Great stories have a character to root for (an underdog)

What makes modern stories compelling are when our perceptions of reality are challenged or changed in some way. Often the topics or themes are unexpected. One way to manage this is to get rid of the 1st thing that comes to mind, then the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 5th. 

Creators like Pixar and Wa...

Creators naturally want to include as much information as possible in their stories. We pack in too many plot twists and dialogue and characters, adding unnecessary layers. Instead, Pixar's advice is to combine characters and skip over detours.

One way to find out if your story is easy to ...

Psychologists recognise six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. 

These emotions are characters in the movie. The more you understand how/when your own emotional levers are pulled, the more you’ll appreciate how that works in others.

Great storytelling is about taking a piece of the human condition such as birth, growth, conflict, and putting it in a new situation. 

When you tell a story about an event in your life that made you feel a certain way, you want your audience to get that same feeling. One way to do this is t...