Imagine a screenplay without a single word of dialogue. Imagine further that screenplay telling a story so complete and compelling that it conjured up feelings of empathy and pathos that were so emotional as to keep the audience glued to the edge of their collective seats. Take it one more step and imagine that screenplay producing …
Category: Structure
Act II to Act III Transition
I have been reading a lot of scripts lately where the writer struggles with the transition between Act II and Act III. I can relate, because when I first started writing, I had no idea how to handle that transition. The transition between Act I and Act II is easy. It’s where the adventure begins, …
Story Structure In Your Screenplay and The Hero’s Journey
The Hero’s Journey is an Excellent Tool for Structuring the Story of Your Screenplay For all those screenwriters struggling with story structure, I like to suggest using the Hero’s Journey as an outline and determining where your hero is in the story at each of the Journey’s twelve stages. Looking at a diagram of the …
The Real Purpose of Story Structure
I have been reading a lot of scripts lately that have a lot of depth but not the kind of depth you want in a screenplay. They have depths of problems that are all interrelated. They have decent plots, but the stories lack structure. They have likable characters but haven’t given them clear goals. These …
Story Structure and the Hero
I have talked to many screenwriters over the years who lament the idea of the 3-act structure and the supposed restrictions it places on writers and the screenwriting process. This is a simplistic view of what story structure really is. There is a reason that the 3-act structure (really 4-act structure) has become the industry …
How Dead Poets Society Stuck the Landing
In gymnastics they like to say, “Stick the landing.” That’s because a flawless Olympic routine can be ruined by a last-second stumble. No one will ever talk about the amazing feats of athleticism and dexterity that preceded it. All that will be remembered was that a 9.8 turned into an 8.1 because the gymnast couldn’t …
Screenplay Analysis: Green Book
I know I’ve been obsessing over Green Book lately. I wrote my thoughts here on Green Book winning Best Picture, but it should also be noted that it won Best Original Screenplay, and I thought that a brief breakdown of the script was in order. What was special about this script? What did it do …
4-Act Structure: Screenwriting’s Dirty Little Secret
I’m going to give you some hard truths about story structure, and try to impress upon you that, while everything you’ve ever been told about story structure is not necessarily wrong, there is a different way to look at story structure that makes sense both from a macro and a micro point of view. If …
Dramatic Structure: Four Reasons Why It’s Important
Anyone who has spent any time around my blog knows that I am an advocate for proper dramatic structure in a screenplay. This is especially true if you’re an unknown talent trying to break into the industry. Agents and executives are going to first want to know that you know the rules before they’ll trust …
The Difference Between Plot and Story
Plot is what happens. The story makes us care. That’s what I wrote on coverage for a script that I read last week. This particular script was fairly well-structured with the act breaks happening relatively close to where they should. It had plenty of conflict between characters whose goals where well-defined. It also had a …