I spent years being able to describe a world and completely unable to describe a story.
Someone would ask what I was working on and I'd start with the ecology. Or the economy. Or — genuinely, more than once — the theology. I could feel it happening while it happened. There's a specific look people get about ninety seconds in, and I got very familiar with it.
What I eventually worked out is that nobody enters a world through a map. They enter through one concrete thing they can hold in their head, and the world arrives afterward, uninvited, on its own.
So now when someone asks, I don't describe the world at all. I describe a boy sealing a letter twice — once with the official stamp, once with his own thumbnail pressed into the wax beside it, because that's how his father sealed rope-bales. One press for the maker, one for the carrier.
That's it. That's the whole opening.
And the strange thing is that it does more work than the ecology ever did, because people lean in and start asking. Who's the boy. Why does it matter who made it. What happens if someone notices. Now they're building the world themselves, which is the only way anyone has ever actually loved one.
The world isn't the pitch. The world is what they find once they've decided to care.
I'm still bad at this, incidentally. The instinct to explain everything is not curable, only manageable.
So — a question for anyone here sitting on something big:
If someone gave you thirty seconds, and you weren't allowed to explain your world, what's the one thing you'd show them?
Not the logline. The object, the image, the moment. I'd like to see what this room is carrying.
RB's August AMA Event
Ask Me Anything with Stage 32 CEO RB Botto, LIVE on ZOOM Wednesday, August 12th at 4pm PT
State of the Industry, Exclusive Writers' Room Event
This is a time of massive change, but also massive opportunity.
More than ever before, the doors are open for global creatives to have their voices heard. Stories are crossing borders. International shows are taking over streaming platforms. Power is shifting directly into the hands of the creators. The technology, the distribution models, the audiences, they're all evolving. And that means you need to evolve too.
So let's talk about it.
Stage 32 CEO, WGA Screenwriter, Producer, Actor, and Author RB Botto is hosting a brand new Ask Me Anything event on Wednesday, August 12th at 4pm PT, LIVE over Zoom, exclusively for members of the Stage 32 Writers' Room.
This is your chance to ask RB anything about your craft, your career, the current marketplace, or whatever challenges you're facing right now. Whether you're a screenwriter, filmmaker, producer, actor, or working in post, there's something in this AMA for you. And trust us, RB is bringing everything he's been seeing, hearing, and learning from the biggest names in the business to this conversation.
Not a Writers' Room Member Yet?
This AMA is exclusive to members of the Stage 32 Writers' Room, but the good news is you can try your first month completely FREE. That means you'll gain access to this AMA with RB, plus every other Writers' Room benefit: weekly craft webcasts, feedback exchanges, pitch practice, a global creative community, and industry events like this one, all included in your free trial.
Click here to start your free month of the Writers' Room and secure your spot at RB's AMA!
We can't wait to see you there on Wednesday!
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