The Nutshell Set-Up Wants

Ciao, SEers. We’ve been talking about Jill Chamberlain’s Nutshell method of story development. If you missed earlier posts, you can find them by clicking these links: introduction protagonist (strengths and flaws) the catch and point of no return Last time, we ended by mentioning the catch is related to the desires of the protagonist. Today, …

The Nutshell Catch and the Point of No Return

Ciao, SEers. We’ve been talking about Jill Chamberlain’s Nutshell method of plotting as it relates to Aristotelian comedies and tragedies. Last time, we discussed the protagonist with respect to flaws and strengths. (You can find the introductory post here, and the protagonist post here.) Today, we’re going to talk about the catch. But just as …

The Nutshell Protagonist

Ciao, SEers. Last time, we talked about Jill Chamberlain’s Nutshell process for writing screenplays or fiction. Today, we’re going to go into detail about the first of her touchstones—the protagonist. You probably think that’s rather obvious, but consider buddy stories like Thelma and Louise, Harold and Kumar, or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Maybe …

Aristotle Gave Us More than Philosophy

Ciao, SEers. Have you ever heard the term polymath? I had to dig deep into my college days to remember the definition. (We won’t discuss how long ago that was.) A polymath is a person with knowledge in a wide range of topics. Polymaths go far beyond the Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none level of understanding and experience. These …

A Deeper Look at Reader Guides

Good morning to all the Story Empire readers, PH here today with a topic you may not have thought about but probably should. I've touched on this subject in posts about using your meta-content (story bible) for dual purposes, but I wanted to revisit the idea of reader guides and the variety of information that …