Every story is about a hero who changes. To define why and how the hero changes, you must identify the hero’s haunted past. There are two ways to create a haunted past: The purpose of the haunted past is to create a traumatic event that puts the hero in a dead end life. When the […]
Every story is about how the hero changes. In most cases, the hero changes into a better person but in tragedies, the hero changes into a worse person. In either case, stories must show change. However, no hero changes drastically from one type of person to another. Instead, heroes must change gradually in four stages: […]
Some stories can be exciting just by showing a lot of visual action. Unfortunately, most stories need more than endless amounts of action. With every story idea, ask yourself what’s the point of your story. That point will likely be your theme. Study any James Cameron movie (“Titanic,” “Terminator 2”, “Avatar”, etc.) and you’ll always […]
Every story needs conflict. The purpose of a villain in every story is to provide that conflict. However, if the villain does nothing more than just get in the way of the hero, it creates a one-dimensional villain and a boring story (“Terminator 3”, “The 355,” or “Mortal Engines”). Besides just getting in the way […]
When describing characters, it’s common to describe a character’s appearance such as their face, hair color, or clothes. However, this only creates a superficial image of a character. To dig deeper, read “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You” by Sam Gosling. The basic idea behind “Snoop” is that you can determine a person’s personality […]
Every hero needs to pursue a physical goal. However, that physical goal is never what the hero really wants. Instead, what the hero really needs to achieve is an emotional dream, which the hero may not even be consciously aware of. Think of the reason why people go on diets. Going on a diet is […]
The biggest mistake in writing a screenplay is to write boring scenes. What makes a scene boring is when nothing happens, such as two characters stopping at a gas station to buy water or looking for a parking spot. That type of information can be useful if it’s relevant to the story, but too often, […]
Every story can teach you something new. However, by focusing on specific genres, you can sharpen your storytelling skills in specific ways. Dramas and comedies are best for learning the importance of emotional change. Watch a drama like “Titanic” or a comedy like “The 40-Year Old Virgin” and you’ll see that at their heart, the […]
Every story changes the hero. In the beginning, the hero starts out as one type of person in their own self-created dead-end world. By the end of the story, they’ve changed for better (happy endings) or worse (tragedies). All change comes through emotional change, which is why more action, special effects, and car crashes are […]