After watching that video from yesterday’s post, I delved back into Robert McKee’s book and found an awesome quote I thought was a great reminder for all screenwriters.

“The function of STRUCTURE is to provide progressively building pressures that force characters into more and more difficult dilemmas where they must make more and more difficult risk-taking choices and actions, gradually revealing their true natures, even down to the unconscious self.”

This is the single most crushing aspect most screenwriters forget when writing or plotting their screenplay.

Screenwriters are quick to default to the three-act structure and forget about honing their structure further as a major player in the story. You can always tell when a screenwriter didn’t pay much attention to the progression of the structure when their screenplay only has four or five strong points throughout the read … the opening, the first turning point, mid-point, second turning point, and ending.

Structure is way more than those four to five points!

Think of it as a loose rubber-band you’ve wrapped around your wrist … the more times you wrap it around, the tighter it becomes.

That’s how structure should feel in your screenplay.