Always keep your ideal reader close by in your mind asking "Why?" Our subconscious is perfectly designed for this process. It already knows the story. Our only job is to remain curious and inquire …
Dilemma
Why Writers Get Stuck
Einstein says, “You cannot solve a problem at the same level of consciousness that created the problem.” Writers often get stuck because they believe it’s their job to figure out a solution to …
Outlining: The Dramatic Question
Your characters are a function of the plot, archetypes that constellate around the dramatic question. Story is essentially an argument with the dramatic question being the thesis statement we are …
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 story, it’s important to understand that you are an artist and you …
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 in your story? There are two ingredients: A powerful desire A false …
Make it Dramatic
“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.” - Alfred Hitchcock Story moves as the result of complications that arise, not out of plot, but out of character and theme. As our protagonist attempts …
Everything You Need to Know is Within
"If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act." - Billy Wilder The purpose of story is to reveal a transformation. This shift in perception means a sort of death …
Shedding the Idea for Truth in Writing
It’s not just first-time novelists or screenwriters that struggle with getting their story from the imagination to the page. Every writer struggles with this. Here’s the thing: Our idea of our …
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, a joke somebody tells, a billboard that I see. It all becomes grist for …
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. This is due, at least in part, to story structure being taught by story analysts as a …