In our first sequel compendium, John and Craig revisit four of their best segments dedicated to crafting a satisfying and emotional ending to your story.
They look at rooting your ending in character, the function of the denouement, what makes a memorable farewell, how and why our endings can change, and how to bring everything full-circle.
In our bonus segment for premium members, John and producer Drew continue a discussion that Drew Goddard started on character sides and the process of casting minor characters.
Links:
- Our first endings compendium, Episode 524 – The Home Stretch
- A video essay of our farewell scenes discussion with Aline Brosh McKenna
- Episodes 44 – Endings for beginners, 366 – Tying Things Up, 648 – Farewell Scenes, and 392 – The Final Moment
- Dan Harmon story circle
- Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!
- Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
- Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
- Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription
- Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
- Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok
- John August on Bluesky and Instagram
- Outro by Eric Pearson (send us yours!)
- Segments originally produced by Stuart Friedel, Megan McDonnell, Drew Marquardt and Megana Rao. Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode here.