Conflicted Protagonist, Certain Antagonist
Powerful stories about change start with a struggle between a conflicted protagonist and a definite antagonist. The classic Hollywood story about The Triumph of the [...]
Dithering is not an Action
Make your protagonist active, and wrong. Conflicted, But Not Indecisive Your protagonist needs internal conflict—that’s what gives your story psychological and emotional depth. But be [...]
Doing the Wrong Thing for the Right Reason
How do you maintain a strong moral centre in your story without falling into black-hat/white-hat clichés? One way is to have your characters—on both sides of the fence—do the [...]
Maintain the Conflidiction
Conflict is often said to be the essence of drama. But unresolved conflict lasts longer. Don’t Burn all your Fuel at Once Open conflict burns [...]
Don’t Rescue your Characters
When we rescue our characters, we think we’re being kind to the characters, and to the audience, who we hope also love our characters. What we’re actually doing is [...]
Externalise the Last Step
A character’s personal integration, the moment when they finally become whole, is not the end of the story. Until they put the change into action, it’s only theoretical. [...]
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, [...]
