I recently had the privilege of interviewing Michael Hauge – story consultant, author and lecturer who works with screenwriters, novelists, filmmakers and executives. He has coached writers, producers, stars and directors on projects for Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon and Morgan Freeman, and is currently on retainer with Will Smith’s company, Overbrook Productions, where he was involved in the development of I AM LEGEND, HANCOCK and THE KARATE KID.

I asked him some meaty questions and got some fantastic and thorough answers, with practical tips for all writers to apply to their own writing, such as how to give your book ‘movie-potential’, which Hollywood films are good for writers to watch and analyse, and how his six stage plot structure creates a successful story.

Some gems I got from the interview:

– Give your protagonist a ‘visible’ goal to work towards and then put seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his/her way.

– Read screenplays to learn ways of ‘showing versus telling’.

– A great tool to add credibility to a story is to use a reflection character (see the interview for explanation).

Check out the complete interview here, it is a wealth of great information!

🙂