by Erik Bork | Nov 12, 2021
“One big problem it takes the whole movie to solve.” This is what I constantly find myself saying to writers I work with, when I describe what I’m looking for at the heart of any screenplay. Sounds simple enough. But where most scripts struggle is in...
by Erik Bork | Nov 14, 2018
What is a B Story? It’s a secondary story that has its own beginning, middle and end, and is focused on its own problem, separate from but intertwined with the A Story. And it has its own main character, who may or may not be the same as the A Story’s....
by Erik Bork | Jan 4, 2018
I’ve written before about the first ten pages of a screenplay, and touched on the nature of the Catalyst (which the Save the Cat “beat sheet” insists should happen on exactly page 12). But I haven’t yet focused on its “Debate Section” —...
by Erik Bork | Dec 22, 2017
Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat books called the first half of a screenplays second act the “Fun & Games section.” This is where the action shifts to an “upside down world” of some kind, where the main character will try to confront their overall story problem/goal....
by Erik Bork | Dec 2, 2017
Many writers believe their story needs a villain — a single character who is the main source of opposition in the story, or the primary “bad guy.” Since arguably all stories have a “protagonist,” don’t they all need an “antagonist”? I don’t believe they...
by Erik Bork | Nov 18, 2017
I see a lot of scripts these days where the writer initially depicts the main character as kind of a selfish jerk. This is on purpose, because they want to “arc” them to a better, nicer person in the end. I get this desire, as many of the best movies feature powerful...
by Erik Bork | Jul 27, 2017
They’re trying to kill me! That’s what’s happening in the most misunderstood of the ten “genres” in Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat books. “Dude with a Problem” is misunderstood because of its name, which really describes every story. Movies are always...
by Erik Bork | Apr 17, 2017
When developing a screenplay (or series) idea, I’m always looking for what the main problem is. The one big problem that is really hard to solve, which becomes the main focus of the narrative. It should have huge stakes, which are not just internal, but external in...
by Erik Bork | Feb 26, 2017
When coming up with an idea for a television series, and writing a pilot script, writers often make the mistake of approaching it like a feature. Meaning, they focus on a single main character, with a single problem and goal. That’s not how television works. I can...
by Erik Bork | Jan 20, 2017
I often say that a good story idea focuses on one big problem that it takes the whole story to solve. What that means is that the problem has to emerge early in the story (traditionally at the “Catalyst” or “Inciting Incident,” about 10% in), and not be resolved until...
