I’m Jill Chamberlain, a script consultant, screenwriting teacher, and story specialist. In my work with writers and producers, I discovered something consistent and surprising: about 99% of writers aren’t actually telling a story. What the 99% are doing instead is presenting a situation.
Scenes happen. Characters react. Events accumulate. But the deeper dramatic engine that transforms a situation into a story — one that creates meaning, momentum, and emotional payoff — is missing.
I created the Nutshell Technique to make that difference unmistakably clear. The method shows writers exactly what separates a situation from a story, and how to transform one into the other. Rather than relying on vague instincts or rigid formulas, it reveals the underlying dramatic logic successful screenplays share and shows writers how to apply it directly to their own work.
The Nutshell Technique:
Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting
What the Nutshell Technique Does
The Nutshell Technique enables writers and producers to:
✓ See the difference between a situation and a story
✓ Identify structural weaknesses early in the development process
✓ Shift focus from guessing about structure to executing it
✓ Write fewer drafts by solving story problems at the source
About the Book
In 2016, University of Texas Press published my book, The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting. In a crowded and often contradictory field of screenwriting manuals, the book quickly distinguished itself for its clarity, precision, and practical usefulness.
The book is widely used by professional screenwriters and is embraced by Oscar, BAFTA, Emmy, and Sundance winners. It has since been translated into Italian, Russian, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese, and is also available as an audiobook.
The Nutshell Technique is taught in film schools and writing programs around the world, including leading institutions such as UCLA and Columbia University.
In the book, I use clear diagrams and step-by-step analysis to demonstrate how the Nutshell Technique operates beneath a wide range of successful films, showing how seemingly dissimilar screenplays are driven by the same underlying story system. Readers learn to diagnose structural problems early, correct them at the source, and move forward with confidence.
The result is a method that allows writers to stop guessing about structure and start writing stories that work.
Learn the Nutshell Technique
Work Directly with the Creator of the Nutshell Technique
The Nutshell Technique can be learned through the book—or applied directly through my consulting and instruction.