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Description of  The 15-Minute Movie Method: (Screenwriting Made Easy) Ed 3

If youve always wanted to write a screenplay or a novel, you may be wondering, What makes a great story? Its not just interesting characters, memorable dialogue, or explosive action scenes. What makes a great screenplay (or novel) is a great story. Every great story, from classic novels and stage plays to todays modern films, follow the same basic, proven story structure that alternates between contrasting problems and solutions to maintain and maximize suspense. In the traditional three Act structure, a story looks like this: Act I Exposition Act II Rising Action Act III Climax Act I and Act III are roughly the same length (corresponding to a 30-minute length in a 120-minute screenplay), but Act II is typically twice as long as either Act I or Act III. The result is that the traditional three Act structure sets you up for failure by forcing you to write a huge chunk of your story without any guidelines whatsoever. In contrast, a four Act structure makes each Act manageable while also providing the necessary contrast to create a compelling story. Stories are interesting and suspenseful because they alternate between problems facing the hero followed by solutions that the hero achieves. In the four Act structure, a story looks like this: Read more