The 11 Laws of Great Storytelling

Throughout my eighteen years of screenwriting I have read and analyzed thousands of scripts from writers of all levels, including screenplays from my students at Buffalo State College, Cornell University, Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, and R.I.T.’s...

How Heavy is Your Burden?

Is Your Burden Heavy? There is an old story about three men and their sacks . Each man had two sacks, one tied in front of his neck and the other tied on his back. When the first man was asked what was in his sacks, he said, “In the sack on my back are all the...

When God is Your Boss

This is a true story. One man was upset because his boss was really against him. The boss was always trying to make him look bad and would never give him any kind of recognition. The truth is that his boss was jealous of him. But, this man just kept being his best,...

The Other Side of the Bed

I lost my son, Ryan, due to cancer when he was only 8 years old. Near the end, he was semi-comatose in a hospital, where I spent many hours with him. Late one night, when all the family had gone home for the evening, I turned the lights in Ryan’s room down low....

A Story of Intimidation

One day, a young guy was walking on a dark street. Suddenly, out of an Acacia tree, an old man wrapped in a black robe appeared. His eyes were fierce, his face pale, his beard unkempt. He pushed a black book towards the young man and ordered, “You need to read this...

The Praying Hands

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a...