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Category Archives: Story Design
Writing is Rewriting II
In last week’s post, I talked about Frensham’s six areas of focus involved in arriving at the final version of your screenplay—the first stage being to increase comprehensibility. Today, we look at the second: Structure; because this website is filled … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged first turning point, Inciting Incident, screenplay, screenwriter, Script, story structure, Three act structure, writer, writing
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Writing is Rewriting
In his book, Screenwriting, Raymond G Frensham, talks about six types of focus associated with rewriting a screenplay: comprehension, structure, characters, dialogue, style, and polishing. Although opinions differ on the exact number and order of rewrites, Frensham’s view offers some … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged amwriting, screenplay, screenwriter, story, Story-design, story-structure, writer
2 Comments
Writing a Page-Turner
It is every writer’s dream to write a novel or script that the reader simply can’t put down until the last page. But how do we go about achieving this admirable goal? Below are some suggestions. Include hooks whenever possible: … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, amwriting, anticipation, attitude, Emotion, hooks, novel, novelist, screenwriter, Suspense, writer
4 Comments
How to Create the Final Story-Moment
A truly memorable final moment, image, or line is the cherry on top of your story. It acts like a handle with which to pick up the tale and helps the reader or audience recall the story through the sheer … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged final image, final moment, narratives, novel, protagonist, screenplay, screenwriter, story, writer
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How to Increase Tension in your Story
Tension in stories primarily concerns the barely contained hostility or strained relations between individuals or groups. This differs from conflict which is more about disharmony and opposition between people who hold different ideas, goals, and beliefs. Both conflict and tension … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged Conflict, Movie, novel, screenwriter, story, tension, write
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How to Write Backstory
In this follow-up post we look at a very important aspect of effective storytelling—backstory. The following question immediately comes to mind: Q: When is it useful to include backstory in your screenplay or novel? A: When information from the past … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged Backstory, economical, film, Inglorious Basterds, Movie, novel, screenplay, screenwriter, story, Tale, writer, writers
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How to Improve your Outline
So, you’ve come up with a logline for your story and proceeded to generate an outline from it (see earlier posts). How do you go about improving your outline, prior to commencing the actual writing of your script or novel? … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged climax, crisis, first turning point, Inciting Incident, midpoint, Outline, resolution, second-turning point, story-structure
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The Basics of Scene Description
In a screenplay, dialogue is one of the few things that survives “as is”, albeit in a different format. Of course, actors and directors often change dialogue to suit, but, on the whole, dialogue is meant to transfer to the … Continue reading
Posted in Story Design
Tagged character, environment, Movie, movies, Scene description, screenplay, story, writer
3 Comments
How to Write a Log-Line
In his book, Screenwriting, Raymond G Frensham defines a log-line as a “short, pithy slogan you see on a film poster that captures, at an emotional level, what it’s about, or the kind of short description billings used in weekly … Continue reading