Mastering Episodic Story Structure: How The Hobbit Sank a Trilogy

by Lewis / May 28, 2019 / Lessons From Film, Story Structure

The fantasy genre comes in many forms.

From sprawling epics to more nostalgic, homey tales, everyone can find something to love in fantasy. Novels like The Name of the Wind or The Lord of the Rings are many writers’ greatest influences, but among these massive adventures is a no less important novel: The Hobbit.

As the (sort of) prequel to The Lord of the Rings, no one was surprised when they announced The Hobbit would get a film trilogy of its own. However, as each movie came out, more problems began to surface. The episodic story structure of The Hobbit just didn’t mesh with the world of Hollywood screenplays.

The Secret to Studio Ghibli’s Grey Antagonists

by Lewis / May 14, 2019 / Character Development, Lessons From Film

To most people, antagonists are nothing but evil.

In fact, it’s become so common to think of antagonists this way that the word has become almost synonymous with traditional villains: Sauron, Scar, Loki, Sheer Khan, Mother Gothel, Emperor Palpatine, the Joker, Darth Vader, or Ursula.

However, there’s another view of antagonists that sees storytelling a bit differently—and with a lot more nuance.

10 Ways to Write a Chosen One That Won’t Annoy Readers

by Lewis / April 30, 2019 / Character Development, Lessons From Film

We all want our protagonists to be likeable.

However, you may also want your protagonist to be uniquely impressive or powerful. In your eyes, they’re special. They’re the hero, destined to play the ultimate role in your story. It only makes sense then that they should be a Chosen One.

Unfortunately, creating a Chosen One as your protagonist can come with a price. Too often writers fall into common traps where, instead of creating an awe-inspiring hero, they create an undeserving, unlikable mess. While Chosen Ones are no better or worse than any other type of protagonist, if you’re going to write one you’ll need to be prepared to do it right.

How the Hero’s Journey Made Star Wars a Modern Myth

by Lewis / April 16, 2019 / Lessons From Film, Story Structure

Myths occupy a special place in human history.

Not only do myths shape our worldview and sense of community, but they stick with us for generations after their creation. To this day stories of Thor, Anubis, Beowulf, and many others are preserved and shared, despite being centuries old. Unfortunately, many people feel the days of mythology are over, and it’s easy to understand their view—the old myths they’re used to aren’t being created today.

However, that doesn’t mean none are being created. While it might be hard to imagine, George Lucas’ Star Wars has slowly grown and evolved into a modern myth of its own, thanks in large part to how Star Wars uses a generations-old story—the Hero’s Journey.

The 8 Best Apps for Writing a Novel

by Lewis / April 2, 2019 / Other

The nostalgic charm of typewriters and leather notebooks is undeniable.

However, there’s a darker side to analog writing—endless stacks of paper, scraps of notes left everywhere, and the unavoidable sense that this is the fourth time you’ve lost chapter twelve of your manuscript… Or maybe I’m just horribly disorganized!

Either way, you can’t deny that the advent of laptops and word processors has made the novel writing experience much smoother and more accessible. However, even with computers you’ll be faced with such a huge amount of information to kept track of. Desktop folders and Word documents might not be the best way to handle it.