This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Surprise (Season 2 Episode 13 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), the first of a two-part story:

This podcast episode covers (1) hooks that keep the audience coming back - especially when the episode ends; (2) exposition through conflict; (3) snappy dialogue that makes drama more intense by contrast; and (4) how the full story arc's plot points intersect the turns in Surprise.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Last Week: Bad Eggs

Next Up: Innocence (Part 2 of a 2-Part Episode)

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More Episode Links

Catch up on Season One with the book edition of Buffy and the Art of Story Season One: Writing Better Fiction by Watching Buffy.

Tech help for Authors from Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader.

Book 1 in The Awakening Supernatural Thriller Series free on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, GooglePlay, and AppleBooks.

Or download and listen from Audible.

Where You Can Find The DVDs

Season 2 Buffy DVDs

Buffy DVD Complete Box Set

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About Lisa M. Lilly

In addition to hosting the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story, Lisa M. Lilly is the author of the bestselling four-book Awakening supernatural thriller series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries, as well as numerous short stories. She also writes non-fiction, including books on writing craft, under L.M. Lilly. She is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.

Episode Transcript for Surprise

Hello and welcome to Buffy and the Art of Story Season Two. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories – or just taking them apart to see how they work – you’re in the right place.

I am Lisa M Lilly, author of the Awakening supernatural thriller series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com

Today we're talking about Season Two Episode Thirteen, Surprise. It is the first of a two-part storyline.

What’s Included

In particular, I’ll talk about:

the strong hooks in this episode the keep the audience coming back after commercial breaks;

what you can learn from them about keeping your readers hooked;

the use of conflict to catch audience members up on major developments that haven't been mentioned in the last couple episodes;

the fantastic dialogue here and how its wit and humor makes the danger and drama more intense by contrast; and

how the plot points for this single episode interplay with those of the tw- episode story arc to keep the story moving and engaging.

As always, there will be no Spoilers except at the end to talk about foreshadowing, but I'll give you plenty of warning.

Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.

Aurprise was written by Marti Noxon and directed by Michael Lange.

Because it is the first part of the two-part story which ends in Innocence, we will get only to the Midpoint of that story and will pick up there next Monday.

Opening Conflict In Surprise

We start with our opening conflict. Buffy is in bed, but she wakes up during the night, seeming restless, and drinks some water. She goes out into the hall. Drusilla appears behind her.