There is a lot of backstory that doesn’t belong in your script. It feels important to put on the page, to explain things and illuminate characters, but it’s more interesting to the reader NOT to know everything, to guess and speculate and draw our own conclusions. Bonus points if we get it wrong and that’s…
Read moreHOW TO LAUNCH ACT TWO
OPENING WITH ALL THE BACKSTORY
YOUR DAMN PASSIVE PROTAG
Your active protag needs three things: a goal, a plan and a flaw. The goal: win the prize, save the planet, find the killer. How will he get there? He will drive the bus there. The plan is the bus. His flaw is that he is the world’s worst bus driver. A passive protag gets on…
Read moreOBSTACLES
This is one of the most wonderful meta moments in the history of film. A good obstacle has its own stake in the proceedings, a purpose to fulfill beyond frustrating the protag.
Read more15 CHARACTERS IN THE 1ST TEN PAGES
PLOT
GOOD PLOT: A series of escalating events marching towards a big, inevitable conclusion. BAD PLOT: A setup event. The end.
Read moreJUST CRACKED MY STORY
THAT SECOND ACT BREAK
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
My husband and I watched The Place Beyond the Pines on VOD yesterday after we came back from the US Open. When it broke into the third act for the third time, he said, “I think this movie is going into a fifth set.” That about covers it.
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