DZ-32: High-Tension Sequences

How can you recreate the feeling of cinematic high-tension on the page? Chas & Stu take a close look at sequences of high-tension – the ones that make you lean forward in fear, or jump backwards in terror. Without camera angles, lighting, music or sound, how can screenwriters can evoke those emotions in readers using only the page? These […]

DZ-08: Status Transactions

How does a shift in status or power reveal character?

Stu and Chas explore an idea they both came across studying theatre: status and by extension (or juxtaposition) power. Is a story where a character changes status or experiences loss (or gains) in power more compelling?

In order to explore this source of drama, Stu and Chas limit themselves to scenes where the status or power of a character shifts without the writer resorting to violence or revelation or plot.