Hey, guys, I hope this goofy little song I wrote and performed helps you with the courage to simply WRITE—through the doubts, through the blockages that we all feel. My singing is shaky at first, but it improves as it goes. (I’m not a singer but I can fake it sometimes ;) https://youtu.be/Ib8V2zO1gik?feature=shared Have a great week! Nate

I hope you’re able to get some writing done and boost your creativity/storytelling muscles during this season! Feel free to tell a writer friend you have about our big Jan 7 event!

I don’t think he’ll care that I’m sharing this here, since most of you signed up for it. See you tonight! Seminar Session 1 recap: Great storytelling emerges from Character, not plot Story doesn't emerge from plot mechanics — it emerges from character. More specifically, from what a character is avoiding, denying, or refusing to look at when the story begins. We looked at scenes from Rugrats, Shrek, Signs, Toy Story 2, and It's a Wonderful Life to examine how strong stories introduce characters who are already under pressure. Not blank slates waiting for an inciting incident. In these films, the plot doesn't give the character a problem. It exposes one that's already there. A big part of the discussion was distinguishing between: - Characters who carry a wound or misconception - Characters who are functional but untested, and only discover the cost of love, belief, or responsibility once the story forces a real choice We talked about how denial and avoidance turn into behavior — often irrational, often self-protective — and why those behaviors are what make characters feel deeply human. Two examples we spent time unpacking: Signs - Wound: Graham's unresolved grief after his wife's death. - Lie: The universe is random and meaningless; belief is a comfort people invent. - Healing: He realizes signs have been around him, everywhere, all the time, even in his darkest moments. And chooses to be the man his family and community need by embracing faith, despite the loss of his wife. - Why this matters to the audience: Every person who has ever lived on this planet has questioned whether there's a greater power in the universe that cares for us or not. It's an absolute PRIMAL question to everyone who's ever lived. - - - Toy Story 2 - Misconception (not a wound): The Love Woody feels for Andy is somehow always going to be there and will never cost him a thing. - Pressure: Woody's ripped arm and Jessie's story forces Woody to confront the inevitability of loss, aging, and abandonment. Andy will eventually move on, leaving Woody behind. Prospector: "Do you think Andy's going to take you to college? Or on his honeymoon?" - Growth: Andy's given the chance to live forever admired, in a museum. Where he will never grow old and have the pain of abandonment. Woody makes an adult decision to choose love anyway, knowing it will hurt, and that the pain is the price we pay for true love. - Why this matters to the audience: All of us will be crushed by love at some point. Either those we love will break up with us or die. Or our children will grow up and go on to their lives, in a sense leaving us behind. We can either choose to love deeply and accept that pain, or live a life of isolation. Everyone faces that choice.

In my day job as an English teacher, I was recently talking to my students about the importance of being wary of absolutist thinking, the type of logical fallacy that is thrown around a lot lately about “those people” from the political party we don’t like, and on and on. I reminded my students that this type of thinking—which many today fall prey to—is at the foundation of many societal ills, such as misogyny, racism, ideological or religious intolerance, and the list goes on. Applying this to our screenplays and novels is similar. When we fall into the bad habit of writing our characters not as three-dimensional people but as “good” or “bad” cliches, or we characterize them based on the ‘type’ of character they are (e.g. assuming every chef is the same type of Casanova, suave French chef from ‘Emily in Paris’—lol) we do our stories a disservice. Gray areas abound in real life and they should also in our stories—yes, even commercial stories—if we want to make them feel real. Life is messy, and it’s important that we not let our plot or characters become predictable. So let that ‘churchy’ girl have actual hormones. Let the guy who just converted to Judaism be named ‘Christian.’ Let us first experience “bad guy” doing something truly good and noble (one great recent series starts this way). Let the French chef be a boring, shapeless guy who plays dungeons and dragons. You get my meaning. Never be tempted to think “this type of person ALWAYS does or thinks or believes A, B, or C.” Because just like us, there are very different sides to these people—to every person, both real and imagined. :)

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