Screenplay structure is fractal.
I approach each screenplay structure as a fractal and have found that the most satisfying screen stories follow this pattern.
Structure
After the midpoint.
The midpoint doesn't change the character. It just changes their direction.
How the monster movie structure can help you with any genre.
When structuring your story, you don't have to start from scratch. There are plenty of places to look for inspiration, and one of them is genre.
Keep the audience engaged as you keep secrets.
You never want the audience to wonder what the story is. Let them think they know. And then reveal it to be something more.
Your Subplots Are Story, Too.
There is no “B Story”; only the main story.
And that main story has subplots that support and deepen it.
The two key elements to narrative momentum.
Narrative momentum is the force that keeps the audience compelled to continue watching. It's why a good 3-hour movie can go by so much faster than a bad 90 minute film.
The two most important decisions in your screenwriting.
One of my primary goals as a writer and a teacher is to simplify. We need to get out of our own way. We do this through a process.
The most important part of Act 3.
The moment when a character earns ownership of their change by surrendering something they once valued but is no longer aligned with their new value system.
How to interpret some of the most common screenplay notes.
Our response to a screenplay doesn't come in the language of structure. It comes in the language of emotional response.
How I learned screenplay structure.
Plots seem complicated when you're in the moment, but when you lay them out scene by scene it's clear how simple they really are.
How to structure a story with a relationship at the center.
Relationships are vital for every story. Audiences care deeply about relationships, perhaps more than anything else. But what about when the relationship is the story?
The key to a sensational inciting incident.
The most effective inciting incidents are personal, and the best ones evoke an emotional reaction from the protagonists and from us.