Ninja vs Penguin

Penguin February 26th, 2008

In perspiration, we talked about pushing through to get more than one answer to the questions for your screenplay. How do you get those answers? Through research. Research is what gives you that position of choice between different answers. So, why isn’t this included in perspiration? Because it’s not something you do until you know what your story is. You don’t know what your story is until you have the structure in place.

What research does, is it gives you those details that make your story come to life. It makes your story real and credible. Without research, you’re just writing cliche.

At the heart of research is psychology. Every story is made up of characters. Even if it’s not a character driven story, in the traditional sense, the plot is still moved forward by your characters. Having a foundational grasp of psychology, why people do things, personality types, etc, will give you tremendous power in shaping your characters.

Your hero, or protagonist, has to grow and change through your story. Otherwise, what’s the point? Why put him through all that just to have him be the same at the end? It’s a waste of time. In order to know where he’s going to grow, you need to give him a wound. A major failing, if you will. This would could be psychological, sometimes physical, or moral. Without psychology, you won’t be able to write this.

At the heart of every story is a tiny intimate story about your hero.

Next: The Audience is Smart
-Penguin

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