by Jenna | Aug 20, 2022 | ScriptMag Articles
Welcome to the latest installment of my “Ask the Coach” column on Script Mag! This month I’m addressing a few shorter reader questions:
In response to last month’s article regarding having more than one script when querying, a reader asks: “You wrote that marketing your script ‘will involve making sure you have at least two marketable scripts before querying.’ Why is it important to have TWO scripts?” The bottom line is that while it’s absolutely not a requirement to have two marketable scripts before querying, it’s a smart strategy because it means you’re ready when an industry pro or exec likes your writing but not the specific story, and says, “What else do you have?”
Our second question is about finding a unified story structure method and whether there even is such a thing. I’ve studied a lot of methods myself and to date, my personal experience is much like that of the inquirer — taking aspects from different methodologies and merging them to create my own approach. My TL;DR? No, I don’t believe there’s a single script method unicorn, except perhaps the one you ultimately create for yourself.
And last, the third question this month is about what next steps to take with writing classes. In addition to suggesting some specific places to find classes, I recommend thinking about what you most want to learn next and what kind of experience you want to have as a student and creator.
…at the end of the day, trust yourself. Your instincts and inner guidance are among your most valuable tools as a writer.
by Jenna | Oct 14, 2021 | ScriptMag Articles
Welcome to the latest installment of my “Ask the Coach” column on Script Mag!
This month’s question is about fleshing out a story:
“My problem is, I grew up writing short stories, and now I am trying to write a screenplay. I ‘finished’ my script, and if it is true as they say that one page equals a minute of screen time, I have a movie that is roughly a little over 45 minutes. How do I expand my script without making it boring with just a lot of filler?”
Great question. Assuming you’re writing a feature, yes, 45 pages is short. In your shoes, I’d first focus on making sure I have a story with strong enough legs to last a full feature length, then, I’d dig into the specifics. Let’s discuss. [more…]
The big idea here is to look for ways to deepen the experience you’re creating for your audience, taking them on a powerful journey through the eyes of your primary characters.
Photo by Ron Lach from Pexels
by Jenna | May 24, 2021 | ScriptMag Articles
Welcome to the next installment of my “Ask the Coach” column on Script Mag!
This month’s question is about getting past feeling stumped and how to find an “idea person” to help make that happen:
“My writing style is that I get an idea and start writing to see where the story goes. I don’t do outlines. I’ve gotten ideas for stories from thinking up a name, or a killer last line comes to me, or from a writing prompt. I’ve written complete novels from those particular starts. A few of those I set aside for months (or years) before the idea for where to take the story comes to me. On one I’m working on now, I’m about 10,000 words in and stumped. I need an idea person. My question is: are there idea people who can take your progress and give you thoughts for where the story should go? I write really well if I have a direction to go. I don’t need someone to write the story for me, I just would love a shove in the right direction.”
I love the many rich layers in this question. Let’s dive in.
To start, there absolutely are “idea people” out there. From writing coaches to story experts to script mentors, you can find someone to help you tackle story problems and figure out what comes next. Sometimes it’s incredibly helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of and get input from to help us move past the places we get stumped.
And I want to plant the seed that this may be a place to grow your structure and development skillset as well. Even if you’re not a writer who likes to outline, you may still benefit from sorting out the big moves in your story so you can write toward them as you pants your way through your actual writing.
[more…]
Image by Pixabay from Pexels
by Jenna | Oct 9, 2013 | Writing Articles
Today's article is a guest post by story and Enneagram expert Jeff Lyons of StoryGeeks.com. His article touches on a often overlooked aspect of story development that many writers miss and their story structure suffers as a result: their main character's "moral problem".
Jeff will be teaching us more about how to identify a character's moral problem in his upcoming workshop here in Berkeley, California (I'm co-hosting) on October 26 and 27 on his method of Rapid Story Development. We'd love to have you join us if you'd like to learn more.
Now here's Jeff's article:
The problem is moral
Hands down, the most important and most overlooked story structure element all writers either miss altogether or bungle is the moral problem. This pesky problem is not just a nice perk -- it is a make-it-or-break-it story structure component of any good story.
The moral problem is the hole in the heart of your protagonist. He or she starts off the story in some pickle, some predicament of their own making, ideally brought about by the very moral problem to which they are oblivious. This problem is making them act badly in the world. They are hurting people emotionally, mentally, and maybe even physically due to this lack. It’s the hurting of others that make it a moral issue, and not just a psychological one (the distinction is about hurting others versus hurting oneself). The character needs to learn some lesson about how to live in the world so that they no longer hurt others; some lesson that elevates them (hopefully, but not always) to be a better person. They learn that life lesson that makes them moral again.
Good stories have protagonists with this hole in their heart. And the best stories rip out the protagonist’s heart and then somehow heal it again, before the heart gets put back inside (I’m speaking metaphorically, of course -- unless this is a Clive Barker horror story).
How to find the moral problem
So, the question becomes: how does a writer figure out how to find one of these heart-holes? How do you assure that your protagonist has a meaningful moral problem and an equally meaningful growth-moment at the end of the story where they see the error of their evil ways? Some writers have a natural gift for this and flawed and tortured protagonists come to them as gracefully as flight to an eagle. For others (i.e., most of us) the process of finding a good moral problem is more like trying to find a taxi on a rainy night.
The good news, however, is that there is a tool that any writer can use to help them crack this problem, regardless of their natural gifts. That tool is called the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a powerful archetypal system that describes the nine core personality drives underlying all human behavior. Each of the nine drives is rooted in thoughts, feelings and actions that largely determine how we interact with the world, for good or ill. Everyone has an Enneagram type -- including fictional characters and stories themselves. Writers have used this tool for many decades to develop multi-dimensional characters, but it can also be used as a story development too, when coupled with story structure principles. It is this relationship between the Enneagram and story structure that gives writers a doorway to finding the most dramatically powerful moral problem for their protagonist.
What's your character's poison?
Let’s take an example and walk through the problem as a point of illustration:
You just wrote the movie The Verdict. Frank, the protagonist, is a ambulance-chasing, alcoholic lawyer who is constantly looking for the next sucker to scam into hiring him. You know he’s a drunk. You know he’s in pain. But what’s his moral problem? Is his alcoholism the moral problem? Alcohol hurts lots of people. Is his pain the moral problem? If so, what’s the pain? How do you figure out which it is? Writers spend lots of time caught up in this maze of questions and confusion.
Enneagram to the rescue. Each of the nine Enneagram personality styles has something called a "poison". This poison is the hole in the heart. It is the thing that poisons everything they do, everything they feel, everything they think. So, what’s poisoning Frank? Certainly alcohol is, but that’s mostly just hurting him. It’s not hurting other people. What he’s doing that’s hurting others is that he is using them. He sees people as targets, not people. So, we have the answer, right? He’s using people. That’s the moral problem, right? No, not quite. That’s what he’s doing; that’s not why he’s doing it. The moral problem is the motivation, the thing causing the using.
The Enneagram poison can help you quickly answer this question and find the real moral problem. Of the nine personality styles, the 3rd style ("The Achiever") is the one who has the poison of secretly feeling that they have no personal worth or value. This fits Frank’s actions to a tee. For him, people have no value; they’re things to be used. He ultimately feels this because deep down he believes he has no value or worth himself and therefore no one else has value either. Over the course of the movie he learns that, indeed, not only do people matter, but that he himself matters and he can make a difference in the world.
And so not only does the Enneagram technique of looking for the poison explain the motivation behind the protagonist's immoral behavior, it also points to the final self-revelation at the end of the story, where the hero or heroine realizes how to heal the hole in their heart. In this case, Frank realizes he has value and so do other people. He is able to make a new choice as a result.
Moral problem and story structure
As a writer, having this key piece of information -- a clear moral problem -- is critical for you to not only address your main character's development and arc, but also to guide you on how best to structure your story so that key story beats, like the inciting incident, low point, and final climax, are all driven by the engine of the protagonist's moral problem.
This is a deep subject, but a critical one for any writer. The moral problem can make or break your story, and the Enneagram can help you rapidly navigate the difficult questions that might otherwise hang you up and drag out the development process.
If you'd like to learn more, join us in Berkeley on October 26 & 27. Early registration ends TOMORROW, Thursday, October 10. Find more and register here: http://RapidStoryDevelopment.com
Your turn
As always, we love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Warmly,
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Thanks for reading.
by Jenna | Oct 2, 2013 | Writing Articles
In the third and final session of my interview series with Enneagram and story development expert Jeff Lyons (recordings no longer available), we talked about "Bridging the Gap from Motivation to Structure With the Enneagram." Today's post is a recap of what we discussed.
His process for "bridging the gap" from premise line to character to story is quite fascinating, and he illustrated it using a breakdown of The Great Gatsby according to the Enneagram.
Bridging the gap
Here's an overview of the process:
- Step 1. Write out your premise line and log line.
(See the last post for more on premise line development.)
- Step 2. Define the moral problem that best illustrates the story's premise line.
(In Gatsby, Nick focuses on trying to fit in and be liked, he isn't being his truest self, which is a form of lying.)
- Step 3. Look for the Enneagram type that best represents the motivations (not behaviors) of someone with that moral shortfall.
(Nick most aligns with the Enneagram type 9.)
- Step 4. Study the integration and disintegration points for that type to identify what the character is capable of and what they're greatest opponent might be.
(Points 3 and 6, respectively.)
- Step 5. Explore the entertaining moral argument possibilities between those two types.
(Can you succeed and achieve without giving up your soul?)
- Step 6. Brainstorm about the communication styles, "pinches", and blind spots of each of those two types.
(Nick has various challenges that Gatsby can poke at and wreak havoc with.)
- Step 7. Map your story using these Enneagram components and correlate them with the visible structure components we discussed last time.
(This includes the protagonist, moral problem, chain of desire, focal relationship, opposition, plot & momentum (midpoint complication, low point, and final conflict), and evolution/de-evolution and is the more complex step where the story is broken down into a greater level of detail).
Your turn
Have you considered using the Enneagram in your story development? Will you consider using it in the future? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Warmly,
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Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
