Minor spoilers ahead for Widows, A Star is Born, Better Call Saul, and A Beautiful Boy. by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) As often as we all strive for perfection, we rarely appreciate it when we see it in others – including characters in stories. The woman that never has a bad day, the co-worker that’s never in a bad mood, and... Continue Reading →
Why Your Protagonist MUST Keep Moving
by Eric Edson (The Story Solution) When you sit down to write a movie, sometimes you’ve got so many great characters running around in your head – all doing terrific stuff while you chase after them to get it written – that it’s easy to lose track of one particular character you should maybe keep... Continue Reading →
3 Ways to Build Empathy for Difficult Protagonists
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) For some time now, there’s been a growing trend among protagonists. The new Golden Age of television that we find ourselves in has been built around men and women that most of us would find difficult in real life. Perhaps these characters work because they embody the complex and conflicted world we... Continue Reading →
Stripping Down: 4 Things Your Protagonist Must Shed to Succeed
by John Bucher (@johnkbucher) Guiding a character through a journey is a process of negotiating their inner desires and outer goals. While many films are constructed around the idea of a character that will gain one key thing over the course of the story, we sometimes forget that well-rounded characters will also lose some things along... Continue Reading →
Script Writing Basics: The Middle
This blog post from the popular blog Go Into the Story discusses what the second act of your screenplay should achieve.