by Bill Johnson

This site offers writers new ideas on the essential elements of storytelling through reviews of popular novels, plays, and screenplays that explore the a story is a promise concept.

--Bill Johnson

Site Awards

Study Web Award

Key Web Resource Award

Principles of Storytelling

Perceiving the Foundation of Storytelling

Embedding Story Ideas in Action

Writing Down a Story's Spine

Novel Reviews that Explore Story Structure

Environment as Character, Notes on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

Conveying a Character's Journey on the First Page of a Novel

All the Light We Cannot See, Complex Story, Simple Questions

Writing About Class in Ameria, notes on The Great Gatsby

Movie Reviews that Explore Principles of Storytelling

Arrival, Using a Timeline to Tell a Story

Shawshank Redemption, Writing to a Dramatic Purpose

Premise and Mystery, a review of The Usual Suspects

Play Reviews that Explore Principles of Creating Drama

Romeo and Juliet, the Power and Passion of Love and Hate, a beat by beat review of Act One

Narrative Tension of Hamlet

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the Power of Ambiguity

Play Productions

Bill Johnson Play Productions

(6/28/2024. I unexpectedly ended up in a recovery mode before I could complete a transition to a new host. As I'm able, I will recreate a slimmer web site on Host Gator.

Bill Johnson).