Q&A: KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Q: Having recently completed the first draft of my screenplay, I find the 2nd act is a real drag. The movie is about a person told from three distinct memories.
Kristan Higgins & Michael Hauge Analyze her Best Selling Novel
Award winning author Kristan Higgins joins Michael during his Story Mastery event for the Connecticut chapter of the RWA to discuss her best selling novel The Next Best Thing.
Q&A: Character Arc in THE BOURNE IDENTITY
Q: I can’t identify Jason Bourne’s arc in THE BOURNE IDENTITY. He abhors the realization that he was an assassin working for Treadstone…
MISDEMEANOR: Introducing Characters All At Once
Have you ever been the last to arrive at a party and the host introduces you, one at a time, to everyone there? So how many of those names are you able to remember?
THE KEY TO CHARACTER DESCRIPTION: VIVID, REVEALING DETAILS
Your job as a storyteller is to create IMAGES. This is true not just for screenwriters, but for anyone presenting a story to a reader or an audience.
Q&A: Creating Tension in Your Story
Q: How do you create tension without resorting to action? A: Tension is actually the antithesis of action. Tension is all about creating anticipation.
Q&A: LOVE STORIES AND OUTER MOTIVATION
Q: I’m writing a love story and have already developed the hero’s inner motivation and inner conflict, but I’m worried about her visible goal.
DIALOGUE vs. ACTION: Tell Don’t Show
Writing and storytelling are filled with rules and maxims that are presented as unbreakable commandments – but which should occasionally be challenged.
STORY STRUCTURE: Superior Position, Foreshadowing and Ticking Clocks in AVATAR
James Cameron’s screenplay Avatar is an outstanding example of using many structural tools and devices successfully in one script.
Clothes Make the Girl: WORKING GIRL
Brief, vivid descriptions of the characters and settings in your screenplay, novel or presentation create a vivid movie in the mind of your reader or audience.