Screenwriting : Today's Wish and Creative Tip by Laurie Ashbourne

Despite what Billy Joel sings, audiences don’t like your characters just they way they are. Rather, the way they ARC. All too often, we get hung up on the dramatic action of our stories: Suzy has to discover the cure for Ebola and save the world. So, beat sheets, outlines, index cards and any number of structural devices are honed around how she is going to accomplish this monumental task. In the end when she can rest easy because her work is done, she goes back to work at the lab – maybe it’s a new lab because the other was destroyed by the infectious outbreak – but she is content to work another day. YAWN. Though the dramatic action plot stays true to the structure of the Universal Story, Suzy’s emotional development plot is devoid of its most important element = no character transformation in the end. None. Suzy is exactly the same at the end of the story as she started out in the beginning. Yes, she went through hell and saved the day and that’s commendable BUT at what personal sacrifice or personal gain or loss? No matter what your style of story prep work involves, do yourself and your audience a favor and write out a transformational arc for your main character(s)* -- this will not only create depth to your story as the emotional beats work with or against your dramatic action, it will also help in your pitching. * It’s also a good idea to do this for your antagonist. Tips may be light this week as I am up against some deadlines and traveling to Austin for the screenwriters film festival. I wish you and your characters a transformational day.