Jonathon E Stewart & Laura Stoltz Try to Spot Pro Screenwriting | STP 7

Screenwriters Jonathan E Stewart and Laura Stoltz attempt to spot pro screenwriting in only one page.

[@NGDwrites]

Want to get involved in a future episode of Spot the Pro? If you're a pro or amateur writer who'd like to submit a page, or if you're a professional writer / industry professional who'd like to be on an episode, get in touch here: www.nathangrahamdavis.com/spotthepro

[@PaulJonWhite]

Great episode, didn't even spot the fact that the cirlce on the blackboard was only described in the dialogue, really smart. Plus, I'm stealing 'shrinkwrap', love that!

[@JenniferSmithTouchgoldFilms]

Your show offers so much nuance about how to really do it on the page

[@laurijoncaravella7094]

Yep. I was 3/4 too. Great show.

[@BPetty1236]

Really enjoyed the insight from Laura on the one script's production viability, it's always something you don't think about until you have to.

[@DDumbrille]

Stewart seems like such a genuinely nice guy. And what a sweet cat...enjoyed the show Nate.

[@davidlaurie4963]

hey. 3 things. 1. have you disappeared off Twitter? 2. thanks for a new ep of this for me to watch. 3. that Aftermath trailer really works. Congrats, man.

[@tschrack]

4/4 for the first time I think!

[@jackschaberg4970]

It would be interesting to pick random pages from all of these scripts, and not the first.

[@NGDwrites]

I actually tried something similar at one point but it was much harder to find useful comparisons as every script is so different in terms of structure.

[@ngutngut40]

​@@NGDwrites... Or perhaps the first two pages?

[@ScottyHunter]

At 30:19ish when they announced Deathbed by Gary Rowlands (the B1 page), the logline didn't seem to go with the page 1. Logline says she's a nurse, but page 1 said she was a teacher. I suppose a nurse could also be a teacher, but it seemed weird to me for a small child to send a crayon colored get well soon card saying "to the bestest teacher" to a nurse.

[@karn6213]

Could be a hook scene with a different character and the nurse is introduced later.

[@ScottyHunter]

@@karn6213 Fair point! It could be. Either way, I'm interested enough in the one page to want to continue reading.

[@garyrowlands9728]

@@karn6213 Yes, you're correct. It is a hook scene with a different character.

[@garyrowlands9728]

@@ScottyHunter I'm glad you enjoyed the opening page of Deathbed!

[@ScottyHunter]

@@garyrowlands9728 Nice touch then! I retract my original complaint/confusion! Going to have to try and give this one a read!

[@adrienneg.thompson7773]

I'm a newbie screenwriter. I noticed a couple of gerunds and adverbs in the scripts. Isn't there a rule against that?

[@jackschaberg4970]

No rules, but generally frowned on, especially to excess.

[@NGDwrites]

Kind of like @jackschaberg4970 said, it's easy to overdo it with these things, which is why you'll hear advice targeted at beginners suggest that you not use them. But occasionally, they're the best tool for the job, and I think these examples used them perfectly (for the most part). There are very few actual rules in screenwriting -- although there are plenty of useful guidelines.

[@hahyou18]

always good to be aware of the "rules" so you can break them with intention