The original post for this episode can be found here. John August: Hello and welcome. My name is John August. And this is Episode 388 of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters. Craig is off in London working on Chernobyl, but luckily I have Matt Selman here to fill […]
Story and Plot
The Princess Bride
John and Craig host a live show at the WGA Theatre with a deep dive look at The Princess Bride. They discuss how the “abridged” structure brings us only the best parts of the story and what this means for the characters and world: less exposition and more time for the fire swamp, R.O.U.S., and […]
Plot Holes
John and Craig dive into plot holes: why they happen, how to fix them, why not to fix them, and how to turn them into opportunities.
We also respond to listener questions on outlining, servicing many storylines, and what screenwriting challenges go under-appreciated.
How Can This Possibly End Well?
Christopher McQuarrie makes a great point about action sequences: the question isn’t how it will end, but how it can possibly end well for the hero.