In many movies, there’s a single main villain with an army of henchmen who constantly attack and threaten the hero. Think of any James Bond movie, “Star Wars”, or “Die Hard” and you can see this single villain story structure in action. When you have a single, all-powerful villain, the hero must react and stop […]
In Act I, the story begins. In Act III, the hero fights the villain in the final battle where only one can emerge triumphant. However, the bulk of any story occurs in Act II, which is usually the hardest part to write because it takes up half the story. So the key to writing a […]
When most people come up with an idea for a story, they usually focus on the characters, the plot, or the action that occurs in a single scene. All of this can be a great place to start, but a story is not about the characters, the plot, the action, or the setting. This is […]
Why did “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” flop at the box office? Part of the reason is that it’s not a very good movie. The special effects, stunts, and action is visually interesting, but part of the problem lies in the fact that the movie spends half the time focusing on Furiosa as a little […]
Every tory is about change where the hero starts as one type of person and by the end of the story, changes into a different, hopefully better person. When the hero never struggles to change, you don’t have a story. You just have lots of action, special effects, and A-list stars running around on a […]
In every good story, your hero changes. In most cases, your hero starts off as a timid, uncertain person who gradually gains confidence in themselves to achieve a major goal. Humble heroes appear in the following movies: Humble heroes eventually learn new skills and gradually gain confidence as they enter a new world and put […]
When you have an idea for a story, you never know the complete story. Instead, you often have a single scene or individual action that has captured your attention. Now the trick is expanding your single idea into a full-length screenplay. The wrong way to do this is to start with an idea and immediately […]
The opening scene is the most crucial scene because it’s the first impression an audience has with your story. Although the audience may not be aware of it, the opening scene summarizes the main conflict for the entire story. Think of the opening scene to “Star Wars” where Darth Vader’s massive starship chases and captures […]
Screenwriting classes almost always focus on great movies for students to study. While this can show students what makes a movie great, sometimes it’s easier to learn by watching lousy movies instead. Since Hollywood keeps making lousy movies, you’ll never run out of learning materials. When watching lousy movies, just realize that you don’t have […]
Comedy can be one of the hardest genres to write because you must consistently keep an audience laughing. That’s why most comedies are only 90 minutes long because keeping the laughs going for two hours is extremely difficult. When creating a comedy, the first rule is that characters are funniest when they’re being the most […]