All posts that are Essays
Creating the Illusion of Insight
How to write a script that creates the illusion of an inner life through cinematic language and neutral performance. Audiences create subtext when the author [...]
Gold, Silver and Bronze Information
If the key to Audience participation is new information keeping the Active Story Question alive, then how do we judge what to believe? This post refers to ‘Keep [...]
Subtext and Non-sequiturs
Don’t write too logically. Lines and actions that seem illogical often reveal the hidden truth beneath a scene. This analysis refers to a scene from the 1993 movie [...]
Paint your Minor Characters Boldly
Every minor character in your story is the central character in their own story, who just happened to stray into your story Don’t ‘bland’ your secondary [...]
Person and Persona
There is a gap in complex characters between who they are and the character they show. You need to understand both to write them convincingly. Human [...]
Measuring Change through Repetition
Repetition in your story is not a failing; it’s a test. Without it, how can you measure whether anything has really changed? Sometimes Repetition is Powerful [...]
The Anatomy of a Beat
A detailed analysis of what happens inside a single, discrete moment, and how we understand it from outside. Having originally trained as an actor, [...]
