Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors II: Story Structure for Pantsers and Plotters (Screenwriting Tricks For Authors (and Screenwriters!) Book 2)

THE LONG DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL (ALL IS LOST) This third quarter of your story is almost certainly going to contain a scene or sequence which since the ancient Greeks has been called THE LONG DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, also known as ALL IS LOST, or APPARENT DEFEAT, or THE BLACK MOMENT, or VISIT TO DEATH (which may also be a separate scene).

(The Call to Adventure is very often a literal phone call, summons, knock on the door, or mailed invitation.)

ELEVATE YOUR ENDING Think about the endings of films and books — of all genres, now, not just romance — that stay with you. What is that extra something they have that makes them stand out from all the hundreds and thousands of stories out there? As a storyteller, the best thing you can do for your own writing technique is to make that list and ana

What’s the kind of story you’re writing – by your own definition? When you start to get specific about that, that’s when your writing starts to get truly interesting.

In a romance, the Midpoint is very often sexual or emotional. But the Midpoint can often be one of the most memorable visual SETPIECES of the story, just to further drive its importance home.

A Mistaken Identity story, for example, will almost always have threat of discovery, a confidante who knows the score, numerous tests of the hero/ine’s story, scenes of trapping the hero/ine into the role, scenes of the role starting to backfire, and of course, a big unmasking scene, usually at the climax of Act III. Identifying these expected scen

Entering the Special World is a huge moment and deserves special weight.

The second act climax is another place that you might start a TICKING CLOCK (although a clock can begin at virtually any time in a story).

And often the hero/ine will LOSE SUPPORT FROM KEY ALLIES when s/he begins to cross the line. ESCALATING ACTIONS/ATTACKS BY ANTAGONIST