John and Craig investigate why some scenes are so much harder to write than others, with strategies for tackling (or surrendering) to the difficulty.

We also follow up on virtual rooms, act breaks, and diversity workshops. Listener questions this week include introducing twists, getting elbowed out of your project, and whether it’s possible to be too meta?

In our bonus segment for premium members, Megana shares her experiences attending the Austin Film Festival for the first time.

Links:

• MoviePass Executives Charged with Fraud
• Warner Bros. Discovery Says It Will Keep Writers and Directors Workshops Alive, But Evolve to Conglomerate-Wide DEI Oversight
• The Six Hour Scene from John’s Blog
• Doug McGrath Austin Film Society Honoree Speech
• The Past Within – Rusty Lake
• The Fablemans
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Twitter
• John August on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Holly Overton (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.