Quoted from eldave1 Not sure if it fits or not - but if you lose steam in your second act it may be due to a lack of reversal(s). i.e., if you breeze through the set-up, goal setting, etc and find that your story loses steam, you may benefit from some reversals - e.g., just as your hero gets closer to his goal, he/she hits a speed bump that derails them.  Just spit-balling.

Or, not enough sub-plots set up in act one. It's a old screenwriting cliche, but it's not wrong: nearly every problem you have in act two has its genesis in act one. Just my minor take.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Or, not enough sub-plots set up in act one. It's a old screenwriting cliche, but it's not wrong: nearly every problem you have in act two has its genesis in act one. Just my minor take.

Solid advice

I checked out that youtube channel. Got some cool stuff on there. I'll watch more when I have the time.

As Steve said, I'll give anything a chance. The problem is there's so much content. My mailman probably has a youtube channel and three books on screenwriting. Most of it I don't find useful, so I stop looking altogether. Then I come across something randomly that makes me wonder how I ever attempted to write a screenplay without it.

For me, these two books are in a league of their own:

The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
Inside Story by Dara Marks

I don't know where I'm going with is... I guess my point is if you like either of those and know of other good sites/books, tell me what they are!

Quoted from MarkItZero I checked out that youtube channel. Got some cool stuff on there. I'll watch more when I have the time. As Steve said, I'll give anything a chance. The problem is there's so much content. My mailman probably has a youtube channel and three books on screenwriting. Most of it I don't find useful, so I stop looking altogether. Then I come across something randomly that makes me wonder how I ever attempted to write a screenplay without it. For me, these two books are in a league of their own: The Anatomy of Story by John Truby Inside Story by Dara Marks I don't know where I'm going with is... I guess my point is if you like either of those and know of other good sites/books, tell me what they are!

I've only bought one screenwriter book ever, and I got it this past summer. It's called Writing For Emotional Impact by Carl Iglesias. The gist of this book is that Hollywood basically sells movies by appealing to people's emotions. For instance, a blurb in an action movie poster or advertisement would be "thrilling" "a roller coaster ride" "will leave you breathless" etc. All of these descriptions play to our emotions when thinking of a good actioner - fear, worry, anxiety. So, pretty much this book focuses on how to make your characters more appealing to emotions of the genre you're writing in. Seeing as I'm a big fan of drama, I thought this was a good purchase.

Might be quite interesting to dissect a number of scripts from the vantage point of that first act, both where those scripts are agreed upon to have worked, and those which are agreed upon to have not worked.

For example, why did Terminator work, but Terminator 3 did not.

Things like that.

Quoted from Andrew For example, why did Terminator work, but Terminator 3 did not.

Ouch. I still think Rise of the Machines worked overall, but there were two major problems: the comedy in it was winking-at-the-camera stuff and the R-rating wasn't necessary. Just too light overall.

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Ouch. I still think Rise of the Machines worked overall, but there were two major problems: the comedy in it was winking-at-the-camera stuff and the R-rating wasn't necessary. Just too light overall.

It's an interesting one, cos the main structure has been lifted from the previous films. So arguably the structure isn't the problem, but I could see arguments for why it failed some of the tests laid out in the video.

Agreed that a lot of the problems are down to execution.

It makes for an interesting film to dissect. I didn't hate it, but it was following up two excellent films, which made its job so much harder.

Maybe it failed for the very simple reason that two films had come before and enough time had passed for that plot to lose any remaining lustre? I thought Rise was a pretty good movie but at the same time, could it ever have been more than "another one" with diminishing returns?

Despite the appalling dialogue, Dark Fate was a pretty strong entry too, but I felt like the whole audience was just kinda sitting there wondering what the point was.

Come to think of it, I feel like the vast majority of franchises only manage to get out two good films.

Quoted from SAC I've only bought one screenwriter book ever, and I got it this past summer. It's called Writing For Emotional Impact by Carl Iglesias. The gist of this book is that Hollywood basically sells movies by appealing to people's emotions. For instance, a blurb in an action movie poster or advertisement would be "thrilling" "a roller coaster ride" "will leave you breathless" etc. All of these descriptions play to our emotions when thinking of a good actioner - fear, worry, anxiety. So, pretty much this book focuses on how to make your characters more appealing to emotions of the genre you're writing in. Seeing as I'm a big fan of drama, I thought this was a good purchase.

I might try it. But if I don't like it, I'm gonna show up at your house and demand a refund.

Quoted from Andrew It's an interesting one, cos the main structure has been lifted from the previous films. So arguably the structure isn't the problem, but I could see arguments for why it failed some of the tests laid out in the video. Agreed that a lot of the problems are down to execution. It makes for an interesting film to dissect. I didn't hate it, but it was following up two excellent films, which made its job so much harder.

There's a detailed, scientific analysis of the Terminator franchise here.

Quoted from MarkItZero There's a detailed, scientific analysis of the Terminator franchise here.

Cool, will give that a view.

Quoted from Heretic Maybe it failed for the very simple reason that two films had come before and enough time had passed for that plot to lose any remaining lustre? I thought Rise was a pretty good movie but at the same time, could it ever have been more than "another one" with diminishing returns? Despite the appalling dialogue, Dark Fate was a pretty strong entry too, but I felt like the whole audience was just kinda sitting there wondering what the point was. Come to think of it, I feel like the vast majority of franchises only manage to get out two good films.

True. It's very tough for a franchise to keep its energy and keep pulling out winners.

Not that I'm a huge fan, but credit to the Marvel universe for kind of bucking that trend, but I guess it could be said that's down to it being multiple franchises.

Quoted from SAC I’m not that highly evolved yet. What I mean is I think we’re always learning, or never too good to learn new tricks. I think everyone needs to go back to school every once in a while. That said, YouTube videos are like someone who posts a critique on your script. You can either agree or disagree. It doesn’t hurt to watch videos, especially by produced screenwriters talking about their methods or writing style. I take what I want, discard the rest. I would hope that most of us are smart enough to know we don’t have to take these informative videos as gospel.

I prefer to write. I honestly don't care how other writers do it.

Quoted from DustinBowcot I prefer to write. I honestly don't care how other writers do it.

Absolutely.

Usually I forget what is said in the videos shortly after watching. But I do find some of them interesting. If ever I want to sharpen my writing I’ll read Tony Gilroy — Michael Clayton in particular.

"Mistakes that kills screenplays"

I've heard that in the UK having the kind of name on the front page that sounds White British and middle-aged(ish) is a big no-no.

So no Daves, Andrews, Stevens, Marks etc.

Mental eh. Hopefully not true (although a mate of mine was told to take his name off and put the main actresses on instead).