Posts

screenwriting teacher Michael Colleary

Fade In:

The genesis of this website and my book came unexpectedly.

One day I was asked to appear on a panel of screenwriters at the Writers Guild of America, West. The topic assigned to me was, “How do you increase the stakes in a second act?”

Innocent enough, right?

Yet that question needled me like a dried-up Christmas tree.

So why did I find this seemingly easy question so tough? Well, to start, it is impossible to answer in the abstract. Every script is (or better be) an utterly unique creature. So, truly, there is no way to answer that question without asking – what’s happening in your first act? Read more