If you’ve always wanted to write a screenplay or a novel, you may be wondering, “What makes a great story?” It’s not just interesting characters, memorable dialogue, or explosive action scenes. What makes a great screenplay (or novel) is a great story
Every great story, from classic novels and stage plays to today’s modern films, follow the same basic, proven story structure that alternates between contrasting problems and solutions to maintain and maximize suspense.
In the traditional three Act structure, a story looks like this:
- Act I — Exposition
- Act II — Rising Action
- Act III — Climax
Act I and Act III are roughly the same length (corresponding to a 30-minute length in a 120-minute screenplay), but Act II is typically twice as long as either Act I or Act III. The result is that the traditional three Act structure sets you up for failure by forcing you to write a huge chunk of your story without any guidelines whatsoever.
In contrast, a four Act structure makes each Act manageable while also providing the necessary contrast to create a compelling story. Stories are interesting and suspenseful because they alternate between problems facing the hero followed by solutions that the hero achieves. In the four Act structure, a story looks like this:
- Act I — Exposition
- Act IIa — Positive Rising Action
- Act IIb — Negative Rising Action
- Act III — Climax
Another way to look at this four part story structure is as follows:
- Act I — Problem facing the hero
- Act IIa — Hero appears to achieve initial success
- Act IIb — New problems occur
- Act III — Hero finally solves the problem
Let’s look at how this four part story structure works in “Star Wars”:
- Act I — (Problem) Luke is stuck in a dead end life on his uncle’s farm
- Act IIa — (Solution) Luke leaves with Obi-wan to deliver the stolen Death Star plans
- Act IIb — (Problem) Luke gets trapped on the Death Star
- Act III — (Solution) Luke blows up the Death Star
The four Act structure clearly lets you tell a story with alternating problems and solutions, which is how you generate suspense to keep an audience glued to the edge of their seats.
Notice that with Act IIa, the action continues to rise, but in a positive direction. Yet in Act IIb, the action also continues to rise, but in a negative direction. This subtle difference is what the typical three Act structure fails to identify, which is why the three Act structure so easily misleads writers to create less than compelling stories.
Once you understand how this four part story structure works, you can use it as a guide to help shape your story into a well-crafted screenplay.
“The 15-Minute Movie Method” isn’t a formula for writing a story, but a set of guidelines that you can test for yourself with your own favorite movies. By following “The 15-Minute Movie Method” guidelines, you can learn how to structure your screenplay to tell a compelling, intriguing story with any idea.
You’ll learn the four basic parts of any story, how to divide your screenplay into eight, 15-minute segments that each tell a mini-story, what type of information each story segment needs to show the audience, how the beginning and end of your story is related, how to create the toughest villain for your particular hero, who the most important character of your story really is (Hint: it’s not your hero), and much more with specific exercises that anyone can follow whether you’re a novice trying to write a first screenplay or a veteran screenwriter who needs to know how to fix problems with an existing screenplay.
More importantly, you’ll learn the importance of theme and how and why to make your character change emotionally based on a lesson learned from a mentor that leads to the hero facing facts about his life, then experiencing a moment of revelation before finally defeating the villain through the mentor’s lesson. If your stories feel flat or dull, chances are good you’re missing the emotional spark that will help your audience bond with your hero.
By taking you step-by-step through the process of story creation, “The 15-Minute Movie Method” can help anyone write a screenplay with less hassle, frustration, and confusion so you can spend more time actually writing and enjoying the process of creating a story to share with the world.
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Once you learn how to structure a story, you still need to write the individual scenes that make up your screenplay. Where many screenwriters fail is when they can’t turn their great story ideas into a great screenplay. The secret is knowing how to write great scenes.
Scenes represent the building block of every story. Each scene must tell a mini-story of its own with an intriguing opening, a clear definition of a problem, a hero and villain with goals of their own that clash, and a cliffhanger that links each scene smoothly into the next. In addition, scenes need to include foreshadowing that further links each scene to a future scene. By connecting scenes through foreshadowing and cliffhangers, no scene should be an isolated entity. Instead, each scene should pull an audience’s attention smoothly from one scene to the next until the entire story gets told. The result should feel like an effortless and compelling story that captives and holds an audience’s attention from beginning to end.
To create a great story, you need to write great scenes. It’s as simple as that.
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There are an infinite number of stories told every year through movies, TV shows, novels, short stories, and plays. No matter what form a story may take (as a novel, play, or movie) creating a story is less about telling an original story and more about telling a familiar story in an original way.
To tell a story in an original way, you must first understand what a story is. Everybody knows a good story when they see, read, or hear one, but how can you create a good story from scratch? The answer lies in story structure.
Story structure defines how a story works. Although a play like “Romeo and Juliet” may seem to have little in common with a novel like “Tom Sawyer” or a movie like “The Godfather,” they all follow the same story structure, which consists of four parts.
First, a story has to get your attention. Think of a children’s story that begins with “Once upon a time…” Right away, we want to know what the story is about, so we might hear “Once upon a time, there was a young man…” Now that we know who the story is about, we want to know why we should care about this man, so we might now hear “Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess…”
Now we know who the story is about and what our hero wants. Is this a story? Not yet because all we know is that we have a young man who wants a princess. However, we can continue like this: “Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm.”
Notice that as we add more details, we’re answering questions about what our story is about as well as creating interest for why the audience might want to hear how the story ends up. Our story is about a young man, he loves a princess, and now we immediately see his obstacle. He’s too poor to ever win the heart of a princess. This is the beginning of a story, but we need to start the story moving. Right now, there’s no possible way for our hero to win the hand of the princess, so we need to create an opening such as:
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest.”
Now our hero has an opportunity to achieve his goal. What if we stopped right there, would we have a story? Not yet because whatever quest the hero must achieve, there’s little suspense on whether the hero will succeed or not. To create more suspense, we need to start throwing obstacles in his path and the biggest obstacle you can throw in any hero’s path is a villain, who is someone who wants exactly what the hero wants.
Notice how the story is slowly taking shape. First, we identified a hero, a goal, and a problem. Next, we created an opening for our hero to achieve his or her goal. Now we’re creating suspense by creating a villain who wants exactly what the hero wants.
Every story’s villain has to be someone who we definitely don’t want to win. If the villain is a nice guy, then we won’t care if the hero wins or loses. However, if the villain is a bad guy, then we definitely have an emotional stake in seeing the villain lose and the hero win. We’ve just created suspense by giving the hero a goal that has a villain who also wants to achieve that same goal. If the villain wins, the hero loses. It’s that simple. Now our story looks like this:
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom.”
Not only have we just introduced a villain and made him someone we don’t want to win, but we’ve also given the villain a goal that if he succeeds, will spell doom for the hero and other people as well. See how the suspense is starting to ratchet up? If the hero loses, not only will he suffer, but other people will suffer horrendous consequences as well. Now we really have a stake in hoping that the villain won’t win.
Is it believable that a poor serf can defeat a knight in a quest? Maybe, but not likely. To make our story more believable, our hero needs allies who can help by teaching our hero something new or giving our hero tools or skills that he’ll need to succeed. Now our story is starting to sound more believable.
Armed with desire, a goal, and some allies, our hero is all set to venture out in the world to achieve his or her goal. Does our story end there? Not yet because if our hero ventures out, completes the quest, and comes back to win the hand of the princess, we don’t have any suspense. What we want to see is our hero venturing out, gradually learning and applying new skills, and then achieving minor successes. We don’t want our hero to achieve his or her goal just yet. We do want to see our hero succeeding in his quest to achieve his or her goal. Now our story looks like this:
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain.”
By killing off the other competitors, we can see how cruel the villain really is and how he cheats to get what he wants, which turns us against the villain. Although the hero encountered some obstacles and overcame them, the villain still exists and now the villain starts targeting the hero directly. See how our story has evolved from a simple “Once upon a time” beginning?
Initially, we’ve seen our hero succeed, but we don’t want to see success all the time because where would the fun and suspense be in that? After seeing our hero succeed, we want to see him struggle because this will make us root all the more for the hero.
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain. To eliminate the hero, the villain sets a trap and tricks the hero into a cave that he seals up. Now as the villain rushes off to complete the quest, the hero is left to die alone in a cave with no possible chance of escape.”
Earlier we saw our hero succeeding. Suddenly, we see the villain succeeding and getting away with it. Our hero’s chances look absolutely hopeless at this point, which is exactly what we want because we don’t want to see our hero winning all the time. The hero gets motivated to escape and take on the villain for the final battle that we’re just aching to see.
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain. To eliminate the hero, the villain sets a trap and tricks the hero into a cave that he seals up. Now as the villain rushes off to complete the quest, the hero is left to die alone in a cave with no possible chance of escape. As the villain completes the quest and heads back to claim the princess’s hand in the kingdom, our hero finds a way to escape and pursues the villain.”
At this point, we don’t want our hero to meet and defeat the villain too soon, but we still want revenge. This is the point where the hero starts defeating the villain’s allies. This lets us see the hero winning while also letting us still wonder if the hero can defeat the villain.
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain. To eliminate the hero, the villain sets a trap and tricks the hero into a cave that he seals up. Now as the villain rushes off to complete the quest, the hero is left to die alone in a cave with no possible chance of escape. As the villain completes the quest and heads back to claim the princess’s hand in the kingdom, our hero finds a way to escape and pursues the villain. To keep the hero from catching him, the villain sends his henchmen to stop the hero and kill him. First, there’s an assassin, who the hero manages to defeat. Next, there’s an army of ogres that block the hero’s path and try to capture and kill him. After the hero manages to evade the ogres, the villain sends a fire-breathing dragon to kill the hero.”
As the hero gets closer to the villain, notice that the obstacles get progressively tougher? At this point, we’re left wondering if the hero can get past these obstacles and finally catch the villain. Naturally, the hero does so and finally meets the villain face to face for the final confrontation.
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain. To eliminate the hero, the villain sets a trap and tricks the hero into a cave that he seals up. Now as the villain rushes off to complete the quest, the hero is left to die alone in a cave with no possible chance of escape. As the villain completes the quest and heads back to claim the princess’s hand in the kingdom, our hero finds a way to escape and pursues the villain. To keep the hero from catching him, the villain sends his henchmen to stop the hero and kill him. First, there’s an assassin, who the hero manages to defeat. Next, there’s an army of ogres that block the hero’s path and try to capture and kill him. After the hero manages to evade the ogres, the villain sends a fire-breathing dragon to kill the hero. The hero manages to kill the dragon and rush back to the kingdom to warn the king of the knight’s treachery, but he’s too late. The knight has already returned and is about to marry the princess in a castle heavily guarded by soldiers.”
The end of the story has to keep throwing bigger and bigger obstacles in our hero’s way so we keep thinking there’s no possible way he can succeed, but that keeps us wondering what will happen next?
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain. To eliminate the hero, the villain sets a trap and tricks the hero into a cave that he seals up. Now as the villain rushes off to complete the quest, the hero is left to die alone in a cave with no possible chance of escape. As the villain completes the quest and heads back to claim the princess’s hand in the kingdom, our hero finds a way to escape and pursues the villain. To keep the hero from catching him, the villain sends his henchmen to stop the hero and kill him. First, there’s an assassin, who the hero manages to defeat. Next, there’s an army of ogres that block the hero’s path and try to capture and kill him. After the hero manages to evade the ogres, the villain sends a fire-breathing dragon to kill the hero. The hero manages to kill the dragon and rush back to the kingdom to warn the king of the knight’s treachery, but he’s too late. The knight has already returned and is about to marry the princess in a castle heavily guarded by soldiers. After sneaking past the soldiers, the hero manages to interrupt the wedding just in time to reveal that the knight didn’t actually complete the quest. Instead, the hero reveals that when he was trapped in the cave that the villain sealed him in, he found the true quest and now he’s the rightful groom for the princess. Stunned by this revelation of his dishonesty, the knight now tries to kill the hero.”
The hero has to face the villain and they must fight. This is the scene we’ve all been waiting for since the beginning. We’ve seen how bad the villain is and how powerful he is. Now we want to see the hero kick the villain’s butt and win for good.
“Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a princess. However, he was a poor serf who worked on his father’s farm. One day, the king announced that he would give the hand of the princess to the man he deemed most worthy by proving himself in a quest. A dishonest and cruel knight soon took up the challenge and claimed that he would win the hand of the princess. However, he only wants to win the hand of the princess so he can murder the real king and take over his kingdom. As the hero begins the quest, the villain cheats by killing off other competitors. However, our hero is spared through his own skill and becomes the only one left pursuing the quest along with the villain. To eliminate the hero, the villain sets a trap and tricks the hero into a cave that he seals up. Now as the villain rushes off to complete the quest, the hero is left to die alone in a cave with no possible chance of escape. As the villain completes the quest and heads back to claim the princess’s hand in the kingdom, our hero finds a way to escape and pursues the villain. To keep the hero from catching him, the villain sends his henchmen to stop the hero and kill him. First, there’s an assassin, who the hero manages to defeat. Next, there’s an army of ogres that block the hero’s path and try to capture and kill him. After the hero manages to evade the ogres, the villain sends a fire-breathing dragon to kill the hero. The hero manages to kill the dragon and rush back to the kingdom to warn the king of the knight’s treachery, but he’s too late. The knight has already returned and is about to marry the princess in a castle heavily guarded by soldiers. After sneaking past the soldiers, the hero manages to interrupt the wedding just in time to reveal that the knight didn’t actually complete the quest. Instead, the hero reveals that when he was trapped in the cave that the villain sealed him in, he found the true quest and now he’s the rightful groom for the princess. Stunned by this revelation of his dishonesty, the knight now tries to kill the hero. Using his new skills that he learned through the quest, the hero just barely has enough skill to avoid getting wiped out by the villain. The villain’s skill is still superior that he forces the hero to the brink of defeat. Suddenly, the hero uses a skill that he learned on the quest to defeat the villain once and for all. The hero kills the knight, wins the hand of the princess, saves the king from being murdered, saves his people from being oppressed under the villain knight’s rule, and they lived happily ever after.”
That’s a story, and it involved following the same four-part story structure that every good story follows:
- Part I — Tell us what the story is about, what the hero wants, what’s stopping him, and who’s the villain
- Part II — Show us the hero learning new skills, show him succeeding, and give us a reason to see the villain’s treachery
- Part III — Show the hero starting to struggle as the villain appears to win and the hero’s quest seems all but lost as we learn the consequences if the villain wins
- Part IV — Let us see the hero fighting the villain so we can see who wins and who loses
This four-part structure is what every story follows whether it’s a children’s story, a horror movie, or a spy novel. Once you understand this basic four-part story structure, you can start creating stories that will capture, hold, and satisfy an audience. If you fail to use this four-part story structure won’t satisfy an audience.
Part I lets us know what the story is about. Part II makes us happy watching the hero initially succeed and learn new skills. Part III shows the hero struggling to provide greater contrast to the hero’s ultimate victory. Part IV shows us the hero’s final confrontation with the villain.
This four-part structure tells you how to construct a story. Now it’s up to you to actually fill in the details with your own imagination so you can tell a story in a way that only you can tell it. When creating your own story, whether for a screenplay, stage play, novel, or short story, use this four-part story structure as a frame to define the direction of your story. Then you can focus on creating your story in greater detail using the15 Minute Movie Method of dividing a story into eight (8) segments that fits within this four-part story structure.
In the 15 Minute Movie Method, screenplays are divided into four 30-minute Acts as follows:
- Act I — Exposition
- Act IIa — Positive Rising Action
- Act IIb — Negative Rising Action shows the hero struggling against the villain. This is the part that contrasts with Act IIa and Act III by dragging us down and making us doubt that the hero can possibly succeed.
- Act III — Climactic battle shows us the hero finally confronting the villain face to face.
Within each Act are two 15-minute segments that tell mini-stories. Each mini-story segment ends with a cliffhanger that pulls us into the next mini-story. By following the four-part story structure within each Act and segment, each part of your screenplay will grab an audience’s attention and pull them along to the next part of your story until the end.
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