Blog
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The Brothers Bloom show off (and so can your characters)
It’s not enough to be told that characters are the best at what they do — we need to see it on screen. The Writer Emergency Pack XL card “Perfect Balance” wants you to think about when you can show your characters going above and beyond what most people can do.
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3 practical ways Fury Road binds characters together
The Writer Emergency Pack XL card “Handcuffs of Fate” reminds us forcing two opposing characters to work together can move the story forward. Let’s dig in to the suggestions on “Handcuffs of Fate” to see how Fury Road binds characters together, and how you can learn to use these tactics in your story!
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Galaxy Quest travels to the stars
Stuck onboard an actual spaceship modeled on the sets of their old TV show Galaxy Quest, Jason Nesmith and his co-stars need to stop pretending and become heroes if they’re going to return to Earth.
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Writing zombies who don’t crave brains
The Simpsons episode “Marge vs. the Monorail” doesn’t feature any flesh-eating ghouls. But it does offer examples for writing zombies of another kind: people stuck in a mob mentality.
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“Right here, you are going to witness an absolute spectacle.”
Looking at how Nope forces its characters to Fight the Giant. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
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“Welcome to the party, pal!”
For the first half of Die Hard, John McClane is completely on his own against Hans Gruber and his men. Learn how the script keeps forcing him to work harder to get help!
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Endings are the new beginnings
This post contains spoilers. Don’t let that scare you off. You’ve likely seen all these movies, but even if you haven’t, knowing how a movie ends shouldn’t detract from the pleasure of watching a movie.
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Writer Emergency Pack featured in Writer’s Digest
We’re thrilled that Writer’s Digest featured Writer Emergency Pack in this month’s “Top Shelf” section
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Writer Emergency Pack: Looking back and looking forward
One year ago today, I held my first Writer Emergency Pack. It was a test deck, full of typos and formatting errors, but it felt like something worth pursuing. I showed the prototype to screenwriter friends, soliciting their feedback. I took several decks to the Austin Film Festival, passing them around during the live Scriptnotes…