The End?

Recently a fellow aspiring screenwriter reached out to me on social media. She was having problems with figuring out the details of her story and asked for advice on how to develop her story ending.

Like me she is far removed from the security of Hollywood’s screenwriting community, in fact, she doesn’t even live in the United States. Our common bond inspired me to share an unusual plotting technique I learned myself from other screenwriters earlier this year.

Reverse Plotting

Reverse plotting may seem counterintuitive, but once you’ve tried it the benefits reap dividends. Even with my current revision of an older screenplay, it helped me.

• Create new plot turns.
• Create new characters.
• Flush out existing characters.
• Develop clear subplots.
• Improving the flow of my narrative.
• Enhance my take away.

If you’re struggling with any of these in your screenwriting, read this post carefully to give your story a more satisfying resolution in the end. I don’t understand how some movies ever got the green light with endings so bad. Here is a couple to give you an idea of bad resolutions.

1. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull- 
2. Savages-

Resolution?

In the writing process, the resolution is the final element in storytelling. Its primary function is to tie together the previous elements into a proper conclusion.

1. Exposition- Setting, characters and timing.
2. Rising action- crisis or conflict
3. Climax- The height of her story that results in a change of character or protagonists biggest test.
4. Falling action- Tying up loose ends or subplots
5. Resolution-where the initial conflict is resolved and the protagonist achieves their ultimate goal.

In reverse plotting, we start with resolution and work backward. It’s a lot like drawing a B and leaving a blank space before A, now the writer must fill in the blanks with the proper steps to show where our protagonist has come from and their struggle to get where they want to be. Somewhere along the way clarify our protagonist’s purpose.

Obviously, a story’s resolution is important. Robert McKee explains, “All films need a resolution as a courtesy to the audience.”[i] As 2018 comes to an end many people already working on coming up with a New Year’s resolution for 2019. They will start the year knowing where they want to be at the end of the year and then spend the next 12 months trying to get there. They’re using a type of reverse plotting; starting next month they will decide what steps need to be taken to get them to where they want to be. Their resolution is more than just an answer it’s their next goal.

Next?

Movies with satisfying endings answer the questions we first develop at the beginning of the story. They also let us know if this is the end of our protagonist’s journey and possibly clues us into what’s next.

However, there are times when storytellers in films don’t want to let us know if there’s more to the story in a film’s resolution. These cliffhanger endings are common in sci-fi movies, superhero films, and other genres as well. A couple of good examples of this are.

1. The Star Wars saga
2. The Avengers Infinity War  

In these types of films, stories are so complex the conflict continues through a series of films before the final resolution comes to the end.

[i] Mckee, Story:Style, Structure, Substance. HarperCollins, 1997. E-book.

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.