So as I scroll through tiktok I've seen (more than once) that having your characters with the same beginning letter for their name is basically a no because it confuses the reader...asking because in my pilot I have the mother and both her kids names beginning with M...you know how some people like to name their kids with the same beginning letter as them(like my sister for example) all her boys are with the letter T and the girls with J (like her husband and her)... THOUGHTS 💬 💭 🤔❓

Today’s discussion on loglines made something very clear: Your main character must desperately need something before the plot starts. Not after the inciting incident. Not once the story “gets going.” From frame one. Too many scripts introduce a protagonist who is basically a blank slate — a person the plot happens to. They may have backstory, but it isn’t active yet. It hasn’t hardened into behavior, attitude, or pressure. Holy shit scripts don’t do this. They introduce characters who are already mid-struggle with life when we meet them. Tony Soprano We don’t meet a powerful mob boss at the top of his game — we meet a man already cracking. Panic attacks. Therapy. Suffocating under family, masculinity, and leadership. The plot doesn’t create his crisis. It exposes the one he’s been barely holding together for years. Neo (The Matrix) Neo isn’t “chosen” because he’s empty — he’s chosen because he’s already searching. When we meet him, he’s exhausted, sleepless, and obsessed with the feeling that reality is wrong. He’s been hunting Morpheus for years. The inciting incident doesn’t awaken him — it answers a question he’s been bleeding from. Walter White Before cancer. Before meth. He’s hiding it under the surface as an upbeat math teach, but in truth, he's already humiliated, resentful, and furious about wasted potential. A man who believes the world robbed him. The plot doesn’t install the wound — it removes the leash. Here’s the takeaway: Great loglines don’t start with what happens. They start with who this person already is — and what they cannot keep living without. If your logline could apply to a dozen different protagonists, the issue probably isn’t structure. It’s that your character doesn’t arrive hungry enough. Your turn: • What other characters come to mind that fit this pattern? • How does this apply to the protagonist in the script you’re writing right now? • What does your main character desperately need before page one? Let’s hear it.

Edit: Got pulled into a meeting. I'll be available at 1! Not 11:30. See ya'll then. I want to talk about these loglines you've been developing and how they make you think about your story. And give you some important tweaks on how to think about them. I'm developing material for the Emotional Authorship seminar next week and it got me to thinking about you folks and your logs of line. Let's talk! ps. these Zoom guest and workshop events are going to be more frequent and more scheduled in the coming year. The last two months have just been figuring out what people need and actual want! Def starting to get a feel for that, thanks to you all for showing up!

That was the first of many industry pros I'll be interviewing over the coming year. Thanks for a great showing. Pick up a copy of his book. Highly recommend, very practical steps on screenwriting and building a career. How to be a Screenwriter And here's Phil's Linktree with all the good links to his socials and such.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my mission with this community. At its core, I want to help you write visceral, primal characters — people with real human needs, real internal fractures, and stories that hit the audience in the gut. But before we dive into wounds, meaning, and transformation, every writer needs one simple tool to ground the work: The logline. This is where the path from good scripts to holy shit scripts start. Most people think of a logline as something you need at the END of the process, for a pitch. But a precise logline can be invaluable during the writing. And while I’ll critique the formulaic nature of Save The Cat now and then, STC has a pretty clean definition of a logline. We’ll go deeper in future posts, but let’s steelman this one first. According to Save the Cat, a strong logline needs four things: 1. A clear protagonist 2. A clear goal 3. A clear obstacle or antagonist 4. The irony — the hook That last piece is the part most writers skip — and it’s the reason many loglines fall flat. Example: Groundhog Day Protagonist: Phil Connors (cynical weatherman) Goal: Escape the time loop Obstacle: Himself — his selfishness keeps him in prison Irony: A man who never appreciates the moment is forced to relive the same one forever Logline: “A man who can’t appreciate the moment is forced to live the same day over and over until he learns that meaning isn’t found in the next thing, but in showing up fully for what’s right in front of him.” Three More Famous Examples 1. Toy Story 2 Protagonist: Woody Goal: Get back to Andy Obstacle: A collector who offers eternal preservation in a museum Irony: To return home, he must choose a love that will eventually break his heart Logline: “A cowboy doll must escape a toy collector and return to his owner, even though it means choosing a love he knows will one day leave him behind.” 2. Signs Protagonist: A grieving former priest Goal: Protect his children Obstacle: A global alien invasion