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This blog was originally posted on March 11, 2016.

In this newly discoSTC!_PodcastDvered audio, Blake Snyder describes the components of Monster in the House, Golden Fleece, Out of the Bottle, Dude with a Problem, Rites of Passage, Buddy Love, Whydunit, Fool Triumphant, and Institutionalized.

Unfortunately, the tape ends before he finishes Institutionalized and even begins the tenth genre: Superhero.

Here are the three components of Superhero:
1) the hero of your tale must have a special power — even if it’s just a mission to be great or do good;
2) the hero must be opposed by a Nemesis, of equal or greater force, who is the “self-made” version of the hero; and
3) there must be a curse for the hero that he either surmounts or succumbs to as the price for who he is.

Blake uses a bunch of terms in this podcast, like naif and half man, that pertain to specific genres. Next week’s blog will be a glossary of these terms.