In the first half of any story, the hero gradually starts getting a better life. Then at the midpoint of the story, everything shifts. Suddenly the villain is on the verge of success while the hero’s life starts falling apart. The entire structure of a story can be divided into four Acts: The beginning of […]
Every story consists of two halves. In the first half, the hero’s life starts out in a dead end and gradually gets better. The peak of the hero’s life occurs at the midpoint of the story. Immediately after the midpoint, life starts getting worse for the hero while getting better for the villain. However, this […]
The place where a scene occurs should always be special. Generic settings simply fade into the background. Unique places make the characters’ actions even more interesting. If a scene occurs in a diner, don’t make it an ordinary diner. Make it a seedy diner, an upscale diner, or an old fashion diner. Then force the […]
The best way to grab attention is to start with a problem. As soon as you start with a problem, then audiences will want to know how the characters in the story will solve that problem. Problems grab and hold attention so you can tell a story. Watch “The Matrix” and you’ll see that the […]
When plotting the hero’s story, you can outline the entire story in two halves that show how the hero gradually changes. In a two hour movie, the first half of a story runs from the 0 to 60 minute mark and the second half of the story runs from the 60 to 120 minute mark. […]
In most stories, the hero changes over time. In tragedies, the hero gets worse such as in “The Godfather” where the hero initially stays out of the family’s organized crime business until finally in the end, he becomes the new godfather and runs the family’s organized crime business. In most stories with happy endings, the […]
One of the most dramatic moments in any story is the midpoint. The midpoint is where the hero seems to get the greatest moment of success, but since this success doesn’t resolve the hero’s emotional problem or the villain, it creates a False Victory. Then the midpoint reveals the true danger to the hero. In […]
Every story needs a physical problem for the hero to resolve. Physical problems are often external, such as watching the hero fight the villain in a war or sports story. However, the physical problem can be less confrontational such as a love story where the hero must fight to win the person they love. The […]