We all know that our protagonist needs to have an antagonist and/or obstacles to take action and reach the goals they set themselves to achieve. However, since life and real people are complicated, fictional characters shouldn’t be much different. In real life, we often stop ourselves from following and reaching our dreams and goals. Something…
screenwriting
Does Your Hero Need an Intimate Opponent?
In some stories, facing the external antagonist or an obstacle (we covered this subject here) isn’t going to work for the hero. If that is the case, your protagonist may need an intimate opponent. An intimate opponent is someone close to the main character, someone, the protagonist may even consider a friend or an ally,…
What Is at Stake for Your Character?
If the character in your story doesn’t want anything, doesn’t have any goals, and not much is at stake for them for not reaching those goals, you’re risking that your story will feel flat and forced. If the stakes aren’t high enough (something to motivate, push your character to take decisive action to reach their…
Writing A Screenplay: The Main Character
As writers, we all know that our audience (readers first, before the screenplay can be turned into a film) need to care for the main character. If they don’t… well, the script will be disappointing for them and, most likely, that will be a pass. Remember that some people care for characters and others don’t….
What Are the Essential Elements That Make Screenplay Work?
Having time to develop your story is a blessing, especially when you are driven by inspiration and the urge to tell the story in the purest of its form. As long as you can stay connected to that need, don’t overanalyse your story; it might work to your disadvantage. Let the writing flow. However, when…
Let’s Talk About Titles
The title is one of the most crucial elements of your screenplay. There are entire books and blogs devoted to creating and coming up with mind-blowing titles. In our daily life, attractive and catchy titles increase the odds of us picking up a book, reading an article, or watching a video. Unfortunately, nowadays, people don’t…
Why Should You Pitch Your Screenplay Idea Before You Start Writing the Screenplay?
Every screenwriter is hopeful that their story can be turned into a multi-million-dollar franchise. It has happened before, but this delightful miracle is as likely as winning a lottery or maybe even less; hmmm…? However, if you are still certain and not discouraged in the slightest, the first thing you will need to do to…
How to Come up With a Hook for Your Screenplay?
For a reader, filmmaker, producer or an agent to become interested in your screenplay, you need to find a “magical” way to grab their attention. In reality, no one will devote even five minutes of their time to your project if their interest hasn’t been tickled. And, the easiest and the fastest way to do…
What Is a Screenplay?
The screenplay has a very different structure to the structure authors use for writing books. The script for a fiction film (documentarians work in their ways and don’t always work from a script while making a documentary) is divided into scenes, which move the action from one location to another. Change of scene happens every…
A Little Bit More About the Characters
Without strong and real characters, your story will have no framework to be built around. It’s worth investing time in developing and getting to know your characters. Even after your first draft, you will still have plenty of time to get to know your characters and change them, in case they don’t seem real or…