Why Do We Laugh? The Nature of Comedy
What is funny, and how do you make it funny? It’s often said that you can’t explain comedy. Or teach it. If you’ve got the [...]
Sequences: How They Work
Make your story more cinematic by thinking and writing in sequences, not scenes. These notes refer to the document Sample Sequences, which was written to illustrate various aspects [...]
Sequences: How They Work, part 2
More about how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences. Behind, Beside or Ahead By sequence X we are well into the story, and as you’d expect, we [...]
Sequences: How They Work, part 3
More about how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences. Variations in Point of View Unlike a typical novel, cinema can treat point of view quite fluidly. Sequences [...]
Sequences: How They Work. Final.
Wrapping up how sequences work, referring to Sample Sequences. Stakes: Tension and Release Across the journey of each sequence you are trying to raise the stakes [...]
A Conflict Layer Cake: worked EXAMPLE
Applying the principles in A Conflict Layer Cake to a single story, building dramatic tension and creating meaning through stacked, escalating conflicts. In an oppressive society, [...]
Creating Meaning through Subplots
Take the question you discovered through Duelling Aphorisms and Double-Sided Questions, and use subplots to turn the answer into a story, not a lecture. The Second [...]
The ‘So…, But…’ Chain
A simple, incisive, scalable test of your story logic. Causality and Meaning Story logic is crucial to understanding character. Story logic is built on causality [...]
‘Just,’ the word that steals power.
Watch out for ‘just ’in your work, in how you think about your work, and in how you discuss your work. It punctures everything. [...]
But What if my Mother Found Out?
For stories with depth, don’t keep your character’s choices within your personal fences. Dodge the inner censor. We all have an inner censor—the voice that [...]
