I reference reality. Reality is full of chaos. A Scream Queen running through woods at night, trying to escape from killer. Makes it to car, opens door, jumps inside. No keys! Shock of realization that keys are in pocket of dead friend back in the woods. "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip ". -English Proverb.
Your characters should all want something long term. They all had lives and internal or external desires by the time we met them in the story, and these were probably born from character flaws and false beliefs that aren't serving them the way they think they are. Either that, or the way they try to achieve their goals is equally wrong. These desires and beliefs are ostensibly the things that matter most to them, making them the most dramatic things about them to focus on. If not, why are they what you're writing about? So now that you have your characters' goals, and the flaws that cause them to make choices that harm themselves or others, then boom, your characters will make decisions that proactively move the plot, while either unknowingly getting in their own way, or causing other characters to have to get in their way, forcing each other to grow and change. You now have plot, character arcs, themes, and conflict.
I’ve been writing for over ten years now. I struggled with writing conflict for awhile. But I think over time I’ve gotten better at creating barriers for my characters to overcome.
It would be a good idea to marry a foreshadowing of the characters reaction to an oncoming salient event in the future by revealing a little during a small side conflict, so it rhymes/fits when it finally comes ahead.
Contact any former military, emergency responders, or merchant mariners you know. I have to get out of life and death situations so many times that it becomes almost a habit. I work as a freelance script, doctor in screen editor, and one of the things that I do immediately is figure out a better way for the characters to get out of a situation. Remember that story is about likable characters getting themselves into a mess and having to change their character flaw in order to get themselves out of it. They can't be saved by coincidence nor a rescue by clear eyed Athena. "Deus ex machina." A story is really a how to survive/win/stop/get (get rich, get the girl, etc) for someone with a particular personality or trait. It's an indirect way to tell someone how to get out of the mess that they've gotten themselves into in real life.
"Sometimes you write yourself into a corner and can't get out of it -and if that happens you give up." (not 100% transcribed, but you get the gist) I agree with a lot of what he says, but this 'quote' provokes me, because the wonderful thing with writing is that you can always edit, or rewrite, or take a year or two to contemplate "how can I improve this scene.." or "how could my characters embody what I want said in a different way", or w.e. Two thumbs up for great advice, but ehh.. nah to the giving up part.
Totally agree with the power of the edit. That is the greatest weapon of the writer. No matter how terrible your draft is, you can always improve it. But I also agree with dropping something if it just doesn't work (after trying out different solutions,including asking for help). Especially if you have a deadline. And I did understand it as dropping that particular corner, not the whole story, in which case it would count as editing or rewriting.
I think that there are at least two different cases. One is where you have a fundamentally solid idea but you've taken a wrong turn somewhere and hit a dead end. In that case go back in the story and look for where you went off course and re-think from that spot or, often, a bit earlier. Of course, knowing what your ending is going to be makes this deviation far easier to spot. Or, you can reach a dead end because your fundamental idea is unworkable. Not all ideas suit the feature film format. Some stories work in a novel or on a stage but not on screen. Not all ideas work when you get down to the micro level of characters acting out the story. If it's impossible to make the story plausible and compelling scene by scene then maybe you are wasting your time entirely. Maybe you can rethink the whole approach to the story to make it work, maybe you can't. If it has a fatal flaw that apparently can't be overcome then put it away until or unless things change.
This is another example of, if you have to try that hard, you’re just not doing it right. Just write the f-ing story. If the story isn’t there, move on to something else
![The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen - Erik Bork [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8s45pNvEBIc/mqdefault.jpg)
What tips do you have for writing better conflict?
I reference reality.
Reality is full of chaos. A Scream Queen running through woods at night, trying to escape from killer. Makes it to car, opens door, jumps inside. No keys! Shock of realization that keys are in pocket of dead friend back in the woods.
"There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip ". -English Proverb.
Your characters should all want something long term. They all had lives and internal or external desires by the time we met them in the story, and these were probably born from character flaws and false beliefs that aren't serving them the way they think they are. Either that, or the way they try to achieve their goals is equally wrong. These desires and beliefs are ostensibly the things that matter most to them, making them the most dramatic things about them to focus on. If not, why are they what you're writing about? So now that you have your characters' goals, and the flaws that cause them to make choices that harm themselves or others, then boom, your characters will make decisions that proactively move the plot, while either unknowingly getting in their own way, or causing other characters to have to get in their way, forcing each other to grow and change. You now have plot, character arcs, themes, and conflict.
I’ve been writing for over ten years now. I struggled with writing conflict for awhile. But I think over time I’ve gotten better at creating barriers for my characters to overcome.
It would be a good idea to marry a foreshadowing of the characters reaction to an oncoming salient event in the future by revealing a little during a small side conflict, so it rhymes/fits when it finally comes ahead.
Thanks for posting this interview.
Thanks for watching!
Why does Paul resonate to neatly with me? Great interview and tips. Thank you!!
This is nice, simple, easy to grasp and apply advice that I will apply to all future projects.
Another central key interview - thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well put. I love this part of the process.
Looking forward to our chat tomorrow, Paul. Thanks for doing these interviews.
Very good The brain takes over. Agreed.
This was REALLY good. Thank you!
So many great points to add to the skillset!
I love this. I just included a link for my students for next week's lessons.
Thank you Tony! We hope they enjoy. Cheers!
That was very informative. That was great.👍🏼
We like this one a lot. Thanks for watching!
Contact any former military, emergency responders, or merchant mariners you know. I have to get out of life and death situations so many times that it becomes almost a habit. I work as a freelance script, doctor in screen editor, and one of the things that I do immediately is figure out a better way for the characters to get out of a situation. Remember that story is about likable characters getting themselves into a mess and having to change their character flaw in order to get themselves out of it. They can't be saved by coincidence nor a rescue by clear eyed Athena. "Deus ex machina." A story is really a how to survive/win/stop/get (get rich, get the girl, etc) for someone with a particular personality or trait. It's an indirect way to tell someone how to get out of the mess that they've gotten themselves into in real life.
"Sometimes you write yourself into a corner and can't get out of it -and if that happens you give up." (not 100% transcribed, but you get the gist)
I agree with a lot of what he says, but this 'quote' provokes me, because the wonderful thing with writing is that you can always edit, or rewrite, or take a year or two to contemplate "how can I improve this scene.." or "how could my characters embody what I want said in a different way", or w.e. Two thumbs up for great advice, but ehh.. nah to the giving up part.
Totally agree with the power of the edit. That is the greatest weapon of the writer. No matter how terrible your draft is, you can always improve it. But I also agree with dropping something if it just doesn't work (after trying out different solutions,including asking for help). Especially if you have a deadline. And I did understand it as dropping that particular corner, not the whole story, in which case it would count as editing or rewriting.
I think that there are at least two different cases. One is where you have a fundamentally solid idea but you've taken a wrong turn somewhere and hit a dead end. In that case go back in the story and look for where you went off course and re-think from that spot or, often, a bit earlier.
Of course, knowing what your ending is going to be makes this deviation far easier to spot.
Or, you can reach a dead end because your fundamental idea is unworkable. Not all ideas suit the feature film format. Some stories work in a novel or on a stage but not on screen. Not all ideas work when you get down to the micro level of characters acting out the story. If it's impossible to make the story plausible and compelling scene by scene then maybe you are wasting your time entirely. Maybe you can rethink the whole approach to the story to make it work, maybe you can't.
If it has a fatal flaw that apparently can't be overcome then put it away until or unless things change.
@@PTCorwin Yes, you're probably right :)
Very wise.
Looking forward to our chat tomorrow Paul
Whats the name of his book he mentions. Did i miss it
Duh. In the description
What's the trick?
Watch the video
@@Makimaroma I did, didn't find it.
This is another example of, if you have to try that hard, you’re just not doing it right. Just write the f-ing story. If the story isn’t there, move on to something else
This kind of advice is exactly the reason why we can't have good movies anymore
What do you mean?