3-2-1 Screenwriting Thursday: Structure, Talking About Your Work, Word Choice
August 20, 2026· Kate Gaulke
Happy Thursday!
It's been a good week. Things are starting to feel more organized lately.
My website transformation is complete and fully transitioned out of squarespace to its own host, which is a huge relief! Check it out here:
www.kategaulke.com
I've also been working on a little program to supplement or even replace Final Draft with more capabilities to assist in the story editing process. Final Draft is a reliable workhorse, but I love spreadsheets and wanted to be able to work with them more interactively alongside my screenplays.
Have I mentioned how happy I am to have a computer science minor?
Let me know if you want to hear more about it. I'm still debugging, but it's already been quite helpful. I was even able to drop my Adobe Reader subscription which was forcing me into a larger package than I wanted for just one program.
Anyways, on with the show -
3 IDEAS FROM ME
I. Structure
There are a ton of different books and articles out there on structure and many of them ultimately say the same thing through lightly differing lenses: Vogler, Dan Harmon's Story Circle, Save The Cat, John Truby's The Anatomy of Story, etc. All of these resources have different nuanced information worth understanding on their own, but boiled down their base is almost always The Hero's Journey.
Once you know it inside and out, you'll start seeing it everywhere. Even in pieces you wouldn't originally think to look for it.
I prefer to focus on character both in my own writing and in evaluation - and in The Hero's Journey character IS story. It's HIGHLY interpretable, endlessly variable and bends to deeply metaphorical readings.
If you only study one structural option - this is the one most worthy of your time.
II. Talk about your work
I had a meeting a while back with a person who, whenever I asked a question trying to gain clarity on where they were with their project, would continually say, "I'm not ready to share that at this time."
Totally fine to say that at a mixer! Not so much in a meeting that's supposed to actively be about moving your writing forward.
Needless to say, the meeting ended early and it turned into a waste of time for both of us. It was incredibly frustrating and I was inclined to believe they really didn't know what they were doing more so than being protective of their work.
If you can't talk about your project how is anyone supposed to buy it or even point you in the right direction? It's good to have a quality bullshit meter, but at a certain point if you actually want to get something sold or made you need to be willing to talk about it.
III. Word Choice
Since screenwriting operates within borderline extreme economy of words, vocabulary can make a huge difference. Check your work. Where is your word choice underwhelming? How can you amp up the color of your verbiage? Not for vocabulary's own sake, but to accomplish your descriptive aims in the scene.
2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS
I.
James Baldwin, LIFE magazine, 1963:
"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read."
II.
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms:
"The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places."
1 QUESTION FOR YOU
From this same time last year to now, what has changed? What are you grateful for?
Until next week,
Kate Gaulke