UPDATES & BREAKDOWNS!
Top 3 breakdowns to catch up on, to be specific.
Before you start thinking that I’m a lazy, irresponsible slacker who’s skipping yet another weekly breakdown, let me say that I have a few exciting things planned for Games Writers Play.
Audio versions of the articles will be back. And not just back — they’re becoming a full-on podcast you’ll be able to get on your favorite podcast platforms! For now, I’ll stick to a similar format of breaking down scenes, but in the future — who knows, I do have a few industry friends to call upon…
(Now you’re free to think that I’m a lazy, irresponsible slacker)
And there will be more. But since I don’t yet have a time frame for “more”, why don’t you catch up on some of the favorites?
Top 3, if I say so myself:
1. How NOT to Write Your Climax — skepticals on for Devil Wears Prada 2
The one teardown in the pile. We break down the Effort Gap (activity ≠ effort): why a climax that’s all frantic phone calls and smash-cuts lands as a shrug instead of a triumph. Plus the Zillmann bit on how a montage whispers “inevitable” and quietly murders your suspense. Come for the science, stay for me sobbing into my pillow over $678 million I’ll never see.
2. How to Set Up a Romantic Interest — a romance masterclass hiding inside The Bourne Identity (yes, seriously)
How Bourne and Marie go from a $20k transaction to a couple you’re rooting for before a single romantic beat happens. Grounded in real intimacy research: perceived partner responsiveness, self-disclosure, and trust as the willingness to be vulnerable. No kissing required.
3. How to Write Effective Dialogue — two hitmen and a bench in In Bruges
A whole scene that’s secretly about the one thing nobody says out loud: Ray quietly begging permission to forgive himself. We break down the three levers doing the work — the Worldview Window (characters speaking in opinions and stories, not facts), goal-driven subtext that turns you into a social detective decoding every line, and the tension–release rhythm where a dumb bit about a karate-fighting lollipop man makes the gut-punch hit twice as hard. Proof you can pin an audience with zero blocking and two guys on a bench.
Until next week.
When you won’t have to read anymore — just listen to me read. Isn’t that the dream?