StoryCraft New Edition Blog

Making the Torches Burn Bright O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright... Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet By John Jarvis. February is the month of love. Indeed, we even celebrate the guy with the little bow and arrow on the 14th. But that little guy, although powerful, is also evasive. The love story is one of the hardest stories to write. Make that: write and SUCCEED. For almost all … [Read more...] about February, 1997

A Brief History of Story- Structure Teaching Systems By John Jarvis. A few years back, Syd Field, a well-known screenwriting teacher began to wonder why some stories worked and others didn't. Pulling out the scripts that were not only successful in the marketplace, but also critically successful, Field searched and searched, like a modern Sherlock Holmes, until he was satisfied. The result was … [Read more...] about January, 1997

When the Sky Turns Round By John Jarvis. Every religion, every culture, has a special time, a time when magic is in the air, a time when, as C.S. Lewis wrote, the sky turns round. For Christians, such a time is Christmas. The philosophical reasons for the popularity of this holiday are not hard to find. Christmas has always been devoted to the very young; men and women throughout the years … [Read more...] about December, 1996

How to Write Powerful Characters By John Jarvis. What is the difference between drama and melodrama? One of the major differences is the development of the main character. But even if you have a well-structured story with a strong central character who has a backstory, character arc, and a great antagonist, there is still a difference between a drama and a melodrama. Why? Before answering, … [Read more...] about November, 1996

The Heroes in Jurassic Park By John Jarvis. To see precisely how the Jarvis Method applies to modern screenplays, let's take a look at a fairly recent motion picture, Jurassic Park. As you'll see, although the writers of Jurassic Park did not use StoryCraft or the Jarvis Method generally to create the story, much of Jurassic Park follows closely the patterns prescribed by the Method. And as … [Read more...] about Sept.-Oct., 1996

Three-Dimensional Chess By John Jarvis. The other day I had a conversation with someone who regarded the Jarvis Method as too complex. "Boy, you can't just sit down and start writing the story," he moaned. "You've got to do all kinds of planning first." What this person really meant (although he didn't say so) is that he wished the Method--and the software and books that use it--would offer a … [Read more...] about August, 1996