Jar Jar Binks …. pod racing … there are a lot of reasons to not watch this movie, but is there anything it can teach us about storytelling? 1. Every character needs a role People hate Jar Jar Binks. That’s common knowledge. Unsurprisingly, the plot of The Phantom Menace would have developed in exactly the same … Read more3 Storytelling Lessons from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
I’m by no means trying to suggest that Return of the Jedi is the episode of the Original Trilogy that is closest to perfection, but the biggest flaw with this movie is that the plot stalls in the middle, but what else can I say except that when the main characters spend the second act doing … Read more1 Storytelling Lesson from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
We’ve learnt some storytelling lessons from A New Hope. What can we learn from The Empire Strikes Back? 1. Meaningless events: boring, confusing, pace killers The Empire Strikes Back starts with Luke being attacked by a wampa. Starting with conflict is great, especially when it prompts other characters to set goals; however, this attack serves no real purpose. When Han … Read more3 Storytelling Lessons from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
I’ve always had a problem with criticism of the Star Wars prequel trilogy because what most people think are problems really aren’t, but after reading criticism of Rogue One, I’ve decided to break my silence. Let me preface by saying that I was introduced to Star Wars by my parents when I was a child in the early … Read more4 Storytelling Lessons from Star Wars: A New Hope
I read the first chapter of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo for #FirstChapterFriday and enjoyed it so much that I decided to read the rest of the book. I loved it and, as I can never turn off my editor brain, I pulled out two great storytelling lessons this book has to teach writers. 1. Don’t … Read more2 Storytelling Lessons from SIX OF CROWS
After reading the first chapter of the Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury for #FirstChapterFriday, I decided to finish the book. The first chapter started out great, but I noted that the second half of it took a bad turn and hoped that the story would right itself in the following chapters. It didn’t. Here are … Read more4 Storytelling Lessons from THE SIN EATER’S DAUGHTER
SPOILERS AHEAD I like using examples when writing about storytelling techniques and found a few good ones when watching I Am Legend the other day. Movies and books aren’t the same thing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn anything about storytelling from watching a movie. Here are the lessons I Am Legend has to … Read more4 Storytelling Lessons from I AM LEGEND (the movie)