[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: Most screenwriting books and gurus say that there should be a significant turning point at let’s say the 25-minute mark or the 25-page mark. Do you agree? Do you find this rule arbitrary or rigid?
Jill Chamberlain, Script Consultant/Author/Writer: Writers can do whatever they want but they would be wise to pay attention to that one rule. I don’t like to have a lot of arbitrary rules. Certain page numbers, that’s one I do adhere to. The reason is I think a lot of people don’t understand why that is, they just hear it as a rule.
We have about a 25-minute attention span. The Pomodoro Method, are you familiar with that? It’s basically a work process method when you’re feeling like you’re procrastinating. I recommend it to my writers all the time. I find things like beat sheets particularly unpleasant to write. Scripts are more fun, the beat sheets not so fun. You have to kind of force yourself sometimes. You have to use something like The Pomodoro Technique which says basically we have an attention span of 25 minutes. You set your timer and those 25 minutes you work, no goofing off, no looking at the internet, no getting a sip of water, work for 25 minutes even if you’re just staring at the screen for 25 minutes, do that until the buzzer rings. Then you take a 5-minute break. Then you come back, you do another 25 minutes. It’s a really effective way to get you to focus on something when you don’t feel like it. It’s like how bad is it for me to have to focus for 25 minutes? It’s not so bad. I can do…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
DOWNLOAD THE NUTSHELL TECHNIQUE FORMS
Jillchamberlain.com
CONNECT WITH JILL CHAMBERLAIN
Jillchamberlain.com
Facebook
Twitter
BUY THE BOOK – THE NUTSHELL TECHNIQUE: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting
About:
Jill Chamberlain is the founder of a screenwriting school, a script consultant, a screenwriter, and the author of The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret to Successful Screenwriting.
The Nutshell Technique is considered the go-to manual many professionals swear by. It’s on the syllabus at film schools all over the world and has been published in Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Italian, and in audiobook format.
As a script consultant, Jill has fixed and fine tuned scripts for Oscar-nominated screenwriters, top television showrunners, screenwriters whose movies have made over a billion dollars at the box office, award-winning independent filmmakers, and for many, many spec script writers.
In 2006, Jill founded The Screenplay Workshop with Jill Chamberlain (Screenplayworkshop.org) where she has personally taught thousands of screenwriters feature film and episodic television writing. Complete beginners to Emmy-winning screenwriters and award-winning producers enroll in her classes.
Find out more about her and her script consultancy at jillchamberlain.com.
Advertisement – contains affiliate links:
Thank you to Adi in Chicago, Illinois for sponsoring today’s video!
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
