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The Imperative for Dramatic Conflict
A director told me once that if you put two actors together in a scene without directing them or staging the scene,
May 14, 2024
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Story Structure
Most popular posts
A character’s introduction is one of the most important parts of your story. Done well, your reader can make a...
Learning how to write a fight scene isn’t really about choreography. It’s about tension and what’s truly at stake for...
There is no “correct” approach to point of view in literature. Your sole consideration is how you want your reader...
Character questionnaires are designed to help you get to know a character that doesn’t yet exist. You might know the...
Have you ever stared at a blank page and wondered whether your story needed more inspiration or a clearer outline?...
A limited point of view means the story narration stays with one character at a time. Your reader can only...
The climax. This is the moment your reader has been waiting for. They’ve spent hours immersed in your story, falling...
With storytelling, if your reader isn’t engaged within the first few chapters, you run the risk of losing their attention....
What happens after a story’s climactic moment? What comes after the protagonist wins the girl, or defeats the bully, or...
Ever since humans have been able to communicate, we share stories, weaving the tapestry of our shared existence. These stories...
Rising action refers to the series of events that lead from a story’s inciting incident to the climax. In this...
In his book, Poetics, Aristotle laid the foundation for story structure by stating that all stories must have a beginning,...
Memoir
Finding Home
“Home is where one starts from.” – T. S. Eliot There’s nothing more primal than our quest for home. The dilemma is
May 12, 2024
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Blog
Story is an Argument
(Image from “Big” 1988) Story is an argument. The theme (or dramatic question) is the thesis statement, and the story is the
April 23, 2024
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Blog
What Does it Mean?
Everyone has a story. It takes courage to tell it, be it memoir or fiction, because there comes a point where we
February 2, 2024
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Blog
Exploring Your Protagonist’s Dilemma
(Image from The Hunger Games, 2012) “The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and
December 11, 2023
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Blog
Plot versus Theme
Any writer can experience that moment where you suddenly realize that your “idea” of the story isn’t going to get you to
October 20, 2023
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Blog
The Nature of the “Want”
“To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.” – Isaac Newton While exploring the nature of the “want” in your
November 5, 2021
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How Do You Identify the Dilemma in Your Story?
At the heart of every story lies a dilemma from which all tensions and conflicts arise. How do you identify the dilemma
October 15, 2021
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The End of the Story Informs the Beginning
In Steven Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he states: “Begin with the end in mind.” For first-time writers,
June 18, 2021
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Blog
Writing Act Three: Our Hero Accepts the Reality of Their Situation
It can be frightening and exhilarating to realize that our story is bigger than we are, that in fact, it does not
May 21, 2021
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Blog
Story Structure as an Experiential Model
There is a structure to the universe. From the smallest atom to the forces that move the planets, there is a universal
August 7, 2020
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Blog
Story Structure
Story structure is often taught by story analysts as plot, but it is really the DNA of our protagonist’s internal journey to
May 6, 2020
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Blog
The Lens Through Which You See Your Story
“I find that when I am working I become like an antenna, and suddenly everything relates to my screenplay: a mentioned recipe,
March 17, 2020
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Blog
No Dilemma, No Story
One thing that has been coming up a lot in my classes is the tendency for writers to “figure out” their plot.
June 4, 2019
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Blog
Dilemma: The Source of Your Story
At the heart of every story lies a dilemma. It is not a question of whether or not your protagonist has a
January 16, 2019
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Blog
Choice
Why do we write? Why do we spend months, years, even decades engaged in the solitary act of creating a world on
October 30, 2018
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Blog
Reframing Your Protagonist’s Goal
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense
December 12, 2017
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Blog
The Theme of the Story
Shakespearean plays begin with the chorus telling us what we are about to see. They don’t tell us the whole plot
September 18, 2017
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Recent posts
A director told me once that if you put two actors together in a scene without directing them or staging...
“Home is where one starts from.” – T. S. Eliot There’s nothing more primal than our quest for home. The...
(Image from “Big” 1988) Story is an argument. The theme (or dramatic question) is the thesis statement, and the story...
Everyone has a story. It takes courage to tell it, be it memoir or fiction, because there comes a point...
(Image from The Hunger Games, 2012) “The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for...
Any writer can experience that moment where you suddenly realize that your “idea” of the story isn’t going to get...
“To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.” – Isaac Newton While exploring the nature of the “want”...
At the heart of every story lies a dilemma from which all tensions and conflicts arise. How do you identify...
In Steven Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he states: “Begin with the end in mind.” For...
It can be frightening and exhilarating to realize that our story is bigger than we are, that in fact, it...
There is a structure to the universe. From the smallest atom to the forces that move the planets, there is...
Story structure is often taught by story analysts as plot, but it is really the DNA of our protagonist’s internal...
“I find that when I am working I become like an antenna, and suddenly everything relates to my screenplay: a...
One thing that has been coming up a lot in my classes is the tendency for writers to “figure out”...
At the heart of every story lies a dilemma. It is not a question of whether or not your protagonist...
Why do we write? Why do we spend months, years, even decades engaged in the solitary act of creating a...
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful makes...
Shakespearean plays begin with the chorus telling us what we are about to see. They don’t tell us the...