A story should feel like an emotional roller coaster that takes audiences up and down. A story without these ups and downs will simply feel flat. Flat stories lead to dull movies. Every movie is about ups and downs of the main character’s fate. In the beginning of every movie, the hero is in a […]
“Clash of the Titans” is one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters, having surpassed the all-important $100 million mark. Financial, it’s a hit, but story wise, it’s a crushing failure. There’s an old saying among writers that you show, don’t tell. That means you show characters interacting to tell a story, rather than just have characters […]
Every story (and every sequence in a story) consists of four basic parts. Ignore these four parts and you risk creating a dull, flat, and boring story. The four basic parts of any story are this: Attention Grabber — Grab the audience’s attention with an opener that rivets the audience to their seats and makes […]
Without conflict, there is no drama. Without drama, there is no story. Without a story, you have an interesting anecdote, but nothing substantial enough to captivate an audience. Obstacles form the basis of drama. Every story is about a hero struggling to overcome obstacles in his(or her) quest to achieve a goal. Of course, not […]
The typical three-Act structure of a screenplay makes sense — right up until you try to write your own screenplay. Since Act II represents the biggest chunk, here’s an idea initially. Just skip it. The three-Act structure of a screenplay makes sense theoretically, but is much harder to put into practice in the real world. […]
By using the classic three Act structure to plan your story, you can clearly see what your hero’s goal is (Act I), how your hero achieves that goal Act III), and more importantly, how the hero changes to be capable of achieving that goal (Act II). Too many people get a good idea for a […]