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Guides to story structure and screenwriting, from the team behind the Throughline App.

• Dan Harmon's Story Circle, explained

  Dan Harmon's Story Circle in eight steps: you, need, go, search, find, take, return, change. What each step means, a worked example, and how to use it.

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• Kurt Vonnegut's shapes of stories

  Kurt Vonnegut drew stories as curves of good and bad fortune. His best-known shapes, the 2016 study that tested them, and how to draw the shape of your own story.

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• How to outline a screenplay with index cards

  Outline a screenplay with index cards: one scene per card, laid out in acts on a board or table. What to write on the cards, how to lay them out, and what to look for.

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• What do (MORE) and (CONT'D) mean in a screenplay?

  (MORE) and (CONT'D) mark dialogue that's split across a page break or interrupted by action. What they mean, how to format them, and when to leave them out.

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• What is a throughline?

  A throughline is the thread that runs through a story from the first scene to the last. What it means, where the word comes from, how to spell it, and how to find the one in your own script.

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