Rewriting
Why Readers Pass On Your Script (Nine Reasons, In Order)
A pass is rarely about talent. It is almost always one of nine repeatable problems, and eight of them are fixable in a focused rewrite pass.
9 minAugust 23, 2026
Read the articleThe Craft Desk
Screenwriting craft, written for the rewrite
New articles every week on the things the Armageddon Score actually measures: structure, character, dialogue, scene craft, and the order you should fix them in. No gurus, no templates — just the diagnostics that move a draft.
Business
How to Write a Logline That Actually Sells the Script
A logline is not a summary. It is a bet that one sentence can make a stranger want the whole story. Here is how to build one that holds that weight.
7 minAugust 20, 2026
Read the articleBusiness
How Long Should a Screenplay Be? The Page Counts That Get Read
Page count is the first note a reader forms, before a single line of dialogue. Here are the ranges that keep you in the room, and the three cuts that get you there.
6 minAugust 18, 2026
Read the articleStructure
The First Ten Pages: What a Reader Decides Before Page Eleven
Nobody reads your script fairly after a bad opening. Here is the checklist professional readers run in the first ten pages — and how to pass it.
7 minAugust 13, 2026
Read the articleStructure
Why Your Second Act Collapses (And the Three Fixes That Hold)
Almost every low structure score traces back to the same page range. Here is how to find the exact scene where your middle stops pulling — and what to put in its place.
8 minAugust 11, 2026
Read the articleCharacter
Antagonists With a Case: Writing Opposition That Isn't Cardboard
If your antagonist only shows up to block scenes, your hero is not being tested. Build opposition with its own case, calendar, and cost.
8 minAugust 9, 2026
Read the articleDialogue
Dialogue That Earns Its Page: Cutting the 30% Nobody Misses
Most drafts do not have a bad-dialogue problem. They have a too-much-dialogue problem. Here is the pass that finds the lines nobody will miss.
7 minAugust 8, 2026
Read the articleBusiness
Formatting That Reads Professional: The Page as First Impression
Readers judge professionalism from the shape of the page before they read a word. Here is how to make that judgement work for you.
6 minAugust 7, 2026
Read the articleRewriting
The Rewrite Pass Order: What to Fix First So You Don't Waste a Draft
Polishing dialogue in a script whose structure will change is the most expensive mistake in screenwriting. Do the passes in this order instead.
9 minAugust 5, 2026
Read the articleChoose your transmissions
Pick either dispatch or get both. You can unsubscribe whenever you want.
No spam, no selling your address. Unsubscribe any time, with a confirmation step.
Keep going
- Logline Lab — grade your one-sentence pitch free, in seconds.
- The Wire — greenlights, deals and exec moves updated daily.
- The Armageddon Score — the fifteen categories every article here maps back to.
- The Academy — free courses, lectures and the essential reading list.