Writing Screenplays, Satire and Novels

A clear distinction should be made between plot points and scenes. A plot point is the working unit of the plot line: certain things have to take place at specific points in the story if the story is to have a cohesive structure. Each plot point is developed with a scene or scenes that are shaped by the conventions of the genre used. In screenwriting scenes have only two components: statements of action for the actors to follow and dialogue. Novels and short stories have descriptions of the scene and narrative comment in addition to action lines and dialogue.

Basic structure begins with an opening section in which the hero and the main characters are introduced, the tone of the story is set and the specific details of the genre are provided (the old west in Winchester ‘73, the ore mines of Io in Outland, the rainforest of Africa in King Solomon’s Mine, for example). The first act introduces the problem that the hero must solve, Read more

A student submitted the following question for discussion to my colleague, Larry Guest, for one of the college classes he teaches. The question was: What is the relationship between character, plot and setting? The student also provided an answer for the question he submitted, suggesting that character determines plot and setting. Larry reminded him that a writer cannot simply dump a character into any setting and expect the plot to develop, and yet, there’s a grain of truth in what the student said. To a great extent, character is the means by which plot develops.

My good friend Joan Newcomb, an avid reader, reviewer—if it’s any good, Joan has read it—is a novelist and author of children’s stories. Joan usually begins a story because of something a character has said or because a character’s personality Read more