3-2-1 Screenwriting Thursday: Understand Structure, Make Mistakes Quickly, Get Out There and DO IT
September 17, 2026· Kate Gaulke
Happy Thursday!
I attended a wonderful lecture on Monday given by Prof. Drew McClellan (USC) on cinematic storytelling and visual design, courtesy of Lectures on Tap in Hollywood. It was an absolute delight and made me miss school terribly... even though I'm pretty sure my professors would not have taken well to me having a beer and tacos on my desk.
I got to spend some time afterwards chatting with Professor McClellan and asked what he thought the most important thing was for emerging writers to do right now - his answer is this week's three ideas.
On with the show -
3 IDEAS FROM Professor McClellan
I. Understand Structure
This may start to feel repetitive to you, but this is literally the first thing he said: Understand structure. You don't necessarily need to use it actively in your work, but if you choose to break it do so knowingly. You don't need to do a crazy deep dive to understand basic structure, just take a look at the graphic below - adapted from McClellan's slides.
The only change I would argue for is to hit your inciting incident even earlier in your pages - the audience's patience has significantly dwindled since this graph was first proffered.
II. Make Mistakes Quickly
You're going to mess up. It's inevitable. You're going to have to get through those mistakes anyway, so make them quickly and get to the other side.
III. Get out there and DO IT
Stop waiting for perfect conditions. Get out there and make things. FINISH things. That's the best way to learn.
2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS
Both quotes come from Drew's mentor, Bruce Block - USC professor, producer of SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, THE PARENT TRAP, and THE HOLIDAY amongst many others. He consults for Pixar and Netflix, and is the author of The Visual Story - the main textbook for Drew's classes.
I.
"The most important question throughout the filmmaking process is, what is the story? The most frequently asked question on set is, where do we put the camera?"
II.
Bruce Block:
"The only skill you need to be successful is the ability to figure it out."
1 QUESTION FOR YOU
If your life were a movie and you were sitting in the audience, what would you be SCREAMING at the screen for the protagonist to do?
Now go do that.
Until next week,
Kate Gaulke