Every story is about contrasts. Things must go up and down to hold our interest and create suspense, otherwise a story will feel flat and uninteresting. Take any story and focus only on its two parts: the beginning and the ending. In the beginning of every story, the hero is stuck in a dead-end existence. […]

Almost every screenwriting book tells you how to plot your hero’s goal from start to finish. However, almost no screenwriting books teach you how to plot your villain’s goal, which is just as important as your hero’s goal. Every hero needs a goal. That goal must be something difficult that forces the hero to change […]

If you solely focus on the plot from the hero’s point of view, you risk creating cardboard villains to battle the hero. A better approach is to plot your hero’s story and then also plot your villain’s story. Your story is all about your hero, but your hero can’t exist without a villain. Therefore, your […]

Both your hero and your villain needs a goal. Here are the variations for how you can get your hero and villain to create maximum conflict. The typical story is about a hero who wants something and a villain who keeps getting in his way. In “Rocky,” Rocky wants to prove that he’s not a […]

Ask yourself “What If?” to create an interesting story. Then ask yourself, “So what?” Before you start writing, you need to outline your story to make sure you have an interesting story to tell in the first place. You can do that by asking “What if?” Asking “What if?” helps you identify an interesting story. […]

Here’s one quick way to define your story. Every hero must change so focus on defining what those changes might be and how to get your hero from point A to point B. Every hero changes through the journey. If you look at bad sequels, they suck because the hero doesn’t change and just acts […]