Acknowledgments

Preface

Story and Storytelling
The Story
The Chronology of Events
A Crucial Paradox
Life Is What Happens
The World of the Story
Collisions
Where's the Antagonist
Characters' Baggage and Unfinished Business
Lightening, Decisions, and Protagonists
Character Arc
What If This Story Were a Fairy Tale or Myth?
The Audience's Fragile Involvement

The Telling of the Story
The Seamless Dream
The Intended Impact
Camera as Storyteller
Genre, Style, and Tone
Separation of Experience and Knowledge
Hope Versus Fear
The "Game" of Storytelling

Building Stories
The Creation of Drama
Main Character or Ensemble Story?
Protagonist and the Creation of Story
Worthy Antagonist
Supportive and Reflective Characters
Tension from First to Last
Actions and Goals
Character Arc
Pivotal Decisions
Time Compression and Intensity
The Possible and the Impossible

Foundations
Building from the Ground Up
Main Character's Passion
Objective and Subjective Drama
Theme
Backstory
What's at Stake?
Six Types of Characters

Carpentry and Craftsmanship
Creating the Audience's Experience
Immediacy and the Sense of Here and Now
Exposition
Rising Action
Point of No Return
Willing Suspension of Disbelief
Demonstration versus Explanation
Number of Clearly Defined Characters
Character Motivations
Subtext
Recapitulations
Dealing with Coincidence
Creating Living Characters
Inner Life and Character Attitude
Protagonist and Antagonist
Secondary Characters
Underlying Motives

Time and Storytelling
Screen Time and Drama
Time and Complexity
Action Time
Amount of Story and Screen time
Real Time versus Screen Time versus Time Frame
The Simplest Use of Time
Why Alter Simple Chronology?
Time and the Lives of the Characters
Objective Time and Subjective Time

Basic Dramatic Structure
What is Drama?

The Three Acts
The Beginning: Engaging the Audience
The Middle: Elaborating and Extending the Engagement
The End: Releasing the Engagement
The Writer's Relationship to the Acts

Sequences
From Acts to Sequences
The Elements of a Sequence
Special Needs of the First Sequence
Pretitle Sequences and Codas

Crucial Moments
Crucial Moments in the Main Character's Life
Crucial Moments in the Telling of the Story

Subplots
The Role of Subplots
Subplots Characters
Beginning, Middle, and End
Resolution of Subplots and Main Plot
How to Weave in Subplots

The Classical Screenplay Structure
Main Character's Undisturbed Status Quo
Creating the Dilemma
Elaborating on the Dilemma and the World of the Story
First Potential Breakthrough
Main Subplot and Main Character
Greatest Exertion
False Resolution
Final Test of Character and True Resolution
Typical Placements and Proportions
Relationships of Midpoint, Culmination, and Resolution
Where Does "Climax" Fit In?

Beyond Classical Dramatic Structure
The Single Unbreakable Rule of Drama

Anything But Classical Screenplay Structure
Being Different
Breaking the Form
Storyteller Intentions and Priorities

The Limits of Classical, the Beginnings of Revolutionary
Are All "Revolutionary" Films Revolutionary?
Mainstream Experiments in Storytelling
A Few Lessons from Past Experiments
Storytelling Myths, Legends, and Lies

How to Shake Up Classical Structure-and Why
Why Some Stories Can't Be Classically Told
The Physics of Drama
How to Stir the Pot
Cost-Benefit Analyses with Rule-Breaking
Using the Rules to Break the Rules
Clarity and Obscurity

Writing and Work Strategies
Before the First Draft
What Keeps the Audience in Their Seats
Consider the Audience's Position

The First Draft
The Sequence Breakdown
The Step Outline
Writing the First Draft

After the First Draft
Clarifying Your Theme
Rewriting
Know Your Long Suit and Short Suit
Dramatic Instincts

A Final Note

Index

About the Author