Screenwriting

Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey has dominated storytelling advice for decades. Seventeen stages, archetypal characters, mythological resonance—it’s the blueprint for everything from Star Wars to The Matrix to Harry Potter. But there’s a problem: it’s complicated. Most writers don’t need a 17-step formula. They need something practical, intuitive, and flexible enough to apply to everything from sitcoms to space operas. Enter Dan Harmon’s Story Circle—an eight-step distillation of Campbell’s monomyth that’s simpler to use, easier to teach, and just as powerful. ...

Every screenwriting book tells you the same thing: stories have three acts. Act 1: Setup (establish character, world, conflict) Act 2: Confrontation (escalating obstacles, rising stakes) Act 3: Resolution (climax, falling action, denouement) There’s a problem though. Most of your favorite movies don’t actually follow this structure. Or rather, they follow it so loosely that calling it “three acts” is misleading at best and creatively limiting at worst. Let’s be clear: the three-act structure isn’t wrong. But it’s not a rule—it’s a retrospective description, not a prescription. And treating it as gospel might be why your story feels forced. ...