Story Structure

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The Real Story vs. the Physical Story

September 14, 2018

Every story consists of two parts. First, there’s the visual, physical story that captures everyone’s attention such as “a man must fight against an army...

Every Story is About Fixing the Past

September 11, 2018

Every story is about the past and fixing the problems of that past, even if we don’t see that past. In “Rocky,” Rocky has a...

Make Sure Only the Hero (or Villain) Can Win

September 8, 2018

The whole purpose of a story is to see who wins in the end, the hero or the villain. That’s why it’s crucial for the...

The Importance of the Setup

September 5, 2018

Every story needs its information set up ahead of time before being used. This set up prepares the audience for what’s about to come. For...

Three Ways to Start a Story

September 2, 2018

There are typically three ways to start a story: Show the hero Show the villain Show an earlier scene that somehow starts the story that...

Start with a Theme

August 30, 2018

There’s a saying that people often can’t see the forest for the trees. This means focusing too much on details that you can’t see the...

Theme Defines Structure

August 27, 2018

There’s a huge difference between a good movie and a bad one. In a good movie, all the parts work together. In a bad movie,...

Story Structure is the Key

August 22, 2018

Here’s how Hollywood thinks they can make a movie better: Add more special effects Hire more A-list stars Hire a “hot” director Hire more writers...

Show the Hero’s Fate

August 19, 2018

In every story, the hero has something at stake and the story is about whether the hero will succeed or not. In most cases, we...

Repetition to Keep Upping the Stakes

August 13, 2018

In a good song, the melody gets repeated multiple times in different ways. Stories are similar. Study any good movie and you’ll find that it...

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.