I'm a big fan of movies -- sci-fi, action-adventure, fantasy, rom-com, comedy -- even the kids movies and series like Ice Age, and Toy Story. I have a decent sized blue-ray and DVD library and it's fun to watch those great movies over and over again. But besides the entertainment value of movies, if you …
Tag: Three Act Structure
Conflict, Tension and Audience Participation
Novel writers can learn a lot about story development from the screenwriting industry. In my previous blog, I dealt with how screenwriters use Story, Plot, Arc and Theme to develop a story. This month I want to look at how screenwriters use Conflict, Tension and Audience Participation to grip an audience. The essential elements of …
Continue reading Conflict, Tension and Audience Participation
Plot points and pinch points
If you are a writer, there's a lot you can learn from the techniques used by scriptwriters in story design. The media are different; but they are both about storytelling. In previous blogs I have discussed the three-act structure, sequences, and the mythic structure. All these approaches use plot points in one way or another. …
Story structure
Recently I started to map out the key scenes for my next novel using a three-act framework. I used a software program that's designed for screenwriters called Control Writer. It uses a horizontal map of the key elements of a three-act structure to put scene cards under each caption in a natural time order pattern …
A Story Blueprint for the Action / Adventure genre
Over the last three blogs I have looked at the five core elements of any story design: The Protagonist's Characterisation The Big Problem or Opportunity that enters their life and acts as the Catalyst for the Central Conflict Opposition - Antagonist forces and obstacles that stand in his/her way A Story World A Satisfying Resolution. …
Continue reading A Story Blueprint for the Action / Adventure genre
Story structure — the big moments of Act One
Story telling, whether you are a novelist or screenwriter, requires an understanding of story dynamics and structure. For some writers, this is ingrained into their DNA: they don't need fancy ideas and concepts for something that comes natural to them. All they need is a story, which starts with a problem that comes into a …
Continue reading Story structure — the big moments of Act One
The Sequence Method
There is a lot a novelist can learn about storytelling from the movie industry. Stories in novels and movies differ only by the nature of the medium through which they are presented. The same story dynamics apply to both mediums. In my previous two blogs I looked at two different variations of the Three-Act Structure …
Story and structure
Having just finished the final edit of my second book, I pondered over whether my workflow had improved from my first book. I have always believed in planning my stories, although for me planning and revision continues throughout the writing process. Part of story planning is story structure. In my view, a good story has to …
The Darkest Moment
Stories are all about conflict and transformation. If the main character in your story can achieve all of his/her desires without any struggle at all, then it wouldn’t be much of a story. It is therefore the job of the writer to make things difficult for the hero/heroine. One writer likened this to getting your …
Story essence
Recently, I purchased “Story trumps structure”, by Steven James. I was attracted to the book by its provocative title and the foreward by Donald Maass, who I much admire. Although the book is mostly a manifesto for organic writing (‘pantsing’), as opposed to plotting and outlining, it is still an excellent read for all types …
JMJ Williamson 