I was going to ask you how your science fiction novel was coming along. So impressive that you’ve written so much! I have written ZERO words for my passion project. I just wish there was a magical straw that could go into my brain and extract the visions and scatter them creatively on a variety of canvasses.
Agree on the magical straw--I read somewhere that writing a novel is like catching shadows. That's exactly how it feels! The best advice I've gotten about getting words written is to just write the crappy words and fix them later.
I highly recommend Story Grid as possibly the most comprehensive practical framework for writing stories available today, incorporating a lot of wisdom from other sources into a unified system. They very much understand plot and character as emerging together, not either or: https://storygrid.com/resources/
I do think change is the heart of story, but don't think this invalidates a great action movie. The change could be a shifting environment/setting to which a relatively static character has to react, which is what most Bond flicks are (Writing Excuses podcast calls these relatively static protagonists "iconic heroes").
HOWEVER, to challenge you, notice the moment roughly 3 quarters of the way through just about every action movie. The good guys have their backs against the wall, and/or are gearing up for the final climactic showdown against seemingly impossible odds, and/or have been trapped or captured by the villain on the villain's turf (sometimes called the "all is lost" moment).
These are the moments that make even the most "plot-driven" movies conform to Lisa Cron's theory, and give the most beloved action adventure stories the emotional depth that allows them to stand the test of time. Because here the previously invincible hero is forced into at least a modicum of vulnerability and uncertainty, and has to dig deep (often using some new tool or resource or receiving unexpected help in order to win the day). The "lie" they believed is that they can use the same old strategies they've always used to solve this particular problem. The change is when they willingly innovate their usual strategy, get out of their comfort zone, or push past their usual limits to win the day. Without pushing the character to and just past their limits, the movie would tend to fall flat.
Anyway, in general, the great stories, whether more character-driven literary or plot driven action, will tend to have a similar shape, it's just that the plot-driven ones will tend to externalize more of the change and movement into the physical setting rather than leaving it more internal to the character. It's all the same artform, and you'll see the patterns recur across genres!
Really helpful perspective, thank you. I do agree that the best stories have both--plot and character growth. And you're right about how change manifests differently whether externally in physical setting vs internally. I think an area of growth for me is figuring out how to write stories with elements of the internal growth shown too.
I checked out storygrid, seems like they have some helpful articles/videos, thanks for sharing. (I also want to point you to Save the Cat if you haven't already encountered it. That book and related resources have been useful to me.)
I want to read the stories of the Indian woman in her 70s
I was going to ask you how your science fiction novel was coming along. So impressive that you’ve written so much! I have written ZERO words for my passion project. I just wish there was a magical straw that could go into my brain and extract the visions and scatter them creatively on a variety of canvasses.
Agree on the magical straw--I read somewhere that writing a novel is like catching shadows. That's exactly how it feels! The best advice I've gotten about getting words written is to just write the crappy words and fix them later.
I highly recommend Story Grid as possibly the most comprehensive practical framework for writing stories available today, incorporating a lot of wisdom from other sources into a unified system. They very much understand plot and character as emerging together, not either or: https://storygrid.com/resources/
I'm expounding on my personal theory of story on my Substack: https://takimwilliams.substack.com/p/stories-are-about-metabolizing-meaningful
I do think change is the heart of story, but don't think this invalidates a great action movie. The change could be a shifting environment/setting to which a relatively static character has to react, which is what most Bond flicks are (Writing Excuses podcast calls these relatively static protagonists "iconic heroes").
HOWEVER, to challenge you, notice the moment roughly 3 quarters of the way through just about every action movie. The good guys have their backs against the wall, and/or are gearing up for the final climactic showdown against seemingly impossible odds, and/or have been trapped or captured by the villain on the villain's turf (sometimes called the "all is lost" moment).
These are the moments that make even the most "plot-driven" movies conform to Lisa Cron's theory, and give the most beloved action adventure stories the emotional depth that allows them to stand the test of time. Because here the previously invincible hero is forced into at least a modicum of vulnerability and uncertainty, and has to dig deep (often using some new tool or resource or receiving unexpected help in order to win the day). The "lie" they believed is that they can use the same old strategies they've always used to solve this particular problem. The change is when they willingly innovate their usual strategy, get out of their comfort zone, or push past their usual limits to win the day. Without pushing the character to and just past their limits, the movie would tend to fall flat.
Anyway, in general, the great stories, whether more character-driven literary or plot driven action, will tend to have a similar shape, it's just that the plot-driven ones will tend to externalize more of the change and movement into the physical setting rather than leaving it more internal to the character. It's all the same artform, and you'll see the patterns recur across genres!
Really helpful perspective, thank you. I do agree that the best stories have both--plot and character growth. And you're right about how change manifests differently whether externally in physical setting vs internally. I think an area of growth for me is figuring out how to write stories with elements of the internal growth shown too.
I checked out storygrid, seems like they have some helpful articles/videos, thanks for sharing. (I also want to point you to Save the Cat if you haven't already encountered it. That book and related resources have been useful to me.)
Amazing! And thank you!
Save the Cat is great for sure