This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Nightmares. (Season 1, Episode 10 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) Along with story structure and plot turns, this episode covers the way the writers escalate conflict to maximize the characters' pain and how Nightmares foreshadows many significant emotional arcs in the series. As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in Nightmares In this podcast episode we’ll look at: Plot Turns   ...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: The Puppet Show. (Season 1, Episode 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) In addition to plot turns, we'll talk about (1) how characters on the protagonist's side can still push against her and create conflict; (2) the excellent use of hints and red herrings while still playing fair; (3) a new character opposed to Buffy who might or might not be evil (Principal Snyder!), a replacement character who is very different from his predecessor (also Snyder). As ...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: I, Robot...You, Jane. (Season 1, Episode 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) This podcast episode covers using prologues to raise the stakes, whether the demon here is a compelling antagonist, and how I, Robot weaves in action in quick bursts. As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in I, Robot In this podcast episode we’ll look at: Raising the stakes through a prologue   Learning a...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: The Pack, Season 1, Episode 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode includes how to build the character of the victim to make the loss greater while misdirecting the audience regarding who the victim will be. As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in The Pack In this podcast episode we'll look at how The Pack handles: All major plot points Creating a victim the audience likes...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date. (Season 1, Episode 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) The podcast episode covers interweaving plot lines, theme, and cliffhangers versus game changers. As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning). Story Elements in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date In this podcast episode we’ll look at how Buffy handles: All the major plot turns in this standalone episode How the d...