Many of you have asked how effective the elements of my 6 Stage approach to plot structure are when applied to one-hour dramatic television series. Even though an episodic series… read more →
Hollywood movies are simple. Though writing a successful Hollywood movie is certainly not easy, the stories for mainstream Hollywood films are all built on only three basic components: character, desire… read more →
The term ‘Story Structure’ simply refers to the sequence of events in a story. A writer’s or filmmaker’s goal has to be to create an emotional experience for the reader… read more →
Structure is something that every agent, editor, publisher, Hollywood executive, public speaker, marketer and story teller talks about, to the point that it can seem complicated, intricate, mysterious and hard… read more →
Romantic comedies – especially Hollywood Romantic comedies – are among the most formulaic of genres, with elements that have consistently contributed to these scripts’ and films’ success. Among other things,… read more →
Many of you – both novelists and screenwriters – have asked about adapting novels (either your own or those by other authors) into screenplays. So here are my best suggestions… read more →
All film making, and all storytelling, has one primary objective: to elicit emotion in the audience. This objective is achieved with only three basic elements, which form the foundation of… read more →
Fiction writers must realize that much of what makes a novel great is by definition eliminated from the movie: writing style; interior thoughts of the characters; narration. Small elements of… read more →
Many fiction writers, at one point or another, consider adapting their own work into film. Because both novelists and screenwriters use characters to tell fictional stories, and since both wish… read more →
One of the biggest mistakes screenwriters make is giving too little importance to commercial appeal of their story. Before putting words on the page, a writer should always ask, “Is… read more →
