April 2019

Showing 1 - 9 of 9 results

Same Story, Different Tone

Watch “Dr. Strangelove” and you’ll see a darkly humorous satire on the Pentagon and nuclear war planning. Yet if you read the book that “Dr....
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Put Your Hero in a Dilemma

The quickest way to create tension and suspense is to put your hero in a dilemma between two choices where each choice has advantages and...
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The Story Is More Than What It Seems

When writing a screenplay, outline the basic structure of your story. Typically a story fools the audience into thinking the story is about one thing...
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Make Sense and Answer Unanswered Questions

One of the quickest ways to jolt an audience out of a movie experience is to have illogical actions and unanswered questions. An illogical action...
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Tempt the Hero Into Being Evil

In old Saturday morning cartoons, a character would face a dilemma. That’s when an angel and a devil version of that character would appear on...
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The Tug of War on Your Hero

Every story is about emotional change based on your story’s theme. The hero starts out in a dead-end life and by the end, changes into...
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“The Kid Who Would Be King”

Watch great movies and you can learn how to craft compelling stories. Likewise, watch bad or mediocre movies and study why they don’t work. One...
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The Story is More Than Its Plot

When James Cameron was filming “Titanic,” a friend of mine worked as an extra, playing one of the corpses floating in the water at the...
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Telling a Complete Story

Even the best stories often don’t find an audience while far weaker stories make millions. Yet one way to improve a screenplays chances of turning...
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