Navigating Screenplays and News

Structure is the fundamental skeleton of every story ever told, so why does it flummox so many writers? John and Craig outline what structure really is, ways to find it in your story, and how to keep it from tying your brain in knots.

We also look at ways to find nuance in our appreciation of movies, follow up on erotic fiction, and answer listener questions on how to work with a director and point of view shots.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig measure the helpfulness of their wearable body monitors.

Links:

• Weekend Read on the App Store
• Oscar nominations 2025
• IVF Mixup movies: Parallel Mothers, Maybe Baby, Good Newwz, Daughter from Another Mother
• Manhunt
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
• How to like everything more by Sasha Chapin
• Growing a Human: The First 30 Weeks by Maggie Appleton
• 2024 Player’s Handbook
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Threads and Instagram
• John August on BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, and Mastodon
• Outro by Guy Fee (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.