So I read a lot of projects-to-be. These are scripts, outlines, treatments, etc, etc, etc. These are sometimes based on pre-existing stories, sometimes not. Sometimes these are written by pros, sometimes not. But if I had to say what the #1 failing of these documents is, over my career? Meanness. Read more…
There’s a screenwriting book called “Save The Cat.” It’s called that because the author, a screenwriter, talks about how every script should have a “save the cat” moment, where the audience learns that their protagonist is a good guy or gal. Now that’s not bad advice, but it is a Read more…
Deep Story thought of the day. Surprise. Surprise in some form is intrinsic in story. “I went to the grocery store and I bought a gallon of milk.” That ain’t a story. That’s a flat line. When that line bends, the story begins. “I went to the grocery store, and Read more…
Today’s Deep Story moment. Today we’re gonna talk about hooks. Which are hard to talk about because hooks are not science. They’re not even art. They’re alchemy. Voodoo. The blackest of magic. But they’re also one of the most important elements of story. The average novel today is around 90,000 Read more…
Today’s Deep Story moment. Congruity vs. Incongruity. People often ask me if there’s any story I cannot tell. I often talk about authenticity, about how my life experience probably isn’t broad enough to tell deep truths from another culture if that’s the focus of a particular story. But there’s another Read more…