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I was thinking about Ali Abdaal and he has great productivity podcasts. He had recommended some software recently that I tried to increase productivity but it was not solving my main problem. It is very easy to be distracted. The only solution I have really found that works for me is to create barriers to the distraction.

So for example:

1. Remove social media from my phone. For the most part I don’t have any social media on my phone. Every once in awhile I’ll download it for some really *important* reason that I can’t remember now. And then I find that I have spent hours scrolling through it wasting my time again. And then I remove it again.
2. Block Safari and any web access on my phone. I found that I will use Safari to access social media including twitter. So the only solution that works is to block safari now. I use Apple’s built in screentime to do that. I find that I don’t default to check the news on Safari.
3. Set up software on my laptop to limit access to the web. I used StayFocused. It will let me block all website except a handful so that I can not get distracted when I’m working on something tedious for work.
4. Even better – I will often turn off my phone altogether when working.

The phone is really an unbelievably addictive device that serves up dopamine hits and makes sure we are never bored again. But as many people have already discussed, boredom is necessary to give our brains a break and let us dream a little.

When the default is junk food, we will eat more junk food. When the default is a phone in your pocket with access to everything all the time, we will be distracted by it more often.

So if you are trying to quit booze or eat less chips, don’t buy it or have it around you. Same thing with your phone.

Forget about habit tracking software on your phone. And forget about productivity software unless it blocks your distractions. Try going offline.

I don’t want more software or more reasons to use my phone – even if the intention is to make me more productive. I want to use my phone less.

The show went for three seasons yet has such an intriguing and unique format. It could be because I also just like shows with constraints and seeming low budget. Shows that have a lot of voice and character. Something I have never seen before.

There was one episode that I liked, and apparently, a lot of other people did also: the show about Risotto.

Like the other episodes, it begins with: Hello New York. It’s a shout out to a person. It’s written like it’s a letter or an email to New York as a whole but also intimate feeling, like it is to one person. The show uses the second person. It is shot in a first person style. You rarely see the narrator. But the narrator speaks in the second person about himself. And he uses the format of self help – a how to guide for life. Which is smart because the only thing people seem to care about are how to / self help / make money / get a six pack type content. So he cleverly wraps the show in that. But people are also drawn to personal stories about relationships and interpersonal drama. Which the show also has. In fact that is really what it is. A sort of journal disguised in self help how to guru stuff.

Then when he gets into the how to he goes on an odyssey to solve the problem but inevitably gets lost down a rabbit hole, talking with some random person who often reveals some deeply personal information that in turn is the key to Mr. Wilson solving the REAL dilemma the show is about.

So the how to cook risotto episode is actually about his landlady who is almost a motherly figure to him. I found the script for the show. So let’s analyze it a little.

It’s about 3789 words.

It begins with an introduction about how nice is landlady is to him. Tto show is appreciation, he wants to cook her risotto. The intro is about 247 words.

After the intro, there is a little back story, research-type content about the Risotto dish. He then goes on a tangent about learning Italian to respect the dish more. After that, he researches how to make risotto by going on youtube. And he picks up some funny tips like keeping a risotto journal.

After some research he heads out into his neighborhood to look for someone who can help him make risotto. This is where magic starts to happen. He meets random people who expose their quirks. We are about 500 words in. Of course, after the lesson in Risotto, the person he randomly found tells him some personal quirk which happens to be about aliens. After he has “heard enough,” the narrator now attempts to make the risotto on his own. We are about 100 words in. With 3789, we are getting to close to a midpoint, which should be around 1800-1900 words.

It turns out that he can’t make the risotto despite multiple attempts, and he appears distracted with cat vomit and eBay listings. He thinks the problems may have to do with the lack of nicotine which is the doorway to talk about his smoking addiction.

So he decides in order to make the risotto which has failed – he has a new plan: to perfect the art of quitting first. And this is fairly close to the midpoint. As he goes down this new tangent about quitting vaping, he ends up talking to a guy who had a lot of exhaust blowing out of his truck. It turns out this was intentional. And as he is talking to the guy about his “addiction” to blowing smoke out of his car – he notices a bag of chips looks very inflated. This leads him on another tangent to try and pop the bag by going higher and higher in the atmosphere. And he keeps going onto this target until he realizes that he hasn’t thought about nicotine or vaping. He has beat his habit and now he is ready to make risotto. This is 2259 of 3789 words. About 60%.

So he’s back to making the risotto. As he is looking for new cookware, he also notices that the COVID strain seems to be appearing. People are taking action about it. The market is overloaded with long lines, which makes it hard for him to get ingredients.

So, even with his new plan, he still fails. It is a low point. 2821 words of 3789. Just about 75%. The end of the third act? All is lost? Does this follow screenwriting formulas? Like so much that is enjoyable?

Now everything is changing, and the time alone is making him appreciate time with his landlady even more. He debates trying to make the risotto even more until there is a new twist. His landlady is in an ambulance. 3379 out of 3789 words or 89% of the way through. Things are spiraling out of control even more.

Is the lesson to have taken more action when he had the chance? Because the world seems upside down now. And no one knows the rules. Everything he learned in other episodes doesn’t seem to matter. The new lesson: his idea of perfection doesn’t matter. He should do what feels right. He might have to relearn everything he thought he knew.

And that’s the end of the episode.

I asked ChatGPT for it’s analysis of the show and it mentioned the subtle narrative arc and tangents also. So I guess I’m on the right track.

To make compelling television, or a story, or a visual essay, even seemingly unique and usual shows, follow a traditional narrative arc. There is conflict, drama, obstacles and lessons learned. Relationships and how he interacts in the world form the foundation of what people want to see and read.

Even cool concept stories need the foundation of an interpersonal relationship story – and seemingly boring concepts can be made interesting by exploring interpersonal relationships.

I watched some of the new season of Love and Robots on Netflix and the first “episode” caught my attention. It had very tight economical story telling. The introduction to the world with elderly people and robots caring for them. The main character doing yoga, the dog, the neighbor cleaning his gun, the robot. They were all introduced well, minimal dialogue. Also their introductions hinted at future events. The yoga is eventually helpful in killing the robot. The neighbor’s gun is also helpful.

I looked it up and it was based on a short story by John Scalzi. You can find it here. Interestingly, the short story focused on the customer service line automated voice. It was also posted in 2018. It doesn’t seem to introduce the protagonist or neighbor, or the elderly town section.

It is interesting to note the difference between a short story that works and a short film that works. The short story is a clear narrative voice. The short film opens with setting then intro the characters. Then the problem. The customer service line doesn’t come in until later.

Another note is the quick reversals like the neighbor about to blast the robot with the shotgun, then getting electrocuted.

I was watching a video by Ali Abdaal and he mentioned a serendipity vehicle which is a term coined by David Perrell (I believe that’s his name. It’s a cool concept for what happens when you put your work out there. Which I believe because it has happened to me. I wasn’t necessarily writing on the internet but creating things and sharing it with people. As a result, people, outside my sphere of influence, started contacting me.

Goals for staff. Yesterday I reviewed goals for my staff. I think that was helpful and I gave them goals to work on. And I explained why the goals are important for the firm. I think he got it.

Marketing concepts (again). Impressions. Being in front of the right people at the right time with the right message. Telling stories. Being entertaining. Or at least engaging.

The discipline to write everyday. I get distracted. I want to work on deadlines to relieve stress. I should be delegating more and I’m getting better about that. Also to focus on kpi’s which is demands and content. First! Like exercise first! Lots of reminders. Reminder plus reminders. I should put reminders on my monitor. I should put it on my door. In my phone.

Process for demand letters. First review Medical records, bills, insurance payments , formulate reasonable settlement range. Figure out costs. Then discuss with client to get authority. Then make demand and negotiate.

Content ideas. 10 ideas. Look at Ali Abdaal topics. Look at Ali Awad topics. Stories. Past case stories. Mystery.

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.

Audible

1. The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger
2. The Story Gird, Shawn Coyne
3. Show Dog, Phil Knight
4. The Go-Giver, Bob Burg
5. The 5 Essentiaal People Skills, Dale Carnegie
6. 33 strategies of war, Robert Greene
7. Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller
8. Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson
9. Scientific Advertising, Claude Hopkins
10. Robert Collier Letter Book, Robert Collier
11. Ultimate Sales Letter, Dan Kennedy
12. The $12 Million Stuffed Shark, Don Thompson
13. This Naked Mind, Annie Grace
14. The MasterMind Marketing System, Jay Abraham
15. Make Time, Jake Knapp
16. Caravaggio, Andrew Graham-Dixon
17. The Tiolet Paper Entrepreneru, Mike Michalowicz
18. The Library Book, Susan Orlean
19. In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (didn’t finish)
20. The Pumpkin Plan, Mike Michalowicz
21. Duct Tape Marketing, John Jantsch
22. Robert Fuel, Gino Wickman
23. Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Matz
24. Multipliers, Liz Wiseman (didn’t finish)
25. Biggest Bluff, Maria Konnikova
26. The Science of Getting Rich – Wallace Wattles
27. The Motivation Myth, Jeff Haden
28. To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink
29. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, Gary Keller
30. Mastermind, Maria Konnikova
31. Fireproof, Mike Morse
32. How I Built This, Guy Raz
33. Let My People Go Surfing, Yvon Chouinard
34. The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr (just started) *good

Kindle

1. The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes
2. Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maass
3. Lightening Thief, Rick Riordan
4. Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy
5. Mastering Stand-Up, Stephen Rosenfield
6. The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker
7. The Dead Zone, Stephen King
8. McCarthy on Cross-Examination
9. Set Your Voice Free, Donna Frazier
10. Lao Tzu – Ursula Le Guin
11. The Ultimate Marketing Plan, Dan Kennedy
12. The Story Grid, Shawn Coyne (on audible too)
13. Perry Marshall, Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing, Perry Marshall
14. Profit First: Transform Your Business, Mike Michalowicz
15. Genghis Kahn, Frank McLynn
16. Who: The Method For Hiring
17. Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
18. Vagabonding, Rolf Potts

Physical

1. Confessions of a Persuasion Hitman

The Crutch – She uses alcohol and drugs. She yearns for companionship? Maybe not so much. But definitely she has a drug and alcohol problem. And she overcomes it near the end with the help of a childhood friend.

The Tragic Early Life Event – Her mother dying and her becoming an orphan. Finally explained at the end. At the moment she relives it she also has the strength to throw the pills away.

The incredible ability – a genius chess player. You want to cheer for her. An unusual chess player also, a young girl.

The nemsis – The Russians and in particular Borgov. Although her enemies changes throughout.

The Showdown Climax – The big chess game in Russia against Borgov.

Slowed down Climax – During the game, Borgov adjourns. Slowing it down. Then during the match he acts outside how they planned. Beth focuses on the ceiling, her old trick to learn it all and then over come him – after also getting help from her team. All her strengths coming together.

The cast of mentors – boyfriends and her friend from school. She also remembers her old chess teacher, the janitor during the press questioning.

Tragic death of a loved one – her mother. Her real mom dies then her step mother. Then she turns to drink heavily. Things seem to be spiriling.

The Broken heart – the reporter who is gay? But she loved him?

The crutch removed – pills and booze – after facing down her history.

The Climax as rematch – She lost in Paris to Borgov.

The intro as flashback before worst moments – The intro is a flashback to her trying to get ready for a chess match after a late night of partying.

The return of her team at the end – her friends, ex lovers, all of them come together to help her prepare.

Tropes? – Seems to have a lot of the hero’s journey – hero with a problem trope.

The Hero as flawed mega talent

7 Episodes about an hour long each with their own story flow, inciting incident, climax, etc.

I feel like I got my plot outline to a good place but the story felt light. Like there wasn’t enough for me to work with. I went back and starting looking at my main characters and the locations. I had some some quick sketches but there really wasn’t much there. Also, I had tried and did use one of those detailed character questionnaire but I never liked it. It felt too technical and frankly boring. Like who cares what shoe size my character likes.

One of the things I remember from Aaron Sorkin’s masterclass is that he doesn’t spend a lot of time developing backstory for characters. He just runs through it, which I like also, partly because I’m lazy. But on the other hand, I read a book about character and plot and it proposed that you should explore traumatic and life changing events in your character’s past because that is what shapes who they are and the choices they make. Often times it can also be the root of some flawed thinking that can be the source of conflict in your story.

So I decided to take a break of outlining plot to exploring back story. I started with my main character. Interestingly, as I wrote about my main character I also started developing the setting more. I picked a year and location. When I wrote about my main character, I approached it like “the story of MAIN CHARACTER.” So instead of lists about what his hair color is, I talked about his birth etc. And it was cool. I felt like I was writing, not just populating some list of attributes. I felt like the information that was coming out of me could actually be useful.

Then I started writing about the next main character. I wrote about her relation to the main character. Again I approached it from the question of “What is the story of SECOND MAIN CHARACTER. Of course, that is also a big question that can go on and on, so I limited to birth, parents, and at least two major life changing events, usually traumatic that shaped that characters thinking and motivation.

But then I started thinking about the frame of “The story of…” It is a powerful frame because it can be immediately engaging and absorbed by the reader. I was watching the Masterclass on leadership and it talked about how Abraham Lincoln used stories as much as could in speeches. He knew it was an incredible way to convey information and have people retain it.

So, I used the “Story of…” as a frame for all sorts of parts in my book. The story of the city location. The story of how the government got put into place. The story of some of the main inventions in the world. Instead of just saying this thing exists, I explore the who, what, where, why, when and how. Like a journalist investigating the story behind this world. I supposed it can get out of control and it probably does for a lot of writers.

Some people don’t need to go into the story of in so much detail because their story piggybacks on another story. If you are writing about contemporary America, I think most readers would already understand a little about how America was created, the government, the police, and basic technology. Most people know the story of the Internet or do they? Is it important to the story you are trying to tell? That would be the second important question.

This reminds me of the book The Shining. In it Stephen King has Jack find a history book about the hotel in the basement. it is a way for King to convey information about the hotel to the reader. We learn about back story, newspaper clippings etc. In another movie I just watched, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the main characters go to the library and research the backstory of the town and a family in particular. In Ready Player One, the main character researches the backstory in order to solve the puzzle.

In my story, the main character has to research the connection between a rehab business and the death of his girlfriend. I talk to go into backstory. But you can see in the examples above, backstory is best delivered in scene with conflict brewing. Backstory exposition on itself is boring. King didn’t have a dry recitation of backstory in the Shining, it was while he was taking a break from his family in the basement of the hotel. The book he found was mysterious.

So that is what I’m doing now on the book. I can write a little more backstory for elements of the story that will help me understand why things are the way they are and how to better incorporate it into the story.