Why the "Why" matters. · The Writer's Forge

Why the "Why" matters.

I was involved in facilitating a pitch and/or new idea synopsis event, and in retrospect, the event was a lesson in clarity. Though all the writers had unique ideas, there were loglines that each sentence felt like a different story, synopses that were unclear about what story they were going to tell, and the pitch was not prepared and meandered.

It was annoying, and that judgment of them by me reflected directly back at me because I know I've done and will do the same thing in the future. I certainly have my daily/weekly moments where I've written something that doesn't add to the story, or it violates the rules of the world I created.

So I've learned to stop and ask, "Why?" or "Does this make sense, and "What are the ripple effects on the story as a whole?"

I will always miss things that readers will find for me, and that's the ultimate value of bringing your pages to the Premium Calls of having David Stem and the community ask you questions or point out things that might need to be addressed, or those things that you've done are amazing.

Developing the skill of asking myself, does this make sense, or is it just pretty fluff that I'm adding in for spectacle, or is it me just adding pages instead of adding story is golden skill I'm constantly trying to develop.

Does any of this resonate with you?

Asking "why" strips away superficial plot points to reveal character motivation. If a character chooses without a clear internal or external "why," the audience immediately disconnects."-- John Musker

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