Story Structure

Showing 1181 - 1190 of 1516 results

Slowly Reveal a Mystery

November 4, 2013

One of the best ways to build suspense and anticipation is to create a mystery, and one of the best ways to create a mystery...

Protecting Loved Ones

November 3, 2013

Initially, every hero starts out with selfish reasons. Then he or she eventually learns to like and understand others. Finally in the end, the hero...

The Three Stages of the Hero

October 29, 2013

Your hero is always trying to solve problems, but those problems typically go through three distinct stages. First, the hero makes a decision to pursue...

The Fate of the Mentor

October 27, 2013

Every hero needs a mentor to teach him or her how to change. Sometimes the mentor dies before the end of the story like Obi-wan...

Always an Underdog

October 24, 2013

It doesn’t matter how strong your hero might be, he or she always needs to be the underdog. In “Iron Man 3,” Tony Stark has...

Causality

October 21, 2013

Watch a bad movie and no matter how many car crashes or explosions you see, the movie can still be boring. Compare the chase scene...

Events vs. Stories

October 20, 2013

One of the most common screenwriting mistakes is that a screenwriter will come up with a handful of action packed scenes, and then the bulk...

Writing the Beginning

October 18, 2013

The beginning of your story needs to grab the audience right away and let them know what type of story you’re telling. Two common ways...

“Harold and Maude”

October 17, 2013

Like many comedies,” Harold and Maude” doesn’t necessarily have a single, all powerful villain like Darth Vader in “Star Wars” or Hans the terrorist leader...

Keeping Superpowers in Check

October 12, 2013

Every hero has a certain, useful skill. However, there must be limitations to that skill. If that skill can get the hero out of trouble...

About Wallace Wang

First place winner in Scriptapalooza’s 2023 screenwriting competition for the supernatural horror screenplay titled “Nightmares From a Past Life”. Author of “The 15 Minute Movie Method”, “Story Starter”, and “Writing Scenes for Screenplays” in addition to over 50 computer books. Writer of “Three of a Kind”, a situation comedy produced by San Diego State University’s film class that won a student Emmy award. Designer of the board game “Orbit War”, published by Steve Jackson Games, that simulates satellite warfare in the near future.