The ABCs Of Plotting

I heard in an old interview of Patrick Rothfuss on the Writing Excuses Podcast where he mentioned how, after learning what they were, he couldn't stop seeing A plots and B plots everywhere. So, not knowing what they were myself, I of course had to look it up :)

Turns out, this is a neat way to look at your different story threads, or story arcs. For example, you could have a murder that needs to be solved (one thread), and the detective falls for the client (another story thread), all while dealing with his bestie's suddenly weird attitude (another mystery? Thread 3).

But instead of using numbers, we use letters.

The "A plot", therefore, is our main storyline, the one that will take up most of the book/movie. It follows your main character. In the example above, your detective needs to find out who killed the victim(s) and catch the murderer. 

But having a story, especially a story that lasts a while (a novel, or an hour-long (or more) show/movie), be about only one thing, can be rather boring. Enter the other plot lines (aka subplots). 

The "B plot" is therefore another story happening within your Bigger Story, which may or may not directly tie into your main plotline (A Plot). 

Using the same example as above, this is the plot line that follows your detective as he falls for the femme fatale character that came to ask for his help. That "romantic" thread would be considered secondary to the whole "whodunit" plot, but also be subservient to it.  

If, on the other hand, the B plot is not linked to the main spiel, it must still somehow add depth to the story, albeit in more subdued tones than the A plot. This can be by: 

• providing more background story into the main character (maybe he has another "side quest" where he needs to fix his relationship with his sibling, or his bestie), 
• exploring the worlds of (appealing) side characters readers/viewers want to hang out with too, (including the Big Baddies themselves), or 
• reinforcing the main theme(s) of the story (ex: how corruption is destroying everyone's lives, including our detective's, how justice will always prevail...or not, up to you to choose a resonant message).

Any additional plot line on top gets named according to the rest of the alphabet, in order of importance. And these, in turn, can help increase/maintain the tension in your book/script. Say your detective is having a pleasant moment with the paramour, the lull in that storyline can be filled with a thorny moment in one of the other plots (B/C/D...). Bonus points if these other plotlines somehow intersect the A Plot, and help solve it at the end.

The C plot (also known as "runner" in some circles) can also be a plot line that runs through multiple books/episodes, if you've got a series going on (hence its name). 

In the Harry Potter series, the threat of Voldemort hangs over Harry and his friends the whole time, but in most books, the heroes' main goal is to deal with a more immediate need/threat (figure out what's turning the kids at school to stone, go through and survive the triwizard championship, etc.). 

At the end, plots A through Z need to show that they were linked somehow, even if only metaphorically. The detective captures the killer right before he's about to off the femme fatale now turned damsel-in-distress. Then they kiss (for real feels this time), and live Happily Ever After...or until the next book/episode at least :)

In terms of writing these other plot lines, it's crucial to understand that they each need to have their own arc too--a setup, mounting challenges, a climax (hopefully that echoes/reinforces the climax of the A Plot), and a resolution. This means that, although more plot lines can deepen your overall story, it necessarily makes it longer too...

And that's basically it! Have fun writing :)

Additional Sources & References:

1. What are A, B, and C stories in screenwriting (TV Writing 101)? 
2.  Adding a 'B Plot' Is The Simple Way To Improve Your Story
3. The "A" Story and the "B" Story, by Steven Pressfield
4. Save the Cat! Writes A Novel, by Jessica Brody

5 Great Books On Writing

I've received a number of questions over the years from other writers and storytellers, asking me questions on...writing. And although I'm very touched to receive such questions, I still feel like I have so many things I need to learn myself still, so I thought I'd post instead on some books I find really good on the subject.

But first, a warning: I've written stories both in novel and screenwriting formats, so the books here are geared toward either of these. However, I find that, at the core, they're all about great storytelling, so I'm keeping them mixed up.

1.The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass

 Donald Maass has been a literary agent for quite a number of years now, and used his experience to write a number of books on the art of writing great fiction. What I really like about his books is that he always uses excerpts from a wide variety of books to illustrate his meanings.
Seriously, I love all of his books, and read them before I start any new novel.

2. Story by Robert McKee

 I discovered this great book when I first started delving in the screenwriting world. I love this book for the same reason I love Donald Maass's books: McKee filled this book with lots of examples from amazing movies to illustrate his points on what makes great storytelling for the big screen.

3. Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer

 This one I recommend you get (if you get it at all) in print format--because it's chock-full of gorgeous illustrations. It's another great book (particularly if you're highly visual) to help you come up with lots of new ideas for your stories, and includes short contributions from quite a number of great fantasy authors such as George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman Ursula K. Le Guin, and Joe Abercrombie, to name a few.

4. Save The Cat! by Blake Snyder

 This book has become a classic for screenwriters since it was first published in 2005. The premise of this screenwriting book is explained in its intro: "I call it the "Save the Cat" scene. They don't put it into movies anymore*. And it's basic. It's the scene where we meet the hero and the hero does something -- like saving a cat -- that defines who he is and makes us, the audience, like him." And then he shows ways to accomplish that...and more.

5. The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass

 And so yes, I'm finishing up with another book by the Donald Maass. But seriously, I own them all, and love them all. And this one's great becomes it comes from a point that I struggle with quite a bit--allowing yourself to be emotional through your characters (yeah, I think it comes from my being partly an introverted easily shamed robot).

Voilà! Here are my top 5 favorite books on the craft of writing great stories.

What about you? Any other books you think should be added to this list?

Let me know!

Notes:

*Except perhaps in The Incredibles

Online Dictionaries

Here's a short list of my favorite online dictionaries whenever I'm writing, which I thought could be useful resources to other writers:

1. www.thesaurus.com

I absolutely LOVE this one, as it can help me find better ways to express what I'm trying to say (using stronger verbs, or avoiding endless repetitions, for example. Also nifty, when you look up a word, there's a little box that will appear on the right-hand sign with the word's origin and history!

2. www.thefreedictionary.com

This one is my second favorite online dictionary. Not only does it boast a "regular" dictionary, including pronunciation help in both American and British English), but it also has a: thesaurus, medical dictionary, legal dictionary, financial dictionary, acronyms, idioms (super practical for writers too!), encyclopedia, and Wikipedia entries. All rolled into one! They also have translations at the bottom (though I like to use 2 other translation dictionaries instead--see below).

3. www.wordreference.com

My automatic go-to dictionary whenever I get stuck on a word going from French to English, or vice versa.

4. www.linguee.com

Another translation dictionary, but one where they give you tons of different passages where your word or sentence is being used, so you can see how others have translated it before. This is great when you're trying to find the perfect translation (nuance included) to what you're thinking about in the language you wish to translate.

That's it! These are my four go-to online dictionaries whenever I'm working on my writing. Are there any others that you use that you think should be on this list?

The Mystery Of Storytelling - Or Notes On How To Control Your Audience

Just watched this really interesting Ted Talk by Julian Friedmann about the art of storytelling, in particular with regards to movies (and, even more so, how Hollywood's managed to apply it so successfully over the years). So here are a couple of my notes for you (see below for the full video):

1. Storytelling is about the audience more so than the story or the storyteller, for great stories define us, reflect who we are or wish to become.
2. To be able to control your audience (this can only be done through emotions), you need to have them feel for the following:
1. Pity - through an undeserved misfortune, for instance, so that we, the audience, can emotionally connect with the character, identify with it.
2. Fear - by putting that character (in essence us) through worse and worse situations
3. Catharsis - by releasing the hero from all these fears; this release then results in the PEA chemical (the chemical also present when consuming any of the following: speed, ecstasy, chocolate or sex, for example) being released into our bloodstream, making us feel happy.
3. Main reasons why so many American movies are so popular around the world:
1. Accessible characters the audience will get emotionally involved with.
2. Upbeat endings if possible (happy endings statistically perform better--again, thanks to the PEA chemical).
3. Less dialogue as the movie will the appeal to wider audiences (don't have to have a PhD to get the story and be involved in it), which is directly tied to the next two points.
4. Tell stories more visually. We believe what we see, not so much what we hear. So if you manage to show something that differs from what's being said, you'll immediately get the audience awake and involved in the story, because they'll see right away something off.
5. More music. Again, this will strengthen the audience's emotional bond to the story.

The key, really, is to entertain the audience, because, when we're looking at the screen, we're actually looking at ourselves. We are the heroes of your stories.

Tips On Storyboarding

Here's a great image with some basic (but very important) concepts of storyboarding--of use to anyone in the visual arts and to writers, so thought I'd share :)

For more background info, check out the article on screencraft.org, or read the original article on jugaadanimation.com for even more details!

Attention Artists Of The US, Your Copyrights Are At Risk!

This really interesting (and terrifying) video about what's going on in the Copyrights Law market in the US has been brought to my attention, and I figured it was too important not to share it with you.

Right now, Copyrights Law in the US (and most of Europe) states that artists (of any kind or genre) have copyright over their own work for the entirety of their lifetime + 70 years after their death, and that without having to register your work anywhere. You created, it's yours. Period.

Note: These are taken from the video interview of Brad Holland, a lifelong professional artist and expert in the matter (see bottom of the post).

But there's a law that some have been trying to push past Congress (previously known as the Orphan Works Act) based on their claim that because there's no registration of said art, then people can't find the copyright owners so libraries and museums that want to digitize their collections (for preservation and research purposes) can't do so. Basically, the law would allow these institutions "good faith infringement" of copyrights. Sounds somewhat OK, right? Except that these same people are now trying to do the same, but for commercial infringement of any work of any artist, living or dead, regardless of circumstances. And the entire thing would devolve from the Copyrights Office into the private sector so that those individuals only (and not the artists) could profit from it.

So what exactly does this proposed law entail?

Quick Tip On Writing A Thriller

I'm sure 99.99% of us have heard of James Bond. Well, famed 007 agent creator Ian Fleming wrote an essay in 1963 on how to write thrillers, including the following tip:

We thus come to the final and supreme hurdle in the writing of a thriller. You must know thrilling things before you can write about them. Imagination alone isn't enough, but stories you hear from friends or read in the papers can be built up by a fertile imagination and a certain amount of research and documentation into incidents that will also ring true in fiction.

As a bonus, here is another quick tip: 

[N]ever correct anything and never go back to what [you] have written, except to the foot of the last page to see where [you] have got to. If you once look back, you are lost. How could you have written this drivel? ... If you interrupt the writing of fast narrative with too much introspection and self-criticism, you will be lucky if you write 500 words a day and you will be disgusted with them into the bargain. By following [Fleming's] formula, you write 2,000 words a day and you aren't disgusted with them until the book is finished, which will be in about six weeks."

So keep your eyes peeled and your ears unplugged for any information or tidbit you might want to swipe and place into your own writing!

For more tips from Ian Fleming, refer to MI6

The Mini-Movie Method

I recently listened to this really interesting podcast provided by ScreenwritingU where screenwriter Chris Soth explains what the mini-movie method is, and how it was applied when putting together this “it” movie of this summer: Guardians of the Galaxy.

Most people are already familiar with the Three Act structure in storytelling (whether via a book, play, or movie). However, many stories tend to have a “saggy middle” when writing their stories, where things seem to slow down quite a bit, and tension is lost.

And here is where the shoe pinches, because the #1 key to a great screenplay is tension.

So what is tension? It is the battle between hope and fear. Each event in the movie should change the needle in this hope/fear spectrum, and if it doesn’t, said event should be cut out.

Each beat/scene of a movie should have its own tension, which plays into the movie’s over-arching tension as well, and which are supported by these mini-movie tensions as well. As Soth puts it: “story structure is a ladder of dependent tensions.”

So what are these mini-movies? They’re another way to break down the Three Act structure into eight smaller, more manageable pieces, each lasting about 15 minutes long (or about 15 pages of a script), and most oftentimes involve a shift in location as well.

To help you visualize it better, I’ve created a little chart to describe each of these mini-movies (MM):

This is supposed to be seen not as a formula, but rather as the transformational journey of your hero.

If you wish to see how this structure was applied to the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, please listen to the podcast here.

The Ending Is Vital

Some people say one ought to start writing a story from the end. For instance, after Mr. Night Shyamalan wrote his first draft of The Sixth Sense he [spoiler alert] realized that he needed for his main character, psychologist Cole Sear, to be a ghost himself. Only then would his story have a true, deep impact. Once he figured out the ending he needed, he worked the story backward, putting in hints about the truth throughout the story.



Walt Disney himself has stated this point in a succinct way:
"A good ending is vital to a picture, the single most important element, because it is what the audience takes with them out of the theater."

And it's true. I remember leaving the theater after watching Inception, and all I could hear around me were people discussing the ending of the movie, whether Cobb was still dreaming like his wife had told him all along, or if he'd managed to go back to reality and his waiting children (his quest throughout the movie). Even two long and far parking lots away, that's all people were talking about. And at the office. And on the Internet. Everywhere.

So the ending is key as to whether someone will remember your story for a lifetime, or simply shelve it as another, perhaps entertaining, [enter genre here].

Polti’s Perennial Plot Points

Feeling at a loss for how to create conflicts in your story?  Georges Polti, a French writer and critic, comes to the rescue with his own list of dramatic categories seen in any kind of story.  

Here’s the rundown (36 points in all):

1. Supplication:

Ingredients:

·         Persecutor

·         Suppliant

·         Power of Authority (PoA)

How it works:

The persecutor accuses the suppliant, and the PoA judges against the suppliant.

2.  Deliverance:

Ingredients:

·         Unfortunate

·         Threatener

·         Rescuer

How it works:

The unfortunate has caused conflict, the threatener wants to pursue justice, but the rescuer comes to help the unfortunate.

3.  Crime Pursued By Vengeance:

Ingredients:

·         Criminal

·         Avenger

How it works:

Avenger takes justice in his/her own hands to punish criminal.

4.  Vengeance – Kin Upon Kin:

Ingredients:

·         Guilty Kinsman (GK)

·         Avenging Kinsman (AK)

·         Victim

How it works:

GK and AK are in conflict over the victim who’s related to both.

5.  Pursuit:

Ingredients:

·         Punishment

·         Fugitive

How it works:

The fugitive runs away from the punishment for a misunderstood conflict.

6. Disaster:

Ingredients:

·         Vanquished Power (VP)

·         Victorious Enemy (VE) or Messenger (M)

How it works:

The VP falls from grace after being defeated by VE or alerted of such fall by M.

7.  Falling Prey to Cruelty/Misfortune:

Ingredients:

·         Unfortunate (U)

·         Master or Misfortune (M)

How it works:

The unfortunate suffers at the hands of M.

8.  Revolt:

Ingredients:

·         Tyrant

·         Conspirator

How it works:

Conspirator plots against the tyrant.

9.Daring Enterprise:

Ingredients:

       Bold Leader

      Object

      Adversary

How it works:

Bold leader takes an object from adversary.

10.  Abduction:

Ingredients:

·         Abductor

·         Abducted

·         Guardian

How it works:

Abductor kidnaps Abducted from the guardian.

11.  The Enigma:

Ingredients:

·         Problem

·         Interrogator

·         Seeker

How it works:

Interrogator poses a problem to the seeker who must resolve it.

12.  Obtaining:

Ingredients:

·         Solicitor

·         Adversary

·         Object

How it works:

The solicitor is against the adversary who owns an object he/she desires.

13.  Enmity of Kin:

Ingredients:

·         Malevolent Kinsman (MK)

·         Hated Kinsman (HK)

How it works:

MK and HK conspire together.

14.  Rivalry of Kin:

Ingredients:

·         Preferred Kinsman (PK)

·         Rejected Kinsman (RK)

·         Object

How it works:

The object of rivalry chooses the PK over the RK.

15.  Murderous Adultery:

Ingredients:

·         Adulterer 1 (A1)

·         Adulterer 2 (A2)

·         Betrayed Spouse

How it works:

A1 and A2 conspire to kill the Betrayed Spouse.

16.  Madness:

Ingredients:

·         Madman

·         Victim

How it works:

The madman goes insane and wrongs the victim.

17.  Fatal Imprudence:

Ingredients:

·         Imprudent

·         Victim or Object Lost

How it works:

The imprudent loses the object or wrongs the victim.

 

Forbidden Love by Tyshea

18. Involuntary Crimes Of Love:

Ingredients:

·         Loved

·         Beloved

·         Revealer

How it works:

Revealer betrays the trust of the lovers.

19.  Slaying Of Kin Unrecognized:

Ingredients:

·         Slayer

·         Unrecognized Victim (UV)

How it works:

Slayer kills the UV.

20.  Self-Sacrifice For An Ideal:

Ingredients:

·         Hero

·         Ideal

·         Creditor

·         Person/Thing Sacrificed

How it works:

The Hero sacrifices a person/thing to the creditor.

21.  Self-Sacrifice For Kin:

Ingredients:

·         Hero

·         Kinsman

·         Creditor

·         Person/Thing Sacrificed

How it works:

The Hero sacrifices the thing/person for their kinsman, which is then taken by the creditor.

22.  All Sacrificed For Passion:

Ingredients:

·         Lover

·         Object of Fatal Passion (OFP)

·         Person/Thing Sacrificed

How it works:

A lover sacrifices a thing or someone for the OFP, which is then lost forever.

23.  Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones:

Ingredients:

·         Hero

·         Beloved Victim (BV)

·         Necessity for the Sacrifice

How it works:

The Hero wrongs the BV because of the need to sacrifice them.

24.  Rivalry of Superior vs. Inferior:

Ingredients:

·         Super Rival (SR)

·         Inferior Rival (IR)

·         Object of Rivalry

How it works:

A SR bests an IR and wins the Object of Rivalry.

25.  Adultery:

Ingredients:

·         Adulterer 1 (A1)

·         Adulterer 2 (A2)

·         Deceived Spouse

How it works:

A1 and A2 conspire against the deceived spouse.

26.  Crimes of Love:

Ingredients:

·         Lover

·         Beloved

How it works:

Lover and Beloved enter into a conflict.

27.  Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One:

Ingredients:

·         Discoverer

·         Guilty Party

How it works:

The Discoverer finds out about the Guilty Party’s wrongdoings.

28.  Obstacles To Love:

Ingredients:

·         Lover 1 (L1)

·         Lover 2 (L2)

·         Obstacle

How it works:

L1 and L2 face an obstacle together.

29.  An Enemy Loved:

Ingredients:

·         Lover

·         Beloved Enemy (BE)

·         Hater

How it works:

The Lover and Hater are allied but have opposite views on the BE.

30.  Ambition:

Ingredients:

·         Ambitious Person (AP)

·         Thing Coveted

·         Adversary

How it works:

The AP seeks the thing coveted but must first face the Adversary.

31.  Conflict With A God:

Ingredients:

·         Mortal

·         Immortal

How it works:

Mortal and Immortal are in a conflict.

32.  Mistaken Jealousy:

Ingredients:

·         Jealous One (JO)

·         Object Of Whose Possession JO is Jealous

·         Supposed Accomplice (SA)

·         Cause or Author of Mistake

How it works:

The JO misinterprets the cause or the mistake, and becomes jealous of the SA over the Object’s possession.

33.  Erroneous Judgment:

Ingredients:

·         Mistaken One (MO)

·         Victim of the Mistake

·         Guilty One

·         Cause or Author of Mistake

How it works:

The MO misinterprets the cause/mistake and passes judgment on the Victim when it should be passed on the Guilty One instead.

34.  Remorse:

Ingredients:

·         Culprit

·         Victim or the Sin

·         Interrogator

How it works:

The culprit wrongs the Victim or commits a sin, and goes against the interrogator who seeks the truth.

35.  Recovery Of A Lost One:

Ingredients:

·         Seeker

·         One Found

How it works:

Seeker finds the One Found.

36.  Loss Of Loved Ones:

Ingredients:

·         Slain Kinsman (SK)

·         Kinsman Spectator (KS)

·         Executioner

How it works:

The killing of the SK by the Executioner is witnessed by the KS.

Hope this helped you get ideas for your stories!

Sources:

Tim Sheppard Article

Whole Book (translated)

Wikipedia Article 

Define Your Story In One Line

After much trial and error (stress on the much), I have found that the best way for me to nail down any story I'm working on is to come up with one sentence that describe the over-arching idea of my book/play/movie/whatever.

Yes, I strongly suggest figuring this logline (as screenwriters and other movie peeps call it) before you sart writing your first draft (of course, to help you do this you'll probably have concocted a bunch of ideas or done some research already).

Why do I feel that way? Because it forces my over-imaginative (active?) mind to FOCUS (or, as the French would say, Fohk-Us. Sorry, inside joke. It's... never mind). This is definitely a crucial word for me as I have found that without this backbone, I have a tendency to wonder all over the place. Which makes for very boring, unnecessary (doesn't one imply the other?) @$#% that I later need to cut.

Pile of my previous drafts (not including the current one nor, yes I know, the one that's probably coming after).

Ah, if only I'd known this at the very beginning, I'd have been able to skip drafts 1-6, at least (yes, currently working ondraft 14--hey, I'm learning!).

Note: yes, I do recycle.

And no, I don't feel having this one-liner at the beginning is in any way constraining. I mean, it keeps me focused on the topic I want to explore, yes, but that's it. Apart from that, I can let my imagination run wild, and often times it actually helps me be even MORE creative as I find other ways to string my scenes together.

Finally, it's not because I already have a logline (or a plotline) of what I want to happen that it can't change here and there (though making changes can be quite complicated as then you have to go back all over the place to make sure it all holds together still).

Here's a great post if you want to read more about the One Sentence Stress Test.

--The Writing Apprentice

Pointers When Writing A Movie Script

June 5, 2010. Oops, I meant January. Wow, what a way to start the year...

Well, it's been a short while (OK, OK, I won't lie, a LONG while) since I've last written anything interesting on this blog (or anything at all), but I've been busy. Very Busy.

Still, I have a WHOLE bunch of things to do this year on my resolutions list, most of which involves writing. Yep, nothing to surprising there. And of course, one of those writing projects is my movie script.

So here are some pointers I got off the Screenwriting Goldmine, but which I still feel would be good to keep in mind for Any Kind of Story:

1. Make the audience care about the protagonist(s). Which means that, even if (s)he is an a$$hole/(enter other expletive) or does reprehensible things, (s)he needs to have at least 1 redeeming quality that makes us still like her/him. If we don't care about the hero(ine), we won't care about the story.

2. Make sure you are writing a genre. This has more to do with marketing. More valid, I think (but don't necessarily quote me on this since I have yet to be published and sell a movie script), in the movie industry, where marketing involves HUGE figures (subject to budget constraints, of course)!

3. Happy Ending. Capitalized. Turns out that the happier the audience = bigger word of mouth = bigger box office figure. And movie producers (or anyone involved in the movie industry) likes $. Who doesn't, really? Now I understand why Hollywood's known for cornyness :)

4. Love your hero(ine): give them great barriers to overcome, tough choices to make. They will shine all the more because of them.

5. Love your villain(s) too. Ties in with no. 4.

6. Get your story right before you write a word of dialogue. So write out a prose statement of your story and have it analyzed (by yourself and some brutally honest friends) to see what works and what doesn't. Don't worry, this is a REALLY good step to undertake, and will (generally) help you write your story faster afterwards.

7. Pick out the first paragraph of your treatment and ponder it. That's right, PONDER. Until you know the scene in and out, and can visualize it better than any of your favorite scenes of your favorite movies.

8. Sit your a$$ down and WRITE. Don't worry about typos or format or other such secondary things now. Just get your story down, let it flow out of your gray cells, through your fingers and onto the screen/paper.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8.

NOTE: Please be aware that true writing IS rewriting, which means that though you have a finished draft, there's probably more work to be done -- you gotta love the editing!

On that note, I've gotta go back to my own editing.

Good day!

--The Writing Apprentice

The Substance of Story

Hey All!

I know, it's been what? Two weeks since my last post? Well, I'll try to do better from now on. It's been pretty hectic then, right after, I went through a lazy-phase (yes, I know, I tend to go through those pretty regularly--can't help it, it's addicting!).

As I've mentioned before, while I'm finishing up the edits to my novel, I'm also developing a movie script. Yep. It's turning out to be a lot of fun, and a lot more complex than I had anticipated (my story, that is, I'd always imagined making movies to be difficult to begin with^^).

BUT, I found this super great book to help me: Story by Robert McKee.

Already in the intro he gives us the gist of what a story truly is and, as a learning storyteller myself, I thought I'd share some of his points with you:

1) Story is about principles, not rules. That is, your story should be well done and should follow guidelines, but it doesn't HAVE to do anything.

2) Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas. Yes, I believe that's a jibe to a lot of movies (and dare I say? books) out there, that are pushed forward because they follow a successful trend but end up being just so much fluff.

3) Story is about archetypes, not stereotypes. In Robert's words, "[a]n archetypal sory creates settings and characters so rare that our eyes feast on every detail, while its telling illuminates conflicts so true to humankind that it journeys from culture to culture."

Note: have I mentioned this author has a super awesome way with words? No? Well, he does! (end of note)

4) Story is about thoroughness, not shortcuts. This one's a hard one for me to swallow. I mean, come on, we all know I'm so not the patient type! I'm a product of today, I want immediate gratification.

5) Story is about realities, not the mysteries of writing. In other words, there's no secret to good writing, it's a craft you need to work and rework--like everything else in life you want to do well.

6) Story is about mastering the art, not second-guessing the marketplace. I think this one's linked to points... uh, looks like it's linked to all the previous points :)

7) Story is about respect, not disdain, for the audience. Seriously, people out there aren't that stupid. Yes, that includes me, come on. Haven't you heard of the expression "don't judge a book by its cover"? So they'll get your subtle points, no need to over-explain (hu-hum... yeah, that last one's for me, really. I have a tendency to repeat myself in my book, I've noticed, which makes for dragging scenes sometimes...)

8) Story is about originality, not duplication. Need I say more?

Well folks, guess that's it for tonight. Wasn't this fun? But before I go, I want to mention that it's because a lot of "would-be writers," according to Robert once again (and I'm not contradicting his words) don't think about these points when writing a story. That's why, especially nowadays, there's an over-reliance on technology or the musical score to carry the story along when it is itself lacking.

What do you think about that?

--The Writing Apprentice

PS1: For more info on Robert McKee, check out his website.

PS2: I dunno what the story's going to be like with this movie, but I don't care: I'm gonna watch Ninja Assassin. Period. Nothing's gonna deter me from that!