Story Compass ®
Story Structure Tutorial (12 minutes)
Story Compass ® is a writer's utility that guides you through the structure of a screenplay. It consolidates a wealth of insight and wisdom from professional writers, teachers and screenwriting mentors in a simple interface for easy access as you write. It was spawned through my own need for a tool like this, and evolved into a labor-of-love over the past few years.
It's been a huge help in getting me through the rough spots in my own projects, with clear milestones and turning points marked along the way - and it quells that uneasy feeling you get when you think you might have missed an important opportunity or twist in your story. Now I'm happy to finally release it in a form that others can benefit from as well.
AND... with the timing function you can evaluate movies in real time to witness and prove (or disprove) these structural theories for yourself as you watch a film. I hope you find it as useful as I have.
NOTE: I am not advocating a paint-by-numbers approach to screenwriting. While some writers subscribe to these principles religiously, you can choose to embrace, ignore, or simply just consider these structural concepts as viable options to help you out of the woods when you feel lost. You still possess the creative authority to do exactly as you choose (and ignore the suggestions altogether if you don't agree)! It is intended only as a GUIDE to help you stay on track with reliable, time-tested story advice for those times of uncertainty.
IN-APP TUTORIAL
This is the DETAILED tutorial inside the app that walks you through all features, functions and workflow.
Length: 5 minutes
David Schaub interviewed by Pilar Alessandra for ON THE PAGE ® podcast. THE MAGICAL NUMBER THREE (ep. 475) and STORY COMPASS ® app.
VERSION 2.0 - Release notes
Added feature to start the clock at any location around the timeline.
Length: 1:08
Temporarily paused
* PAUSED * on the App Store pending program updates.
Keeping up with Apple's ever-evolving iOS requirements and system changes has been challenging, but we hope to revisit this soon and get it back online!