Month: January 2021

I was listening to Aaron Sorkin talk about writing and one of his favorite things to say is that the character must have a want and there must be an obstacle. The tactics used by the character show the character. You can’t just say who this person is it has to be demonstrated through their actions.

I was also thinking about theme recently because I’m editing a short film idea. One of the comments I got back was that there was no clear theme of the story. It made me think of themes in general which tend to repeat and it’s not like you need to reinvent the wheel. There’s probably 15 to 20 that come up a lot and I have a feeling writers reuse themes that they like. The theme could be more philosophical like the mind-body problem in the matrix. It could also be more basic like good versus evil.

I think a good source of themes can be found in fairytales and fables

A theme can basically a lesson. What is the lesson or the truth that you’re trying to teach. It could be a meditation on one word. Or a philosophical principle versus another. I

n Aesop‘s fables you have things like never give up, slow and steady wins the race, work hard and play hard, be happy with what you have, there’s always a way, ideas are good but execution is better, lead by example, you’re probably not that important, don’t underestimate yourself, learn from the failures of others, kindness wins people over, no act of kindness is ever wasted don’t always expect a reward. Especially when serving the wicked.

I think other things like : is it worth hurting one person to save others? Career versus family. I think that in my story with a cop who’s undercover you can do: is it worth blowing your cover in order to save an idiot? Is it at the end of the day. Is principled work worth it versus making money as a criminal. The story borrows from reservoir dogs. Some of the scenes and reservoir dogs are violence madness lies and deceit and loyalty. Also identity.

I was also thinking about conflict in stories – ones where there isn’t a big violent action scene there has to be a crisis of some kind a pitched crisis and they could be a big blowout fight usually also with something like a medical emergency. I’m thinking of that Thanksgiving movie.

Another idea his paranoia versus caution. I Kind of like that idea. Or each character represents also a theme. I think that’s what Tarantino dead in reservoir dogs.

Going back to the idea that Aaron Sorkin mentions the. What is the goal of the main character or each character and what is the obstacle.

I finished watching master and commander today. One thing that I noticed was that it follow some tried and true storytelling points.

First the story opened with the dramatic question. Will this boat capture or defeat the enemy boat. And there’s action right away with a sea battle. They lose but get away. They are badly damaged. It becomes clear that this enemy boat is much stronger and faster than them.

The captain has a flaw. He is tenacious and single minded to do his duty and capture the boat even if it is a great cost cost or high risk. This is brought out from his friend the Doctor, who believes more in prudence.

The way that the captain finally wins is by finally listening to his friend and taking a break. And the only way that he would listen to his friend, the doctor, is when his friend is accidentally shot and seriously wounded.

The doctor is close to death and if that moment the captain decides to turn the boat around and take him to an island so he can see some animals. This is in direct contrast to what the captain normally would do which is pursue the boat at all costs. Here he has made a choice to help his seriously injured friend.

It was on this island that the doctor finally is able to recuperate and heal himself. But at the same time the doctor makes a crucial discovery that the phantom boat is nearby. The doctor also provides the crucial hints as to how to defeat the enemy through his study of natural sciences. Specifically there is a bug that takes the form of nature in order to hide itself from predators.

This is ultimately what the captain uses to defeat the enemy boat.

There’s also a reversal at the end with the captain realizing that the enemy doctor was actually the enemy captain of the boat.

I can use the same structure regarding the internal flaw of the character in my own story. I don’t think I’ve clearly defined her flaw. Is it her desired to be accepted by her peers? Is it her dog in pursuit of things? Or her concern about what other people think? And if it’s one of those flaws how does that get used in the story? And how does she change?

It should be somehow related or maybe not that her flaw causes injury to her boyfriend. perhaps in her boyfriends injury she learns something new. I think to brainstorm more about it. The flaws worst and extreme form is the most negative thing about it – and a scene should be made around that to show a very dark moment.

One of the chief problems of stories is that they’re not interesting. I recently brainstormed a list of ways to make stories more interesting.

Character. Character is first and probably the most important way to make a story interesting. Notably this could apply to almost any writing. What makes a person unique or special or different or interesting will carry you a long way. I think also it would apply in a legal setting-meaning, to make a jury care about your client show the jury how your client is unique and interesting.

People will read listen and watch an interesting character in Mundane situations. People will watch an interesting character even if there is no conflict.

You can make a character interesting by adding flaws but also violating expectations.

Conflict. After character the next most important thing is conflict. I was recently watching that movie master and commander. Right away in the beginning they establish a conflict- this one mysterious boat that seems to be stronger and faster and hunting the protagonist. The first scenes have this conflict battle where the enemy boat nearly destroys the protagonist boat. Having this conflict early and established is key.

Stakes. Having clear stakes is also important to making a story interesting. I think that the stakes should be specific and external as well as internal. For example easy stakes are loss of life etc. But there should also be some internal stakes like overcoming some thing, identity, relationships etc. That comes up more in more artsy films. But even in a marvel type superhero movies there are stakes where the character has to make a choice and the choice could have internal consequences. For example do you kill one person to save 100. Do you abandon your friends and family in order to pursue your superhero goals?

Baggage. Baggage is character background and helps make a story interesting because it gives depth to the character and shows how they got there -why they’re thinking that way. I think Stephen King does this really well. He explores the characters backstory. Sometimes the it is not just the characters backstory but the setting and supporting character backstory.

Artistry. This can include cool visual scenes, cool literary effects, just general unique coolness. This comes up in movies where with interesting visual components. Interesting camera angles, interesting lighting. interesting costumes, interesting music. In writing it’s a little bit more difficult but you can do it with language varying there sentence length, choosing interesting words, interesting perspectives. Also interesting dialogue. And the use of rhetoric devices. Violate expectations.

Progression.things have to change, get worse, more complicated, and more interesting for a story to maintain interest. Progression of character, progression of stakes, progression of conflict all of that helps maintain interest. You can have progression of artistry as well. Progression of revelation.

As a sidenote. Attention is persuasion. If you lose the tension you cannot persuade. If you have attention even if it’s negative attention I believe that is persuasive. You maintain attention through being interesting. Stories are interesting.