Mastering the Art of Developing Story

Developing story is the process of expanding an idea for a film or TV script into a complete narrative. Whether you’re writing on spec or pitching ideas to studio executives, mastering the art of developing story will help you take your craft to the next level.

Story development involves identifying, fleshing out, and expanding key elements of your script: characters, themes, and settings. It also includes crafting a compelling arc and establishing character motivations. By understanding how to develop your story, you’ll be able to craft meaningful narratives that will resonate with audiences on a deeper level.

Themes play a critical role in both story development and character arcs. By aligning central themes with the protagonist’s inner journey, you can create a more cohesive and impactful narrative. For example, a theme such as transformation or personal growth can be reflected in the arc of a character throughout the course of the story, showcasing their change or growth by the end.

Once you’ve identified a strong theme for your story, it’s time to begin mapping out your plot. Start with the hook or inciting incident, which is an event that exposes your protagonist’s flaws or weaknesses and sets them on a path to resolve them. Raise the stakes with each new obstacle and challenge that your protagonist faces, leading up to the midpoint where a significant turning point will shake up the narrative and set the stage for the climax.

What Is an Editorial?

Editorial is content that informs and educates without promoting a specific product or service. It can be a valuable asset to your content strategy because it positions your company as a thought leader, establishes credibility and boosts the buyer’s journey by providing valuable information.

There are many different kinds of editorials, and the one you choose to use depends on your goals and audience. For example, entertainment editorials are often light in nature and cover topics like pop culture, fashion or television. They can also feature articles focused on celebrity news, book releases or movie reviews. Critique editorials are usually opinion-focused, and they aim to influence the reader or inspire solutions to a problem. Tribute editorials are often focused on praise and recognition for someone or something.

Regardless of the type of editorial you select, it is important to have clear and defined procedures in place so your team can create high-quality content that aligns with your overall marketing strategy. This includes creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and workflows that guide content professionals through the process of producing a blog, social media post or other type of editorial. It is also a good idea to establish a set of guidelines for editorial pieces, including the format, tone and subject matter.

Once you have determined the types of editorials your organization will produce, you can start identifying gaps in your content library by performing a content audit and doing research into publishers that may be able to license the editorial pieces you need. This will help you to grow your editorial content and gain access to new audiences that might not have found your site otherwise.