it's also all about character
mining.
Challenge 15:

Pick a cliché line of dialogue and come up with five alternatives as

replacements.
Challenge 16:

Create a character with a limitation: S/he can only speak quoting an author
(i.e. song lyrics, Shakespeare, or poetry) and with that limit, write a scene
where your character is being interrogated as a suspect for a crime they
didn't commit.
Challenge 17:

Write a monologue by a prophet whose prediction of a major event didn't

come true. This is the "day after" speech.

How characters deal with shame, guilt, and betrayal through their own
words is a crucial key to knowing how they will speak on more mundane
topics. Are they confessional? Are they snide and vindictive, in search of a
scapegoat? Are they in denial?
Challenge 18:
Deception with dialogue is one of the more interesting tools we have as
writers. This task is inspired by Memento and Dark City .

Write a scene between two characters that know each other. One has
amnesia and thus can’t remember the other character, but tries to hide it.
Challenge 19:

Write a confrontation between two characters. One character is dramatic.

The other is comedic. Find out who wins. This challenge may help create a
richer worldview for your characters. One wants the world to be serious.
The other, fun.

Maybe you’ve been in an argument like this before. You are seriously upset
about something and your friend or partner finds the subject amusing. The
more you try to discuss it earnestly, the funnier it gets to them, and the
angrier you get at them in return.
Challenge 20:

Keep a notebook or handheld app nearby all day. Write down three choice
phrases you overhear during your day. Pay keen attention to slang,
mondegreens (words or phrases that a person mishears), and people who
use nouns as verbs.

These little discoveries about how people talk help you build a library of
engaging and entertaining dialogue in your scripts.
Challenge 21:

The sports movie trope. Write a rousing halftime speech for the coach of a
team badly losing the big game.

Speeches—particularly those that seek to inspire—tend to have an internal

three-act structure of their own. The first ‘act’ of the speech delivers the
blunt truth of the current situation or a parable wherein a character was put
in a similar dire situation. The second act typically shines a light on the
tools and abilities of the individuals facing the problem, reminding them of
who they are. The final act brings it home by painting a picture of the
victory, or often times transcending the victory everyone’s been focused on
(such as winning the game) by shining a light on a greater, more fulfilling
victory (family, teamwork, courage, etc.).
Challenge 22:
Pick a monologue you love from classic literature or your favorite story.
Write a counterpoint monologue to it. For example, if you love Alec
Baldwin’s character excoriating the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross ,
build a speech to serve as a fierce opposition to the “always be closing”
point of view.

Optional Challenge: Choose a Shakespearean soliloquy and contemporize

it.
Challenge 23:

Voiceover. Some claim it's a crutch and should be avoided. Others use it
stylistically. Like most tools, it has its strengths. Voiceover is redundant and
annoying to your audience when it's telling them what they see on the
screen, like someone in the theater narrating the movie as they watch it.

Challenge: Write a scene or series of shots with no dialogue. Then place a

voiceover that narrates what is NOT on screen, but related to the images in
some way.

Alternate option: Have the voiceover describe the opposite of the action in
the scene.
As an example:

EXT. DOWNTOWN – DAY

It’s pouring rain. Car windshield wipers frantically sweep back and forth
like hyper metronomes.

MAN (VO)
It was a pleasant day.
Challenge 24:

I once wrote the line, "We must talk, Carl." Later, I knew I had to rewrite it,
because I read it aloud. Clashing consonants are bad news for actors.

Challenge: Invite friends over to read your script aloud. Assign them roles.
Circle everything that trips their tongue. Rewrite accordingly.

They don’t have to be fellow writers or actors. They just have to be able to
read aloud. You’re writing not just for readers, but for the spoken word.
CHARACTER WORK
Eric’s Misadventures in Character Development
Nothing shines a light on character writing like directing. When I directed
Hours , actors approached me with a million questions about their
characters, and apparently I was supposed to know the answers because I
wrote the thing. “Where did I go to school?” “How long have I lived here?”
“What was I doing just before this scene?” “What scares me the most right
now?” Occasionally I ran into a method actor or someone trained in a
specific style and thus I got questions like, “What’s in my pockets?” or
“What’s the last thing I ate?”

It’s pure and elegant to believe you can rely on what’s on the page. But that
works only if what’s on the page is representative of a much deeper, richer
world that suggests the lives of the characters beyond what’s written.

In other words, I had to have answers to those questions, and I got extra
points if I could flip to a page of the script and show my work. “The fact
that you come in and wash your hands tells us you’ve been out doing
manual labor while everyone else is holding wine glasses and talking
theater. You don’t have many lines here because you’re a man of action, a
man who shows his feelings because it’s more honest than telling them.”

For every victory like that, I was caught unprepared twice as often. I
learned quickly which characters I’d paid attention to and which ones I’d
given short shrift. I spent many late nights and early mornings going
through and asking actor-questions about my characters as if I were being
hired to play them. And based on that enrichment-through-embarrassment
phase of script work, I built a few handy challenges for myself.

Here are my favorites of the bunch.

Challenge 25:

Write a scene where your hero enters with a clear objective, tries three
times, and fails every time. If you aren't working on a project right now,
borrow a hero from a TV series you're currently watching. Otherwise use
the hero you have.

The objective can be a physical object (i.e. a jewel, a phone number, a key)
or it can be abstract, like an apology or sleep.

The purpose is to remind us that success isn't what endears us to our

protagonists, but rather their struggle to succeed.
Challenge 26:

Write a scene where a hero triumphs against overwhelming odds. Now,

make this hero your villain. The best villains are heroes of their own stories.
One of the mistakes I used to make a lot early in my career was writing a
villain with whom I couldn’t empathize. Later, I realized that the more I
liked my antagonist (if even just in a “love to hate” way), the more fun it
was to write that character.

Villains are typically more interesting characters than heroes. To quote

something I learned from TV writers: “Give the devil your best lines.”
Challenge 27:

Write a series of scenes where a detective interrogates your characters about

their history, and finds a connection. Uniting your cast of characters—with
a common event in their past, a common villain, or a common goal—can
work wonders.
Challenge 28:

Pick three movies. With one word each, summarize their themes.

Great filmmakers tend to abide by the rule that you should be able to sum
up your story's theme in one word. I have a hard time boiling theme down
to less than three words, so this challenge is always particularly difficult for
me. Theme is tied to character, hence why this is a character-centric
challenge.
Challenge 29:

1. Dig up a scene from your previous work or write a new one where a man
and a woman are having a break-up fight.
2. Reverse the gender of your characters. Edit to correct pronouns, etc.
3. How many other changes must you make for the scene to work?

Sometimes we write to gender because it's easier or faster than writing to

character. But it can lead to sexist writing if unchecked. Women should
have goals and motivations beyond “have a baby” or “enter/maintain a
relationship [typically with the hero].” Men should have a stance on family
and relationships and not be fixated on just one thing.

There are exceptions to this rule as with anything, but the point of the
challenge is to make sure your characters aren’t stereotypically skewed too
far into one gender.
Challenge 30:

In one scene, introduce a character, make him likable, have him falter, then
redeem himself, and at the end, he dies.

Today's challenge is about telling a character's story in one scene. George

R.R. Martin does a good job of this in his prologue chapters.
Challenge 31:

Pick a superhero. Give them a personal habit that would surprise/annoy

you. Write a scene about it.

This challenge is dedicated to the guy in the Superman costume I saw

chain-smoking at Hollywood and Highland.
Challenge 32:

The difference age makes. Write a scene where a character is fired from
his/her job at age 20. Then another at 40. And 60. What changes with age in
that scenario? What remains the same? This is a prelude to a non-challenge:
Create a story with an elderly protagonist.
Challenge 33:

Write a scene where a villain kills someone to get what s/he wants (info,
money, etc). Now, make that villain your protagonist.

This is the reverse of the earlier challenge in which you build up a hero and
then reveal him/her as your villain.
Challenge 34:

Write a scene from a character's POV, traveling in your favorite city.

Limitation: This character is blind.

Remember that painting a picture for a reader (and, by extension, a viewer)

isn’t purely visual. Describe using all the senses.
Challenge 35:

Write a scene that happens after the story/movie ends. Show what the
protagonist does after they get what they want.

This exercise helps answer the big question put to your hero's motivation.
"S/he wants this thing so that what?" The same can be done with your
villain. "He wants power." Okay, he wants power to do what? Write a scene
after he gets power. What then?
Challenge 36:

Write a scene with at least four characters. Without physical descriptions or

pronouns, just dialogue and action, convey gender, age, and race. Use the
characters' last names only. Give the scene to a friend to read and see if they
properly identify your characters.
Challenge 37:

As a follow-up to Challenge 36, here is the opposite approach. In writing

dialogue and action to convey gender, age, and race, writers can
unintentionally fall into stereotypes or clichés. It happens to all of us at
some point. One character is an inner-city youth, and before you know it
he's like every bad minority character.

Challenge: Rewrite yesterday's scene, keeping character gender/age/race

unmentioned, but give each character motive and goals that aren't directly
related to those three traits. Find and convey their character through other
means.

Like: The inner-city youth is in a chess tournament. The buxom blonde

wants to be a pilot. The old trucker is looking for true love.
Challenge 38:

The Bechdel Test challenge: Write a scene with two female characters, but
the subject of the scene cannot be about a man or their relationships.

This is a classic problem: Female characters are defined by their

relationship to the male characters in the series. Very rarely do you see two
women gathering to discuss politics, or sports, or their personal hobby and
how it shapes and informs their outlook, or anything meaningful to them
that is NOT dependent on other people. Let’s work some muscles and give
them more to talk about.
Challenge 39:

For the next six scenes in your project, have your characters declare their
objective at the top of each scene. You will remove these declarations later,
but for now they are there to remind you of the purpose of each scene.

Also, if you find you can't convey your character's objective in a scene, you
probably don't need the scene in the first place.
Challenge 40:

Create profiles for your characters that include vices, mannerisms, and
fears. Keep that handy during scripting.

You can start a document like this by chronicling traits of people in your
life—friends, relatives, coworkers. Do you have an uncle who walks with a
limp and believes that if no one laughed at his joke then obviously no one
got it? Do you have a coworker who is a maestro of the circular statement?
“It is what it is, Eric.” What does that even mean?

Use it. Use it all, by coloring your fictional characters with it, and you
might be surprised how many readers tell you, “I know someone just like
this.”
Challenge 41:

Write a scene with a clear hero and villain at the start, then turn the tables,
so we side with the villain by the end and/or despise the hero.
Challenge 42:

Create a despicable character, put him/her in a crisis among other

characters, and then have this despicable person be the only one to do the
right thing.
Challenge 43:

Write a car chase where every choice your characters make reveals
something new about them. Too often action sequences are boring to write
and read because they service spectacle, not character or story.

Extra points: Track down and read how five writers scripted a chase
sequence in their own work.
Challenge 44:

Write an interrogation scene, but with the restriction: Every line of dialogue
must be a question. See how it affects character voice and informs each
character in the room.
Challenge 45:

Write five character introductions, using only one physical detail and one
behavioral simile or metaphor for each. That's the basic challenge. Avoid
using "handsome" or "beautiful" or similar descriptors. And no mention of
the character's job. Just two specific details—one physical, one behavioral.

EXAMPLE OF PHYSICAL DETAILS: Calloused hands. Unkempt hair.

Wiry frame. BEHAVIOR SIMILES: Wild as a hyena. Like a tie-dyed tank.

I used to put a character's occupation in their intro, like "JANE, a doctor..."

but later realized that was useless info for two reasons: 1. It doesn't tell the
actor how to play the character (there are 100+ ways to play a doctor) and
2. it's not visual enough.

These days, I try to paint a specific picture and also allow the reader to infer
a fuller picture with just a few behavioral clues. An older example of mine:
"SARAH (20s), laughter-wrinkles around her eyes. Birthdays and
horoscopes are a big deal to her."
That is by no means the best or even a great example, but it was me
learning to describe someone as I would a friend or relative.
SCENE WORK
How Not to Write a Scene

When I got serious about screenwriting, I joined a peer review group. We

met once a month and dissected whatever material we’d managed to write
in that time. This group was brutal. This wasn’t a team of cheerleaders, it
was four men and three women trying their best to learn the craft and
escape the hell of our day jobs to a career in film.

One of my first lessons in scene work played out like this:

“So, Eric.”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve got a lot of phone conversations in this script.”
“Well, yeah. Everyone has to split up a few times.”
“I see you start all the conversations with ‘Hello?’ and ‘Hi, Pam, this is
Steven.’ ‘Hey Steven, what’s going on?’ You do this a lot.”
“Uh… yeah?”
“And everyone says goodbye at the end of the phone calls, or makes it clear
when they will call each other again later.”
“Where I’m from, that’s how phone calls work.”
“Not in movies. We already know who’s calling whom, we can see it. It’s
all extraneous information that’s bloating your script. You can carve out the
heads and the tails of these scenes, then just dive into the real meat of the
scene.”
“You mean, start with Steven telling Pam, ‘I know who the man on the train
is’?”
“No. Eric, no. Start with Pam’s reaction to that news.”
“How will the reader know what he’s told her?”
“Because we just saw Steven get that information in the previous scene. We
know exactly why he’s calling her. Cut to the chase, dude.”

So I cut to the chase. And my script shed five pages of fat because of it.

This is just one of several challenges you’ll find in the following pages. It’s
time to lose fat and gain muscle.
Challenge 46:

Script a chase sequence. It must traverse at least five locations. You cannot
use slug lines, ever. Break up your narrative and suggest new locations with
CUT TO.

This is the Gilroy method. Tony Gilroy avoids using slug lines in early
drafts of his material so he can focus on the specific images that link from
one scene to the next, and to ensure the script flows briskly, start to finish.
Challenge 47:

Find a talky scene from one of your early works. Shave off the beginning
and the end. Keep shaving. See how far you can go before the scene stops
making sense. This is about getting in late and leaving early. Jenga with
dialogue.
Challenge 48:

Write a series of scenes chronicling the life of a relationship from meet-cute

to breakup... without using dialogue. Call it the Pixar Method. Flex your
“show” muscle without using your “tell” one at the same time.
Challenge 49:

Write a somber, dramatic scene of family gathered for an intervention.

Next, in the fewest changes, make it a comedy.
Challenge 50:

1. Write a scene with no dialogue where your protagonist wins in a conflict:

a game, a fight, an argument.
2. Insert voiceover in the scene revealing your protagonist views the victory
as a loss. Narrate the opposite of what we see. Then reveal why it’s seen as
a loss.

This challenge should remind us that voiceover can be used to deliver a

surprise when it illuminates some aspect of character or story that we don’t
see on screen.
Challenge 51:

Without using dialogue, write a scene that reveals a man as a father who
loves his son/daughter (not present in the scene). WITHOUT using a
photograph. Let's get more creative. No more photo-gazing, despite it being
a quick and easy shortcut.
Challenge 52:

Make two columns. Label one TRUST and one DOUBT. Think of three
situations that require trust among people. For each situation, consider how
doubt could splinter that trust. Pick one of your three and write a scene
showing the trust/doubt.
Challenge 53:
Write a contemporary scene but with stylized dialogue from another
era/setting. Example: Rian Johnson's Brick .
Challenge 54:

Write three small scenes wherein a character says "I love you," and have it
mean something different each time. For example, find a way for it to be
said in anger, or sorrow, or a mocking tone. Anything but the face value of
the words.
Challenge 55:

Write a scene where two characters have an argument. But neither of them
says a word to each other. Argue with action.
Challenge 56:

Pick a situation in movies or TV you find to be a cliché. Then invent three

ways to turn it on its head.
Challenge 57:

Write a scene two ways.

1. Where a hero fights his way out of a room full of bad guys.
2. Where he talks his way out.
Challenge 58:

Write a scene that takes place before your story begins. Describe a moment
that shaped your hero (a flaw, a want, etc.). This kind of scene work (stuff
that happens before the movie begins) is what we screenwriters call "Act
Zero."
Challenge 59:

Write a scene where two heroes clash over how to solve a situation. Both
have good ideas. Make it hard for us to choose.
Challenge 60:

Pick a scene from your work. In the middle of the scene, remove one
character—through sudden death, prompt evacuation, sleep, or some
method that puts them out of the scene. Stress-test the scene to see how it’s
affected by this loss. If you don’t need the character to continue the scene,
consider you may not need the character here in the first place.
Challenge 61:

Have your hero speak their goal three different times in a scene. Rewrite the
scene so your hero repeats it with action.
Challenge 62:

The next five challenges are all linked together.

Pick a scene you want to write. Or write a scene of a sporting event. Or a

dinner party.
We will be working with this scene for a bit, so keep it around.

Let's begin with dialogue. The dialogue will illustrate the arc of your
characters.

First layer: Dialogue as text. Your hero(es) and villain(s) need to speak their
objective. It doesn't take much, but it cements the purpose of the scene for
readers.

Second layer: Dialogue as subtext. Add around your first layer dialogue
with an unspoken purpose.

Like: A football game. Your antagonist player might say something to the
hero QB that suggests the hero's team lost sleep last night. Or the dinner
party, if you've seen Downton Abbey : Mary's story about Andromeda and
the sea monster is a snipe at her suitor.
Challenge 63:

Note: If you’re flipping around and happened upon this section, Challenges
62-66 are all linked.

In the previous challenge, we tinkered with both text and subtext layers in
dialogue for our scene. Now it's time to fill in the narrative around that.

The next two layers. First: focus on terse, simple action description.
Sentences no more than ten words, if possible.

Beyond that, the next layer of description: Find and highlight two cinematic
moments— beats where you subtly direct the camera. Example:

His face betrays his desperation. Time slows.

Then, as linebackers leap for him, he sees salvation.

NATHAN, in the end zone.

The best action writing evokes camera direction without being overt. A
great script will read like a movie already shot.
Challenge 64:

Note: If you’re flipping around and happened upon this section, Challenges
62-66 are all linked.

Continuing from the previous two challenges: We added narrative and

action around dialogue. Now we're going to polish or rewrite that narrative
a bit.

These two layers deal with character, and how character can be reflected
and illustrated in action. Write or rewrite an action to evoke your hero's
change. What moment, what choice does your protagonist make in this
scene now that he/she would not have done before now?

Another layer under that: Character-driven action narrative throughout. Not

every beat will be a big change or epiphany, but it still should be active and
driven by your character's motive. Objectives you wrote as text in dialogue
are reinforced here.

Avoid using flat, passive sentence structure with "is/are" in your text.
Instead of "Joe is running" use "Joe runs."
Challenge 65:

Note: If you’re flipping around and happened upon this section, Challenges
62-66 are all linked.

Building on the same scene from the previous three challenges, here are two
new layers: Sound and Music to add texture to the scene.

First, find a spot in the scene that could benefit from SFX. A gunshot. The
pop of a cork. A laugh. The distant crash of a car.

Secondly, consider the score for this scene. Find something in your
collection as a temp score and play it as you read. Does it build? Don't call
out a soundtrack in the text of your scene, but check it to see if it paces well
with music, or if no score is needed.
Challenge 66:

Note: If you’re flipping around and happened upon this section, Challenges
62-66 are all linked.

The final two layers to scene-building is lighting. Consider how lighting

affects your scene. Is it shining with stadium lights? Aglow from a
chandelier?

And finally, ask yourself what your characters are wearing. Wardrobe helps
round out the movie in your reader's mind. A jersey number. A coat. Etc.
Don't go overboard with specifics on wardrobe unless it services the
character/scene in an active way. Just suggest a style, somewhere.

Now you have built a scene with textual and subtextual dialogue, character-
driven action that reads tersely, and peppered it with detail.
Challenge 67:

All right, let's talk backstory. Flashbacks are temperamental little buggers.
Hard to know when and how to use them.

Choose three examples of flashbacks used effectively in a story, and

describe why it was so effective for you.
Challenge 68:

Create a scene with two characters in danger of losing their lives, but
circumstances prevent them from speaking so they must find other ways to
communicate if they are to survive. It can be a tornado. It can be in vacuum
of space. Or underwater.
Challenge 69:

Write a scene where your protagonist tries to figure out if s/he is awake or
dreaming.
Set it in a strange location.
Challenge 70:

Get scary. Write a scene designed to put the reader on edge/disturb them.
But no “gotcha” moments—no jump scares. Think: Foreplay. All buildup
and suspense.
Challenge 71:

Pick a scene from one of your scripts. Count the words. Rewrite it using
half that number.
Challenge 72:

Write a scene where your favorite villain from movies/TV/literature has

Thanksgiving dinner with family.
Challenge 73:

Write an action scene (2-3 pages) where your hero fights off three thugs to
reach a goal. That's step one. Now rewrite the scene, but in this new
version, you cannot use any of the words from the previous except character
names and the/a/pronouns/prepositions.
Challenge 74:

Write an action scene using only 200 words (or fewer) per page. Embrace
white space.
As an example, track down the Walter Hill draft of Alien . Several sites
online offer the script as reference.
Challenge 75:

Take a problematic scene and place it in a completely different setting or

genre. See what sparks.
Challenge 76:

Write a series of brief scenes or shots of a character traveling, but never

show the type of transport used by itself, i.e. no plane-landing shots.

I call this challenge, "Eric, you just wrote a shot of a plane landing on a
tarmac; congrats on being the billionth customer of that idea."
Challenge 77:

The MacGuffin. Write a scene where everyone is fighting/racing to obtain

an item. Reveal the item only at the end.
Challenge 78:

Write a love scene that doesn't turn you off or make a reader snicker. Note:
This is more difficult than it sounds. Three random readers must love it.

Everyone thinks they're as good at writing sex as they are doing it. They
aren't.
Challenge 79:

Write a scene that takes place at an event, game, or function you dislike.
Find something likeable or interesting in it.
Challenge 80:

Write a serious, intense, dramatic scene between two famous cartoon

characters.
Challenge 81:

Let’s delve into the art of the transition—linking the last moment from one
scene to the first of the next. There is a lot of added value in crafting a good
transition, some of which I didn't understand until much later in my career.
By chain-linking your scenes together with strong visual- or dialogue-based
symmetry, the script reads more as a movie. The narrative flows better with
transitions, too. And best of all: It protects your scene work from being
needlessly cut. I've seen directors defend a sequence in a script to execs,
fighting to keep it because the editorial work between scenes is already
done.

Challenge: Link three pairs of scenes together, three different ways.

1. a repeated action,
2. a couplet of dialogue question/answer, and lastly
3. a dialogue statement to a reveal of its visual opposite.

Now, let me break that down a bit more.

A repeated action is like a hammer hitting a nail. Two lovers kissing. A

gunshot. You end a scene and start the next scene the same way. But the
new scene is with a different character, or a time jump, or it's in a
completely new location.

You know you have a strong transition when you can shave off the very end
of the scene and cut into the next one to complete the action. By that I mean
—

THE HERO raises his blacksmith hammer to bring it down on the sword—
CUT TO:
THE VILLAIN's hammer nails a wanted poster.

Q/A dialogue (or repeated dialogue) is another way into transitioning. I

used this in Final Destination 5 during the interrogation sequence. I needed
to show a detective questioning a number of people, so I cut from interview
to interview between question and answer.
Finally that last one about a dialogue statement and a visual opposite is a
tool of comedy, but can be dramatic as well. An example...

"It's all right, children. We'll be safe when we get home."

CUT TO:
The family house engulfed in flames.
Challenge 82:

Action/dialogue duality. Write a scene where a major event is occurring

(White House dinner, earthquake, zombies), then put two characters in that
event and have them in conflict over something unrelated. Then look for
parallels between event/character.

For example: Earthquake. A couple runs outside for safety. She learns he
came over to break up with her. A fault line cracks between them.

Some of these challenges will be "the bad version" because you're working
the muscle overtly. But it gets your brain used to the idea.
BREAKING THROUGH
WRITER’S BLOCK
A Few Words on Writer’s Block

Writer's block tends to occur when we demand perfection from our first
draft. The next scene/page/dialogue line has to be a work of art. Sometimes
we can get blocked between projects, in search of the next story, but that's
usually a different beast.

So here are some home-brewed cures I use when I get writer's block.

1. Settle down at a public place and write about people passing by.
Sometimes this helps jostle an idea or two loose. Sometimes I overhear
interesting dialogue. Sometimes the act of writing is enough.

2. Write the WORST version of the scene where I'm stuck. Then write two
more versions I know won't work. I "exorcise my demons" as it were.

3. Pull the characters out of the scene, open a new document, and
interrogate them. "Why don't you know your lines?" "I'm scared!"

4. Read. Devour some piece of fiction or a nonfiction book. But make sure
it's not online reading, since the Internet is too distracting.
Challenge 83:

Often (if not always) writers build story chronologically. “And then this
happens.” We can get stuck when we don’t know what comes next.

Today let's retrain our brain. Write a brief (1-2 pg.) outline for a story,
starting with the final scene, and working backward. End with the
beginning.

You might feel a bit like Leonard Shelby with this challenge. Just don't go
the easy route and turn it into a Memento story.
Challenge 84:

Think of a movie, TV episode, or novel you adore. Script/write the first five
minutes/pages from memory. Later, compare what you wrote to what is
really there. Discover what stuck in your brain versus what didn't.
Challenge 85:

Dig through your files, find something you barely remember writing, and
read it. That's all. Just read it. This will be good for your brain and your
soul. Trust me.
Challenge 86:

Write something in a genre you've never tried before. Get at least two pages
down before stopping. Work new muscles.
Challenge 87:

Start with a random image search. Land on a place, person, or object, and
then write a scene about it.
Challenge 88:

Fill a page responding to this statement: "You'll never make it as a writer."

Answers like "I know" = UNACCEPTABLE.
Challenge 89:

Cordoning off writing time each day is a monumental task. There is no easy
solution for how to make time to write when you're also holding a full-time
day job. But there are a few things to try. Make absolutely certain the
people in your life don't mistake your discipline for selfishness.

Challenge: Set an alarm (phone or otherwise) to remind you when you are
“on the clock” as a writer, and an end time when you can hang it up for the
night. Let everyone in your immediate family know about the alarm and
what it means. Respect the writing window. Make sure others respect it,
too. When they see your commitment to something like this, it will make
them feel better about your commitment to other things (like them).
Challenge 90:

Write ten pages. Stream-of-conscious thoughts, outline work, dialogue—

any of that. But make it to ten pages. Sometimes we just need to keep the
fire burning.
Challenge 91:

Cathartic writing. Open a document and rant for two pages. Write about
what blocks you so that you can exorcise those demons. Write something
no one else will see. Delete the document when you're done with it.

If the block is so bad you can’t even rant about anything, pick a novel or
short story and transcribe it. Write someone else's writing for a while.
Remind your muscles you can do this. You’re just getting in the way of
yourself.
Challenge 92:

Stuck on your opening shot/scene? Write four different versions. Put all
your choices on the page first; take a test drive.
Challenge 93:

Pick a newsbyte in this week’s news cycle and write a brief scene using
characters from the article, suggesting more to the story.
Challenge 94:

Adapt a scene from a novel you've read recently/are reading now. Focus on
making it cinematic. No voiceover allowed.
Challenge 95:

Take a scene that's been giving you trouble and divide it into four smaller
scenes. At least one must have no dialogue.
Challenge 96:

Give yourself a public deadline for your project. Email peers, friends, reps,
etc. to help you keep that deadline. You are now under the gun to finish it
for fear of reprisal from your network.
Challenge 97:

Suppress your inner editor. Write a dialogue scene without stopping; just
keep writing. Don't stop, don't go back. It doesn’t have to be for any current
project. It can be an isolated scene featuring new characters, all on its own.

If you want a launching point, begin with Character A accusing Character

B:
"You did that thing again. I told you not to."
Challenge 98:

For those of us stuck in a scene, set it in a brand new setting. Old West.
Alien planet. Same characters, new world.

If nothing else, dropping your characters in a totally new environment will

help isolate why you're stuck.
Challenge 99:

Watch a beloved, critically-acclaimed movie it seems everyone but you has

seen. After, discuss with a friend why it's a classic, or write a short essay on
what you think the movie does effectively.

Bonus points: Take a screen grab or find a still online of your favorite
image from the film, and use it as your desktop wallpaper for a week. Let it
inspire you.
Challenge 100:

Learn a new game. It can be a card game, board game, or video game. As
you play the game, pay attention to the rules and the logic established in
order to offer a rewarding winner or ending. After your first game, write a
brief synopsis of the rules as if you were going to explain the game to a
friend.

Exercising different parts of our brains helps us solve problems—including

writer’s block.
BIG IDEAS TO GET THE BLOOD
FLOWING
Summoning the Muse

Today, a small group of friends and I are gathering in the living room to add
kindling to our minds’ fires. We pull wacky little challenges from a bowl,
read them aloud (one of my friends loves to sound like Effie Trinket), and
then we all have ten minutes to complete the challenge. At the end, we
share them with each other and discuss what excites us the most.

Sometimes the challenge is, “Come up with three new TV series ideas that
involve aliens.” Maybe it’s “Write three original movie synopses that must
feature either a common household item that’s sentient or talking animals.”

Most of these start out silly or ridiculous, but there’s always one idea
among the group that’s a breakout invention. Something turns the idea on
its head and suddenly everyone is throwing their hands up and mock-
griping at the wise guy, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” Occasionally, these
things turn into screenplays, or pilots, or short stories. But regardless of
their destiny, the act of generating ideas helps everyone. It works muscles in
your brain-meats. It reminds your muse they’re still on the clock.
Challenge 101:

Put yourself in a locked room with no key. Come up with three ways out.
Challenge 102:

List three things that riled you up in the last month. Then, for each, make a
character that takes action against it. This is a type of idea generation,
really. Find your hot buttons, and then write to them.

One on my list: A man, laid off from work and facing foreclosure, starts
killing off bank executives.
Challenge 103:

Begin a story with your hero dying. Come up with five ways it could
continue from there. Avoid replaying the last 24 hours of your hero's life,
making your opener the end.
Challenge 104:
Take a famous villain from movies or literature, and tell his/her story as the
protagonist. Write a synopsis for it. Examples: Grendel. Wicked .
Challenge 105:

Take a story, poem, video game, novel, or picture book, and adapt it for
another medium. Write your strategy for it. We can learn a lot from
adaptation. Focus on the pieces that make the original work, and see if they
are transferable. See what new elements this fresh medium needs to
flourish. A radio play or a comic book, for example, might require more
attention paid to sound effects.
Challenge 106:

Pick a movie you love that few have heard of, change the title, and pitch it
to three people at the same time. What common questions do you get
afterward? What criticisms? Try it again with three new people and see if
you improve.

Pitches always make me nervous. I tend to overthink everything. The only

real way to improve is through practice.
Challenge 107:

Read five poems and/or song lyrics. Pick one and build a story from it.
Write a brief (2 pages or less) treatment for it.
Challenge 108:

The last few years have seen a spike in home-invasion movies—some good,
many bad, some which seem to be the director's idea of porn.

So: Write a scene from a home-invasion movie where the invader(s) isn't
out to torture people or steal anything. Perhaps this isn't a horror/thriller
movie. It could be, but it could also be a comedy, or a romantic drama, etc.
Challenge 109:

Write an opening scene for a story that takes place in one location; we never
leave.
A “bottle” story. Once you’ve written the opener, outline the rest of the
story, making sure you remain in that single location.
Challenge 110:

Create a quest for your hero that would remain the same if the setting were
the 1800s, present day, or the far future. Stories linked to specific historical
or cultural events can be powerful, but quickly dated. Work those "timeless
tale" muscles.
Challenge 111:

Build a two-page outline for a story where your protagonist's biggest

obstacle to his/her goal is a disability. Disabilities can be physical or
mental. But building a hero with a tangible disadvantage is good practice
for creating memorable characters.
Challenge 112:

1. Write on a notecard what you want to have written in the next year.
2. Affix notecard to your bathroom mirror.
3. Get to work.
Challenge 113:

Come up with three story ideas that put a radical new spin on the zombie
tale. Please.
This challenge could be captioned: Stop Beating an Undead Horse.
Challenge 114:

Write a short film script using only inserts and voiceover. No on-screen
actors.
Alternatively, you can start with the slug “SERIES OF SHOTS:” in case
some of you get stuck in that “insert = closeup” brainloop. Actors’ hands or
feet or shadows of people are allowed. Animals are allowed as well, but you
can't make them anthropomorphic. No talking dogs.
Challenge 115:

The strangest photo or news article you encountered this week? Write a
scene or story about it.
Challenge 116:

Create a brief synopsis or logline to three new stories. They must be in

different genres. Your theme: Unlikely heroes.
Challenge 117:

Write a two-page outline where the only focus is your characters'

objectives. Start with your hero/ine's primary goal and then with each act,
list only the objective of that scene or sequence and whether or not they
achieve it.

For example, for a sports movie it could be your coach's story-wide goal:
"Win the Little League championship." But first beat might be, “Get job as
Little League coach."
Challenge 118:

Another approach to outlining: Plot the basic beats of your story, but each
beat must be a REVEAL or a REVERSAL about your core characters. A
reveal is when we learn something new about the character that drives the
story forward, and a reversal is an unexpected turn, a choice the character
makes that surprises us.
Challenge 119:

Outline a story (or at least part of one) using lines of dialogue from your
characters instead of story beats.

Be prepared to see a trend: The dialogue might be either the first or the last
line spoken in a scene/sequence. It may also be “the bad version,” as they
say—where there is no subtext in the line, just direct declarations. That’s
okay for this challenge.
Challenge 120:

Graph the emotional journey of your hero in the timeline of your story.
Most graphs will look like a "u" shape. Then mark notes at various points in
the graph to signify why we are at that emotional place. "Man loses job."
"Boy finds Girl." Etc.

The important thing is to put the emotional graph in FIRST and then find
story to adhere to the highs and lows of the line.
Challenge 121:

Develop a basic outline following the 17 steps of Joseph Campbell's

monomyth.
For reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
Challenge 122:

Pick a story you love and write down five key ingredients that make that
story so effective. Use those five things as core ingredients for a new story.
Write a brief
(one-page) treatment of your version.
Challenge 123:

Outline a non-mystery as if it were one. Start your story at the end and work
back. Find your way to what started it all.
Challenge 124:

Pick three myths, fables, or folklore tales and describe in a few paragraphs
how you would modernize them.
Challenge 125:

Take a notable figure in history (ancient or otherwise) and create a

contemporary version of him or her for an original story.
Challenge 126:
List five of your favorite things—can't-live-without stuff. Pick one. Write a
story where it's outlawed. This is in honor of the most powerful version of
that challenge to me— Fahrenheit 451 .
Challenge 127:

Try a new medium. Take a story/script you wrote and adapt it to a song,
comic book, poem, or flash fiction piece.
Challenge 128:

Pull a broken screenplay from your shelf. Reverse the roles of your
protagonist and your antagonist. Rewrite it with this new agenda.
Challenge 129:

Carry a notepad or app around today and jot down at least three of the
following entries as you encounter them:

1. An interesting thing someone says.

2. A disturbing image.
3. A place you hadn't been before [room, etc].
4. A cherished thought.
5. An act of unintended comedy.
6. A discarded idea.

If you can't find at least three of those in a day, you aren't living enough to
write.
Challenge 130:

Pick a character from the public domain (fictional or historical) and create
an epic origin story for this character to illustrate who they were before they
became the character from literature or TV/film. If the source material
covers part of the origin story or already offers some background for the
character, write a version that puts that background information on its head
and reveals a new side to the character.

Questions to help you spark to the challenge:

1. Who was Robin Hood before he appeared in Nottingham?

2. What adventures did Jesus pursue as a teenager?
3. What was Nikola Tesla’s first (secret) invention, and how did it change
his life?
FINISHING TOUCHES
How Am I Not Done Yet?

The writer’s version of a runner’s high hits me at FADE OUT. Euphoric

chemicals dump into my system and suddenly I’m ready for a heavy drink,
some sleep, and adulation by my peers.

But it’s not ready yet. There is more to do, and it’s often the most important
work when it comes to marketing the material and dazzling readers.

Get ready for some challenges I try to complete with every draft. Because
when I let it slide and neglect some of these bits, my work always suffers.
Challenge 131:

Loglines. Summarize your screenplay’s story in fifty words or less.

Bonus points if you do this for each major scene or sequence in your script.
Knowing the purpose of each sequence allows you to speak both
passionately and intelligently to studios, producers, and directors about why
you wrote what you did.

Study aid: Examine a program listing or movie catalog like Netflix and read
the synopsis to ten different movies. Note the information that’s revealed in
the synopsis and what is excluded.
Challenge 132:

Go through your script and hunt down every place you used passive voice.
Allow yourself three moments in the entire script where passive voice can
remain, and change all the other sentences to active voice.

Example: “Joe is walking with Sam, close enough that their shoulders
nearly touch” becomes “Joe and Sam walk side-by-side.”
Challenge 133:

Save a new draft of your script. Remove all the slug lines and replace with a
simple CUT TO: line instead. Read the script again to see how well your
scenes transition from one to the next. Allow yourself three cuts where the
images or dialogue don’t connect somehow, but fix all the others to act as
links in a chain.

Once you’re done, bring the slug lines back.

Challenge 134:

List all the character names you use in the script. Say them aloud. If any
names rhyme or sound similar in some way (alliteration), change them.

Example: I wrote a script with characters whose last names were HARPER
and PARKER. I realized later, one name had to go because they sounded
too similar.

The same can be said for names like CARRIE and CALVIN. Because they
both start with a hard “Kay” sound, it’s worth it to change one name.
Challenge 135:

Kill your orphans.

“Orphans” are those lone words in a sentence or paragraph that have

dropped to the next line, dangling alone. As a reader, orphans are awkward,
because they’re the final piece to complete a thought, or line of dialogue, or
image.

Find something to cut so that your orphan is pulled up onto the previous
line. You may be surprised at how many pages your script will shed with
just a little pruning in the first twenty pages.
Challenge 136:

Make sure your location names are consistent.

Often times, we can start in a location like “INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE”

and, two pages later, call it what it has been revealed as: “INT. LAURA’S
HOUSE.” Then later we forget we started using “INT. LAURA’S HOUSE”
and let autofill do the work for us by calling it SUBURBAN again.

Or maybe your protagonist’s vehicle is INT. SEDAN but also INT.

HERO’S CAR and maybe even INT. CHRYSLER a couple of times.

This may not pose a big problem to readers early in the process, but it will
drive production coordinators crazy later. And some readers may get
confused if you train them to associate one slug line with a location and call
it something else five pages later.
Challenge 137:

Pick a name and stick to it.

If your character’s name is JANE HOLLAND, and you call her Jane in
action and description, use JANE as the character name for her dialogue.
Do not use DR. HOLLAND, or her nickname JAY-JAY, or any other
deviation.

Make sure you’ve kept your name consistent.

This also applies to characters you may have renamed somewhere in the
writing process. If ALICE was renamed AMANDA, do a thorough search
to make sure your find/replace worked like it was supposed to. This
includes possessive uses of the name, like Amanda’s shoes. Often times a
find/replace function can miss those examples.
Challenge 138:

Embrace style monogamy.

If you use italics to emphasize words you want stressed, stick with that
throughout. If you prefer ALL CAPS, great. If you like the heavy look of
Courier in bold, then be bold. Or maybe you’re a fan of the classics and
prefer to underline.

Whatever your choice, stick with it throughout, and don’t pile on other
styles when emphasizing words for a particular big reveal, scary moment,
or transformative action by your character. When you use bold, underline,
and all caps to call attention to a big moment in your script, that
combination of styles says to your reader, “I don’t think you’re paying
attention as you read this, so let me install some neon lighting and a giant
arrow to this section here so that I know you see it.”

Maybe it’s a surprise to you, but that kind of over-emphasis is a real turn-
off.
Challenge 139:

New camera angle or shot? New paragraph.

Readers see walls of text in a screenplay and a little part of them dies. Don’t
write a novel, write a movie. Let the reader feel how cinematic the scene is
by suggesting shots simply with a hit of your “return” key. For example:

The town is in full swing celebrating the county fair. A parade, dancing,
booth games, and a pie-eating contest. Everyone is having a great time.
Music fills the air and the sun shines down on the families trying their luck
at the carnival-like games.

I have no idea how that is being shot. Where is the camera going? Who am
I looking at? Where are the details? It’s your job as the writer to figure that
out. Like:

A BANNER hangs over Main Street:

“TENTH ANNUAL COUNTY FAIR!”

TROMBONE PLAYERS from the local high school band perform a

ragtime number with other brass and percussion members on a set of
bleachers facing—

THE FAIRGROUNDS. Also known as the church parking lot.

A young GIRL bobs for apples while her older SISTER holds her hair back.

Two teenage BOYS fire pellet rifles at targets in a Western-themed carnival

booth.

A NEWLYWED COUPLE share a cloud of cotton candy.

Does this new version take up more real estate on the page than the
previous? Yes. And that’s a good thing because it’s showing a more
accurate estimate of the length of the scene. Hollywood goes by a rule that
one page of a script = one minute of screen time. But this rule can be
molested by scripts written too densely, packing in several separate
moments or shots into a single paragraph.
Give your script breathing room, and your readers will breathe easy, too.
Challenge 140:

Proofread. Or hire someone to do this for you. It may not make a difference
to you if you’ve misused grammar, or confused “their” with “they’re,” or
made any other minor grievance to the English language, but I guarantee
the readers out there will notice it and think less of you for it. You’re a
writer. If you don’t have a deep respect for the medium, no one will feel
comfortable respecting you.
MAKING IT A HABIT
The Worst Kind of Challenge Ever

Sometimes, a challenge or two just isn’t enough. We need the really big,
scary challenges, and I call those things habits.

Creating a habit and making it stick is one of the hardest efforts in life. Your
body and your mind will team up like never before to try and stop you from
effecting long-term change because we human beings are just wired to tell
ourselves “CHANGE, BAD.”

That said, here are some challenges to try and form writing habits which
may be just simple enough, you make it through the first 30 days and stick
the landing.
Challenge 141:

Keep a notepad or journal and pen at your bedside. This will be your dream
journal. Every time you wake, immediately write whatever you remember
about your dreams. Also write ideas that may have come to you in the
middle of the night.

This habit lets your subconscious brain know that you are listening. It says
to your dreaming side: “I’m paying attention.” Perhaps most of what you
write is essentially white noise or the flotsam and jetsam of a sleeping
mind. Perhaps your nightmares make no sense or hold no power for a
waking audience.
But! If you get just one amazing idea from your dreams, or just one brilliant
solution to a script problem you’ve been having… hasn’t this habit paid
dividends? And look at what a great workout it is—for once in your life
you’re getting things done while you’re sleeping.
Challenge 142:

Read. Read other screenplays, novels, short stories, poetry, and song lyrics.

You : Literature :: Homer Simpson : Donuts

To make this challenge concrete, let’s plant a flag and say: Read one novel,
two screenplays, and two pieces from some other medium (short story,
poem, New Yorker article, etc.) every month. Do this for three months. Feed
your brain.
Challenge 143:

Spend one month learning about a non-writing job tied to your industry.
Shadow a director on a set. Take a class on nonlinear editing. Intern at a
marketing company or a sound-mixing studio. Try your hand at acting. Get
a job as a script reader for a production company or studio.

Point is: Do something to open your eyes to the bigger machine at work
here, and see how your job as a writer can help or hinder all the non-writers
involved in the process.
Challenge 144:

Write a feature screenplay in what you believe is your weakest genre. This
project will sometimes feel like it will kill you, but you’ll learn a wealth of
wisdom about the art and craft of conflict simply by changing to a new
genre and figuring out how it works.
Challenge 145:

Organize and commit to a regular physical regimen. It can be swimming,

jogging, cycling, weightlifting, surfing… whatever, as long as it moves
your body and establishes a ritual for your day. Every other morning, or
daily at lunch, or right after work each weeknight—the point is to give your
body structure and a sense of movement and physical effort. Your brain will
feel like it works ten times better after 30 days of this.
Challenge 146:

Join a peer review group for at least a year.

There are communities both online and in major cities of people who gather
and swap scripts for feedback. Most communities come with rules, like
“You must submit twenty pages of work a month and review two members’
work in the same month,” or “Every meeting you must send a full draft of
something, and read everyone else’s for the group discussion.”

This sounds like a lot of work. It’s nothing compared to what your turnout
needs to be as a working screenwriter. And reviewing a peer’s script builds
critical thinking muscles that help you improve your own work.
Challenge 147:

Enter into writing competitions.

Find as many as you can and try them all. Poetry contests, micro fiction
challenges, the Nicholl Fellowship, the Austin Screenwriting competition…
whatever looks like a mountain you haven’t yet climbed, give it a go.
Competitions offer you built-in deadlines, and pit you against your peers for
opportunity of future employment. And if you don’t place in any of them at
the start, it helps build up a tolerance of rejection while keeping you
focused on self-improvement.
Challenge 148:

Watch movies.

This is the obvious challenge, but it’s also the easiest habit to break if you
don’t make a point to keep at it. Watching movies feels like entertainment
to some corner of our brains that still remembers when that’s all we thought
of them, so it’s easy to let this slip by us.

Make it a habit. See three new movies (meaning, movies you haven’t seen
before) every week for eight weeks. That’s 24 films in two months. This is
a way to feed your brain, just like the reading challenge. If you’re feeling
bold, jot down three things you loved from each movie and keep these in a
journal of “tips, tricks, and takeaways” from all the movies you see.
Challenge 149:

Become a puzzle-solver.

It can be Sudoku, crosswords, word searches, Words with Friends, variety

puzzle books, jigsaws, mystery games—the point is, you’re giving your
brain a workout on par with your physical workout sessions. Train your
brain to find the right word for the right circumstance. Learn how to solve
story by building problem-solving mental muscles.
Challenge 150:

Do it all over again.

The challenges, ideas, and habits that didn’t work for us the first time
typically don’t get a second chance. Maybe you weren’t in the right place in
your career or life to tackle a challenge. Your day job got in the way of
maintaining that page count on your new screenplay. You stopped taking
bike tours of your neighborhood. You couldn’t get into a regular reading
habit, or you never found that peer group.

Don’t salt the earth after those attempts. Go back later and try again. Maybe
you’re in a different place as a writer now. Maybe the opportunity finally
shows up this time. The dirty secret to being a writer in this business?
Perseverance.

This book doesn’t end, it just Atari-screens back around to the front, and
you start again. It’s a career, a life choice, a terrible curse and a sweet
release. There is no true finish line in screenwriting...

Enjoy the exercise.