Yes, I know—the very word “Synopsis” strikes dread into the heart of a writer. And yes, I know—after the year-or-years long marathon that is writing a book, the very last thing anyone wants to do is come up with a one or three-page synopsis of the 400 pages you’ve...
Now that you have your Index Cards, let’s get them up on a Story Structure Grid! If you haven’t brainstormed on Index Cards yet, that’s your first step: For the second part of the method, you’ll need: A cork board, whiteboard, wall, or a sheet of cardboard, big enough...
Last month we eased into the New Year with some (I hope!) inspirational posts about committing to your writing. Now let’s move on to the nuts and bolts of story structure: the crucial Story Elements that are part of the DNA of any story. This is just as important for...
I’ve decided to drill down on the essential elements of Act Ifor February (with some digressions!). Last week I suggested that everyone would benefit from reviewing the essential elements of whatever Act you’re writing in right now. But how much more fun to do it...
For the New Year I've been focusing on motivational tricks to get you writing again. Next month I'll be covering essential Story Elements from the beginning of Act I. But since people are naturally at different stages of their books and scripts, I thought I'd try a...
So in this New Year, of all my Top Tricks to Get Yourself Writing Again, my Trick #1 is: Fall in Love with Story Structure I’m not ever going to try to talk anyone out of being a pantser! Your process is your process.To...
I know some of you have heard me talk about this movie before. But I have to repeat it. Because there is something that a whole lot of us do this time of year that we can actually turn into an almost miraculous (as it were) 2 1/2 hour session on writing. We sit down...
In Greek mythology, the Hero’s journey into the Underworld is called katabasis. Writers take that journey all the time. You could say that every time we turn on our laptops to write, every time we enter the worlds of our books, we are entering the Underworld: the...
YES, I am doing my usual prompts for Nanowrimo! You can find them and lots of other non-Nano posts on the Screenwriting Tricks for Authors Substack main page. Nanowrimo prompts: Act I Questions and Prompts Elements of Act II:1 overview Act II Part I...
The answer is— a million things. But very, very often, the first person to say yes to a book and pass it up the line for studio consideration is the reader, or story analyst. After college, before I sold my first film script, I worked as a reader for a mini-major...
