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.
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.
Arenas and Finish Lines: AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER
I find it fascinating that Avatar and The Hurt Locker – the two movies that duked it out for the 2009 Best Picture Oscar® – have so many common plot elements.
DESIRE: The Driving Force of All Successful Stories
In other articles I discuss everything from story structure and adaptation to pitching and marketing your story. But here I want to cover something much more basic.
WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? The King’s Speech
Stories are built on a foundation of desire and conflict. To create an emotionally involving and commercially successful screenplay, you must give your hero…
THE #1 QUALITY OF SUCCESSFUL STORYTELLERS
Every successful screenwriter or novelist I know possesses one outstanding quality: tenacity. The difference between working writers and wannabes isn’t talent or age.