Story Structure

Showing 361 - 370 of 1516 results

Increasing the Tension and Suspense in a Scene

February 13, 2021

Here’s the wrong way to look at writing a scene. Slap together a handful of exciting scenes and then spend the rest of your screenplay...

Shatter Each Character’s Expectations in Every Scene

February 10, 2021

Far too many novices write scenes that simply convey information. This is boring. Audiences (and readers) don’t want exposition. They want something that grabs their...

Don’t Tell a Story, Be Interesting Instead

February 7, 2021

Here’s the number one mistake novices make in writing a screenplay. They fill their script with lots of scenes that serve no purpose other than...

The “Catch” In Act IIa is Irony

February 4, 2021

When in doubt, rely on irony to spice up your story. In “Titanic,” there’s irony that a woman feeling suicidal is stuck on the Titanic,...

Understand the Purpose of a Scene

February 1, 2021

When writing any scene, ask yourself three questions: Why today? Why this person? Why this location? In the opening scene of “The Matrix,” there’s a...

Defining the Importance of Your Scenes

January 29, 2021

The purpose of every scene is to advance the story. A second and equally important purpose is to reveal something about a character. This revelation...

Kurt Vonnegut’s Story Tips (Applied to Screenwriting)

January 26, 2021

Kurt Vonnegut wrote several popular books including “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle.” Before he wrote novels, he wrote short stories. Since he studied stories most of...

Find the “Fun” in Your Story

January 23, 2021

Read many screenplays (even by experienced screenwriters) and you’ll often run into scenes that serve no other purpose than to introduce information either background exposition...

Why Characters Never Go to the Bathroom (Or Manipulating Time in Your Screenplay)

January 20, 2021

You rarely see characters in TV shows or movies going to the bathroom. That’s because that action is irrelevant. If an action has no affect...

Make the Audience Feel Emotions in Every Scene

January 17, 2021

Scenes represent the building block of your story. Although the purpose of every scene is to advance the story, a secondary purpose of every scene...

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.