Story Structure

Showing 711 - 720 of 1516 results

Change a Relationship in a Scene

November 12, 2017

Every scene must be interesting and hold the audience’s attention. Any scene that fails to do so simply hurts the overall screenplay. One way to...

Forcing the Hero to Change From Two Directions

November 9, 2017

The purpose of the villain and mentor is to change the hero. The mentor offers positive lessons to help the hero learn a different way...

Plot vs. Relationship

November 6, 2017

Every story has a plot. The plot basically defines what happens to a character such as the hero. However, what’s far more important is who...

Create a Relationship Triangle

November 2, 2017

What really creates added tension and suspense isn’t more violence, sex, or special effects, but relationship triangles. This occurs when two people want something from...

Structuring a Scene for Maximum Interest

October 28, 2017

Pick out every important scene in a good movie and there’s always an initial anticipation by one of the characters of what’s supposed to happen....

The Main Character as the Mentor

October 25, 2017

In most stories, the main character is the hero who changes. However, in rare cases, the main character is actually the mentor who doesn’t change...

Conflict Stems From the Hero’s Reluctance

October 22, 2017

In every good movie, the hero changes emotionally. That means the hero starts out in a dead end life and winds up in a better...

The What and How of the Villain

October 19, 2017

The hero must battle a villain. Sometimes that villain can be a force of nature but in most cases, it’s best to have a human...

Creating an Emotional Change

October 16, 2017

The best stories show the hero’s emotional change from a dead end life to a happier, more promising life because the hero changed. To create...

Up the Stakes Halfway Through the Story

October 13, 2017

The way stories sometimes run out of steam is when nothing new happens once a problem appears. For example, in “Spiderman: Homecoming,” the problem isn’t...

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.