#screenwriting tips

💄🧨 KILL THE GIRLBOSS — OR KILL THE STORY

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Let’s talk about the word “Girlboss.”

A term born in a boardroom, beta-tested on brunch mimosas, and shipped to an audience that never existed.

It’s a costume. A filter. A pink-tinted hallucination designed to simulate power while defanging character.

🧠 Here’s your free reality check, writer: If your character’s entire vibe is “Some people will love this” — you’ve already written for no one.

Because:

“Some people” don’t buy tickets. “Some people” don’t rewatch scenes for decades. “Some people” don’t carry myth in their blood.

And “some people” sure as hell don’t want to see a movie that feels like a tampon commercial disguised as a Marvel installment.

You wanna write a female character who matters?

Then burn the blueprint the studios handed you. Because that script was ghostwritten by executives who care more about merchandise synergy than myth.

And their screenwriters? Cowards who’d rather cash a check than fight for truth on the page.

📜 Let me show you what made humans worth filming in the first place.

We don’t watch stories about a cow’s peaceful journey around the pasture. We watch stories where a human soul stands between the cosmos and a punch from the f*cking infinity gauntlet.

Because the only question that matters in myth is:

> “What would I do in that body, in that moment, with that weight?”

That’s how myth transfers. That’s how legend moves. Not by t-shirt slogans.

Not by quippy disrespect toward male characters who’ve bled for the cause.

💥 WRITING LESSON: Kill the Girlboss, Save the Story

Erase the term “Girlboss.” Not for cancel culture reasons. For craft reasons. It’s childish. Cringe. Infantalizing. Real power doesn’t self-brand. It radiates.

Never have her declare her own badassery. That’s not a reveal. That’s insecurity. If the audience can’t see it, you failed.

Never have her flippantly disrespect a male hero who’s proven his value over multiple arcs unless the script answers for it. You think fans forgot that he saved her nana in Movie 1, her sisterhood in Movie 2, and took a space-beam to the chest in Movie 3? You think the audience doesn’t notice when the new girl talks like she skipped the war but wants to boss the veterans?

Men and women are not the same. And that’s the point. Stop writing female leads like men with a flat iron. You know who looked cool? Sarah Connor. Doing pull-ups in a concrete monkey cage. Sweaty. Unhinged. Ripped like a prom dress. And when Arnie walked back into her life, even though he was on her side this time — she flinched. She almost pissed herself. Because trauma doesn’t care about plot twists. She pushed through it anyway. Not for clout. For her son.

📌 Write this down. Tape it to your wall. Bleed it into your next script:

> Girlboss is not a compliment. > It’s a warning label. > It means you wrote a child’s idea of power > with none of the scars.

Now, open your notebook. Write “Girlboss.” Draw a line through it. And whisper:

> “I refute the premise.”

Then get to work. Or flounder for two more years under the illusion that writer’s block is anything more than your conscience refusing to publish garbage.

Good day, ma’am. Or sir.

This was not advice. This was a literary firing squad. Follow for more truths the studios are too soft to tell you. ➡️ [Your Patreon Link] for scrolltrap screenwriting lessons, cognitive demolition, and raw myth-building power.

Clear Goals: Ensure your main character has a clear external goal. This gives the audience something to root for and keeps them engaged.

Writer's Connection: Write from a personal space. The writer's connection to the story guides the audience's connection to the story. 

Flawed, Vulnerable Characters: Develop characters with flaws and vulnerabilities, making them relatable and compelling.

Proper Setups: Set the stage for future developments. Characters should discover things that pay off later or fail to learn initially, but eventually figure things out.

Personal Growth: Take your hero on a journey. Start them at one level and let them progress to another, showing character development.

Character Focus: Ensure the right character is in the spotlight. If a supporting character takes too much limelight or development, consider making them the main character.

Escalating Stakes: Keep the stakes rising. Give both good and bad news to maintain tension and keep the audience engaged.

Conflict and Surprises: Infuse your story with lots of conflict and unexpected twists. Create peaks and valleys to maintain audience interest.

Active Hero: Your main character should be proactive. The story shouldn't just happen to them; they should actively influence the story's events.

Edit, edit, and edit: Finally, you are done with draft 0. Refine your script. Make it the best it can be.

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First 30 Days Of Writing A Screenplay - Alan Watt [Founder of L.A. Writers' Lab]

We’ve all been there. Some people have it all the time. Some say it doesn’t exist. I class writer’s block as anything from lack of motivation to not being able to solve a plot problem. Whatever it is, here’s a list of activities to try and get those creative rivers running. 

Move. Pick up your laptop and go to a different room. They say a change is as good as a rest and this can be true with writing. Move to the kitchen. Write outside. Go to a coffee shop. Sit in the cupboard under the stairs and block out the world. Just change up the scenery. 

Swap Medium. If words just aren’t doing it for you make aesthetics, mood boards, draw maps or characters. Victoria Aveyard once said she designed book covers and let the plot stew in the back of her mind. 

Write Something Else. Working on other projects can give you inspiration for what you’re working on now. Find some prompts. Write irrelevant short stories or character studies. Write about your characters as kids or at defining points in their lives. 

Plot. Hands off the keyboard, open up one of those many unused notebooks I know you have and start scribbling vague, half formed ideas. Allow yourself to write things you might discard later. Allow yourself to try and work through an idea you like but don’t understand yet. Try and work out the next 10 steps. 10 things you want to cover. 10 scenes. 10 days. Whatever it is, just write it down. 

20 Minutes Rule. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Sit your butt down in that chair and write for 20 minutes. I don’t care if it’s trash. I don’t care if you’re going to delete it all later. I don’t care if it’s nonsense. Do it. 20 minutes of writing nonsense is still more productive than 20 minutes staring at that wall. After 20 minutes if you still don’t want to write, leave it, but you just might find yourself inspired. 

Finally, Take Time Off. If none of this is working, it’s likely a sign of burn out. Take some time for yourself and just do nothing. “Write every single day,” yeah sure if you wont to be a machine who pumps out words instead of art. Sometimes you need to recharge before you move forward and that doesn’t just mean getting a good nights sleep. Look after yourself and be kind. This isn’t a race against the clock, you have your whole life to publish a book.