Screenwriting Essentials: Crafting Compelling Stories & Characters

Posted on Jul 16, 2025 in English Studies

Week 1: Story Fundamentals

Designing Principle

The designing principle for a story is the story process + original execution. Good stories both hide and reveal information.

Story Movement

Basic patterns of story movement.

Premise & Logline

A story stated in one sentence, often called a logline, includes: character + plot + action event. It defines the main character, the protagonist’s goal, and the situation or obstacle.

Logline: More Than Just a Premise

A logline is a lot more than just the premise. It includes irony, which serves as a hook, creates a mental picture, considers the audience, and implies cost. It encapsulates the whole story in one sentence. Key components of a logline:

Central Character
Goal/Motivation
Obstacle
World/Genre

Understanding Story

Story is a form of communication that expresses the Dramatic Code: an artistic description of how someone grows or changes. The formula for change is: Weakness + Conflict = Change.

Story Components (Subsystems)

Story Body: Characters: Connect and compare each character to help the hero grow.
Plot: Connecting events that lead to a logical ending.
Revelations Sequence / Story World: Defines the hero and shows their growth.
Moral Argument: The theme and rules governing characters.
Symbol Web: Packets of meanings woven throughout the narrative.
Scene Weave: Arranging scenes for the plotline.
Symphonic Dialogue / Scene Construction: Arranging scenes so the hero develops, using dialogue to enhance the plot.

Week 2: The Screenwriting Process & Structure

Draft Process

1st Draft: Index Cards

Use 15 index cards – no more, no less. Each card represents a Narrative Beat (from Save the Cat!). Each card should include:

The name of the narrative beat
The basic action

2nd Draft: Adding Scenes

Add more cards under every/most beat cards. Include specific scenes, e.g., INT./EXT. – MARY’S APARTMENT – DAY. While you start with 15 cards representing 15 beats of your story, it’s important to note that your screenplay will have more than 15 scenes.

Key Concepts

Narrative Beat

A narrative beat is a shift in the narrative. This can be emotional turns, incidents or events, actions, or reactions. The 15 “Blake Snyder Beats” are a system for outlining your script by identifying the major narrative turning points first. This system provides valuable information. Carefully pace your reveals so that each scene brings a small piece of new information to light.

Scene

A scene is generally defined as a unit of dramatic action that takes place in one location. As soon as the place and/or time change, it will necessarily become a new scene. Scenes enhance character development. When possible, use each scene to deepen your readers’ understanding of your protagonist.

Story Structures

4-Act Structure

Act 1: Setup – Inciting Incident (pages 1-4)
Act 2: Midpoint (pages 4-8)
Act 3: Climax (pages 8-12)
Act 4: End (pages 12-15)

Story Movement Types

Linear: A single character moves from beginning to end; a hero with a desire.
Meandering: A curve line without clear direction.
Myth: Hero + desires + journey.
Spiral (Thrillers): Character keeps returning to the same thing to go deeper.
Branching: Advanced fiction where each branch is a complete, detailed society the hero explores.
Explosive: Technically no such story, but can be represented through cutscenes, offering a comparative explanation of what happened.
Combining Branching Story: Exemplified by Pulp Fiction.

Character Development

Characters Web

The most important step in creating your hero, as well as all other characters, is to connect and compare each to the others. Each time you compare a character, it helps define them.

Protagonist

The main character, most important, drives the story forward. Conflict occurs to facilitate their change.

Interior Life: Life from the day they are born until the story begins.
Exterior Life: From the beginning of the story to the end of the story.

Antagonist

Keeps the protagonist from achieving their goal. The relationship with the protagonist is most important. They don’t have to hate the protagonist – they are simply on the other side. They attack the protagonist’s weakness and should be equal in strength (like in tennis). Machines, animals, and monsters: Without emotion and independent thought, they are obstacles, not characters. An antagonist can be a double of the protagonist, possess values that oppose those of the protagonist, or even share similarities (though contrast is often better). The protagonist is not all good, and the antagonist is not all bad. Their paths often intersect.

Supporting Characters

Ally: A helper with the same goal; a sounding board.
Fake Ally/Opponent: Appears to be the protagonist’s friend but is actually an opponent. Adds twists to the plot; a complex character, often facing a dilemma.
Fake Opponent/Ally: Appears to fight the protagonist but is actually a friend.

Subplot Character

The subplot character is one of the most misunderstood in fiction. Most writers think of this character as the lead in the second storyline—for example, as the love interest in a detective story. But that is not a true subplot character.

7-S Story Structure

Weakness: What they are missing.
Need: What they must fulfill within themselves to have a better life, often overcoming a weakness.
Desire: The goal, what they want.
Opponent: Prevents the hero from achieving their desire and may compete for the same goal.
Plan: Guidelines or strategies for the hero to overcome the opponent and reach their goal.
Battle: The midpoint confrontation between the hero and opponent to win the goal; the final conflict.
Self-Revelation: The battle makes the hero reflect psychologically and morally.
New Equilibrium: Everything returns to a new normal; the initial desire may be gone, replaced by a fundamental, permanent change in the hero.

Week 3: Story Archetypes

These are common story types or genres, often referred to as Blake Snyder’s 10 Story Types:

Monster in the House: Features a monster that is supernatural in its powers + a house (an enclosed space) + the sin of introducing the monster (transgression/ignorance).
Golden Fleece: Involves a road spanning oceans or time + a team or a buddy the hero needs to guide them along the way + a prize that’s sought and is something primal.
Out of the Bottle: Centers on a wish asked for by the hero or another character + a spell, which must be made logical by upholding “The Rules” + a lesson: Be careful what you wish for.
Dude with a Problem: An innocent hero + a sudden event that thrusts our innocent(s) into a world of hurt without warning + a life-or-death battle is at stake.
Rites of Passage: A life problem + a wrong way to attack the mysterious problem + a solution that involves acceptance of a hard truth the hero has been fighting (leading to change).
Buddy Love: An incomplete hero needs another to be whole + a counterpart who facilitates that completion or possesses qualities the hero needs + a complication.
Whydunit: The detective does not change much + the secret of the case is so strong it overwhelms the worldly lures of money + the dark turn shows that in pursuit of the secret, the detective will break the rules, even his own — often rules he has relied on for years to keep him safe.
The Fool Triumphant: A fool whose innocence is his strength and whose gentle manner makes him likely to be ignored by all but a jealous “Insider” + an establishment + a transmutation in which the fool becomes someone or something new.
Institutionalized: Is about a group + the story involves a choice + a sacrifice must be made. Three endings: join, burn it down, or commit “suicide.”
Superhero: Has a special power + hero must be opposed by a nemesis of equal or greater force + there must be a curse for the hero that they either surmount.

Week 4: Screenplay Structure & Character

Blake Snyder’s 15 Beat Sheet

The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet outlines 15 key turning points in a screenplay, often correlated with page numbers (based on a 110-page script):

Opening Image (Page 1): The very first impression of what a movie is — its tone, its mood, the type and scope of the film — are all found in the opening image. The opening and final images should be opposites, a plus and a minus, showing change so dramatic it documents the emotional upheaval that the movie represents. Often, actors will only read the first and last 10 pages of a script to see if that drastic change is in there.
Theme Stated (Page 5): A character will pose a question or make a statement (usually to the main character) that is the theme of the movie. For example, “Be careful what you wish for,” or “Family is more important than money.” It won’t be this obvious; it will be conversational, an offhand remark that the main character doesn’t quite get at the moment — but which will have far-reaching and meaningful impact later. A good screenplay is an argument posed by the screenwriter, the pros and cons of living a particular kind of life, or pursuing a particular goal. And the rest of the screenplay is the argument laid out, either proving or disproving this statement, and looking at it from every angle.
Set-up (Pages 1-10): The first 10 pages of the script, or first dozen pages at most, is called the “set-up.” This is the make-or-break section where you have to grab the reader or risk losing interest. Ensure every character in the A story is introduced or hinted at. The first 10 pages are also where we start to plant every character tic, exhibit every behavior that needs to be addressed later on, and show how and why the hero will need to change in order to win. And when there’s something that our hero wants or is lacking, this is the place to stick the Six Things That Need Fixing. Like little time bombs, these characteristics and flaws will be exploded later in the script, turned on their heads, and cured. They will become running gags and callbacks. The audience must know why they’re being called back! It’s where we see the world as it is before the adventure starts. It is a full-fledged documentation of the hero’s world labeled “before.”
Catalyst (Page 12): Catalyst moments include telegrams, getting fired, catching a spouse in bed with another, news that you have three days to live, the knock at the door, the messenger. In the set-up, the screenwriter has told us what the world is like, and now in the catalyst moment, they knock it all down. Life-changing events often come disguised as bad news. Like many of the beats in the Beat Sheet, the catalyst is not what it seems. It’s the opposite of good news, and yet, by the time the adventure is over, it’s what leads the hero to happiness.
Debate (Pages 12-25): It’s the last chance for the hero to say: “This is crazy.” And we need him or her to realize that. “Should I go? Dare I go? Sure, it’s dangerous out there, but what’s my choice? Stay here?” The debate section must ask a question of some kind. In Legally Blonde, the catalyst of the fiancé dumping Elle Woods quickly segues to her solution: Go to Harvard Law. “But can she get in?” That is the question posed in the debate section of that movie. The debate section thus becomes showing how Elle answers that question.
Break into Two (Act 2) (Page 25): This is the place where readers often go first in a screenplay to see “what happens on page 25.” They want to know if anything happens and if the screenwriter knows that something big should happen. The act break is the moment where we leave the old world, the thesis statement, behind and proceed into a world that is the upside-down version of that, its antithesis. But because these two worlds are so distinct, the act of actually stepping into Act Two must be definite. The hero cannot be lured, tricked, or drift into Act Two. The hero must make the decision themselves. That’s what makes them a hero anyway — being proactive.
B Story (Page 30): The B story of most screenplays is “the love story.” It is also the story that carries the theme of the movie. The start of the B story, around page 30, is a little booster rocket that helps smooth over the shockingly obvious A story act break. The B story is also very often a brand new bunch of characters. We have not always met the B story players in the first 10 pages of the screenplay.
Fun and Games (Pages 30-55): This is the promise of the premise. It is the core and essence of the movie’s poster. It is where most of the trailer moments of a movie are found. And it’s where we aren’t as concerned with the forward progress of the story — the stakes won’t be raised until the midpoint — as we are concerned with having “fun.” We take a break from the stakes of the story and see what the idea is about; we see the promise of the premise and need not see anything else.
Midpoint (Page 55): A movie’s midpoint is either an “up” where the hero seemingly peaks (though it is a false peak) or a “down” when the world collapses all around the hero (though it is a false collapse), and it can only get better from here on out. The stakes are raised at the midpoint. It’s the point where the fun and games are over. It’s back to the story! It’s also the point where if you have a “false victory.” The rule is: It’s never as good as it seems to be at the midpoint, and it’s never as bad as it seems at the All Is Lost point. Or vice versa!
Bad Guys Close In (Pages 55-75): This is the point where the bad guys decide to regroup and send in the heavy artillery. It’s the point where internal dissent, doubt, and jealousy begin to disintegrate the hero’s team. The forces that are aligned against the hero, internal and external, tighten their grip. Evil is not giving up, and there is nowhere for the hero to go for help. He is on his own and must endure.
All Is Lost (Page 75): At the All Is Lost moment, include something, anything that involves a death. It works every time. Whether it’s integral to the story or just something symbolic, hint at something dead here. It could be anything: a flower in a flower pot, a goldfish, news that a beloved aunt has passed away. It’s all the same. The reason is that the All Is Lost beat is the “Christ on the cross” moment. It’s where the old world, the old character, the old way of thinking dies. The thing you show dying, even a goldfish, will resonate and make that All Is Lost moment all the more poignant.
Dark Night of the Soul (Pages 75-85): So now you’re in the middle of a death moment at the All Is Lost point, but how does your character experiencing this moment feel about it? This question is answered in a section of the screenplay called Dark Night of the Soul. It can last five seconds or five minutes. But it’s in there. And it’s vital. It’s the point, as the name suggests, that is the darkness right before the dawn. It is the point just before the hero reaches way, deep down and pulls out that last, best idea that will save himself and everyone around him. But at the moment, that idea is nowhere in sight. We must be beaten and know it to get the lesson. The Dark Night of the Soul is that point.
Break into Three (Page 85): Both in the external story (the A story) and the internal story (the B story), which now meet and intertwine, the hero has prevailed, passed every test, and dug deep to find the solution.
Finale (Pages 85-110): The finale typically involves several stages:
- Gathering the Team: The protagonist rounds up his or her friends, and gathers the tools, weapons, and supplies needed to execute the plan.
- Executing the Plan: The protagonist (and his or her crew) execute the plan. Sometimes secondary characters are sacrificed here in order to force the protagonist to continue forward on their own.
- The High Tower Surprise: The protagonist faces a twist or a surprise that forces him or her to prove their worth.
- Dig Deep Down: With no backup plan, the protagonist has to dig deep inside themselves to find the most important weapon of all—the strength and courage to overcome their fear or false belief (internal antagonist) and face the antagonist or antagonistic force (external antagonist).
- Execution of New Plan: After the protagonist overcomes their fear or false belief (internal antagonist), he or she takes action against the antagonist or antagonistic force (external antagonist) and is successful. (If you’re writing a story where the protagonist isn’t successful, make sure there’s a point to their failure.)
Final Image (Page 110): It is your proof that change has occurred and that it’s real.

Character Archetypes

Always make the archetype specific and individual to your unique character.

King/Father (The Godfather): Strength – leads with wisdom, has foresight.
Queen/Mother (American Beauty): Strength – provides care but can be controlling.
Wise Old Man/Woman, Mentor: Strength – provides training but may force students to act a certain way, etc.

Stereotypes vs. Archetypes

Avoid stereotypes. Instead, use archetypes and personalize them.

Theme and Opposition

Theme: Your view of the world – a moral vision, which is not merely a subject.

Creating a Protagonist

Bone Structure

Physiology: Elaborate on their appearance or how they act (e.g., posture), creating an impression.
Sociology: Morals, relationship with their environment, social representation.
Psychology: A combination of physiology and sociology.

Psychology = Physiology + Sociology

Personality, Attitude, Moral Standards, Complexes

These define the ‘Whys’ behind their life choices.

Constantly fascinating.
Show that they are hiding something.
Dialogue is witty or funny.
Don’t write too much dialogue; focus on the story.
If they want to say something, make it meaningful.

Contradictions

Must overcome their internal contradictions.
Must be able and willing to act.
Catch them in a period of transition.
From point A to point B.
Empathize (understand) – you might not agree.

Character Change

Character change doesn’t happen at the end of the story; it happens at the beginning. More precisely, it is made possible at the beginning by how you set it up. Don’t think of your main character as a fixed, complete person whom you then tell a story about. You must think of your hero as a range of change, a range of possibilities, from the very beginning. You have to determine the range of change of the hero at the start of the writing process, or change will be impossible for the hero at the end of the story.

They don’t change out of nowhere.
Develop over the course of the story.
Change: When the protagonist becomes who they will ultimately be.
Things keep happening because change pushes the character forward.

W = A + C

W – Weaknesses at the beginning: unconcerned, afraid, mainstream, legitimate, separated from the family.
A – Basic action: takes revenge.
C – Changed person: tyrannical, absolute ruler of the family.

Compare your hero and all other characters on these parameters: Weaknesses, Need (both psychological and moral), Desire, Values, Power, Status, Ability, and how each faces the central moral problem in the story.