Tag: story making

So it’s been a while…

July 13, 2020

Oh, hi there!

WARNING: Writer trying to be productive

Glad you’re still here. Yes, I know it’s been a while, since I posted here. (The irony of providing web content creation services to clients while neglecting your own…)

I honestly expected this time to be super-productive and to come out of lockdown with a stack of hot, polished ready-to-sell scripts that would pave the way for my decades-long illustrious writing career.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had to drastically lower my expectations.

Okay so not quite the pile of scripts I planned, but in between binge watching Netflix and Hulu, I haven’t been completely idle.

LOCKDOWN ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE:

  1. MEDIUM – I’ve been writing a lot on Medium. You can read my stuff here. I’ll warn you – it’s a little bit uncomfortable, sometimes taboo and very racy. Not what you’d expect from me, I guess. But I’ve been getting a lot of positive and encouraging responses. The stuff I’ve written has really resonated with some people. Even if it’s not something you want to talk about at family dinners.
  2. PATREON– I would love you to be my patron on Patreon! My dream is to earn a living off my pen. A little support with this would be invaluable. Rest assured – it’s a two-way street! In return for your support, I offer you mine – help unlocking your creativity, getting your ideas flowing, maybe helping you just to do that simple thing of giving yourself permission to be creative for a few minutes each day. Being creative can be lonely. Let’s do it together!
  3. THE ARTISTS WAY – After hearing all my friends talk about this book for YEARS. I finally bit the bullet and bought it. After a few more years, took it off the shelf, dusted it off and started reading it. Now I’m doing morning pages. EVERY DAY. I’m taking myself on dates – learning how to surf, going to the beach, scuba. I’m adding fun and play to my sometimes monotonus weeks – and it’s HELPING. Ideas, blog topics, stories are starting to swirl around my head again.
  4. INSPIRING OTHERS – From my conversations with fellow creatives and what I’ve learned from “The Artists Way”, I’m pretty good at this. I like to mix a bit of practical magic, with some of the tricks and tools I picked up in my years as a copywriter – when I often had to write 20 ads a day and be creative – FAST. A huge part of actually creating for me is getting over the fear of not being good enough, letting go of the idea that everything must be instantly perfect and giving myself permission to play. And sharing it with you, helps me too.
  5. FIRST DRAFT OF A HORROR (yes it’s horrific – and not in a good way, like I said, I’m letting go of the idea of everything being instantly perfect)
  6. OUTLINE FOR A PILOT

LOCKDOWN TO-DO LIST

  1. Do ONE complete un-assisted chin-up on my chin-up bar.
  2. KEEP WRITING
  3. INSPIRE OTHERS
  4. BUILD MY RELATIONSHIPS

Originally I was also planning on losing 10 pounds, getting super-fit and looking like a supermodel, but since I barely leave the house anyways, there didn’t seem to be much point.

Anyway, that’s where I’ve been. If I’m not on here, you can find me on Medium and join me on Patreon.

What about you?

Location, location, location

October 14, 2019

I was at Costco on the weekend – something I usually try to avoid at all costs – and it was packed as usual. Teeming with dazed looking Dads, mission-charged Moms with long lists and determined expressions, huge families with frazzled parents (grandparents in tow) roping their multiple kids in as pack mules to maneuverer overfilled carts. Chaotic consumerism at its finest.

In the midst of it all, was this couple in their mid-30s standing next to a display of baby blankets. They were completely frozen – locked in their own world, oblivious to the impatient masses streaming around them. The man was leaning into the woman, hand on her arm and he was murmuring intensely. She was nodding. Fighting back tears. Her face immobile. Eventually, she gave a small smile, he squeezed her hand, gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek and they slowly moved along. Neither of them, saw me watching. A private moment on display for everyone to see. But nobody did – they were also locked in their own worlds.

When I was battling a bout of depression (years ago now), I did a lot of my crying on public transport. For me, this was the perfect solution to the overwhelming sadness that needed to be expressed – I didn’t want to be a downer and constantly cry to my friends, but I also didn’t want to cry alone (interestingly enough, I don’t recall anyone ever asking me if I was alright).

Are you seeing where I’m going with this yet? My point is how much a particular location can add to and emphasize your story. Some people enjoy sex in public because of the risks involved in possibly getting caught. In the same way, two characters having a very private moment in public can also add dramatic tension to a scene. Will a kind stranger intervene? Will everyone notice? Will someone shame them for yelling at each other? Or do they lower their voices and lean in so no one can hear them?

A bigger location doesn’t necessarily mean a more dramatic scene either. A confined location can equally add tension. I’ve been stuck in a car at the Mexico border, with someone in the passenger seat consistently screaming angrily at me. For hours. People in neighboring cars occasionally glanced over with curiosity, but no one intervened. I had no escape and no way of getting them out of my car. I just sat there with tears rolling down my cheeks, waiting for them to get tired and stop. Normally, in any sort of argument, I could walk away. Or kick them out of the car. But not this time. In this instance, the setting (my car at the Mexican-US border) added another layer of tension to an already volatile situation and I was trapped by circumstance. When you write a scene, think about how the location or setting can add tension or emphasize the general theme of your story. (Another good example is the fight scene in the elevator in Captain America: The Winter Soldier – just don’t write a spec script with a bunch of characters stuck in an elevator – it’s such an overused device these days).

Anyway, that was a little insight my recent trip to Costco brought me. The resultant slow-cooker pot roast turned out pretty good too (totally worth it).

Now let’s write.

How are your characters feeling?

July 23, 2019

To me, how your characters are feeling – the emotional core of their journey – is just as important as structure, if not more. It’s the heart and soul of any script or story, the main driver for our characters, and what motivates them into action. In broad strokes: characters feel things, and in order to change the things they feel strongly about (or the situation that causes their strong feelings), they take actions, which have consequences, which result in personal growth, a change in outcome or a change in how they feel. Just like us, really.

In classic Westerns, our hero is motivated to go on a quest to seek bloody revenge as a result of some sort of devastating personal loss – the brutal death of their wife/brother/sister/father/mother etc. Their emotional core is anger/betrayal/grief. And it drives them ever onwards into darker and bloodier confrontations. In Aliens, Ripley feels a strong maternal bond for Newt, so she takes on the aliens, risking her life to save her (and her crew). In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is bored with rural farming, and then despondent after the death of his Aunt and Uncle, so he agrees to go on a quest with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

What I’m really getting at here, is what actually motivates the character to act in the first place? What feelings are they having that motivates them to take x, y or z action and what are the consequences? How do they feel about the consequences? For me, what makes a compelling story is understanding how a character feels in each scene. Even if I don’t agree with their behavior or particularly like the character, being able to understand where they’re coming from is important if I’m to be able to engage with their story at all.

Adding another level, sometimes what makes a scene even more compelling is watching a character struggling to take action in spite of how they feel (something we all have to do on a daily basis). One of my favorite examples of this, is Love Actually. Emma Thompson’s character sneakily opens a jewelry box in her husband’s coat to find a gold necklace. She’s excited and touched – convinced he’s finally giving her the romantic Christmas present she’s always hoped for. But later, under the Christmas tree, he hands her a similar shaped box, which she excitedly opens to reveal… a Joni Mitchell CD. And her face falls. In the bedroom, behind closed doors, she fights back tears, before she pulls herself together and re-joins her family in the living room, hiding her breaking heart from her children with big hugs and smiles.

Her obvious struggle to appear happy and grateful, against her realization that her husband is likely having an affair and the gold necklace is intended for someone else, is highly emotional and compelling. The fact she’s fighting down her true feelings of sadness, raises the stakes and makes the scenes even more dramatic. These scenes also remind me that moments don’t have to be BIG and LOUD to be impactful, emotional and dramatic. Sometimes the most drama comes from seeing a character fight their true feelings and hide it from the people around them. Watching someone on screen trying not to cry, can be much more compelling than watching someone just all-out sobbing – their own internal struggle adding another layer of tension.

(Love Actually is actually one of my favorite films for this reason – I understand and know how each character is feeling in every scene.)

Personally, when I first start breaking a story, I start with the emotional core or journey of the main character. Where are they at the start? What do they want? How do they get it? And what do they get at the end? In really broad strokes, I assign it to an act and sort of overlay a structure. E.g: They feel out of place => they want to fit in => they do a, b or c => d, e and f, h, i and j gets thrown in, but eventually they find w, x, y and feel z.

When I get to the scene writing/breaking stage, I’m always asking myself: How does the character feel about what’s going on in this scene? What are they going to do about it? I know we like to believe us humans are practical and logical creatures, but the truth is we are often driven by our emotions (whether we realize it or not). For my characters to be more realistic and relatable, they have to be human too. So that means they need to have emotions and be motivated by them as much as we are.

It’s very easy when writing to get into the “and then she does this” and “then this happens” and to have a story driven by plot. Plot is essential, don’t get me wrong, but if the plot isn’t driven by the character’s motivations and their underlying emotions, then it can feel a bit contrived. You know, kind of cookie-cutter-paint-by-numbers, formulaic. It won’t be as engaging. Sometimes when I’m stuck, if I focus on what the character’s feeling in a particular scene, this will often lead to what they would do, which will help unlock a new and more natural way to drive the plot forward – other than what I might have already outlined.

So, how do you and your characters feel about that?