#‘it’s important backstory to help you understand the song in a deeper level!’ no it’s not you just can’t analyze writing by yourself

[allamericansbitch]

I just saw someone say the reason they loved WCS is because it’s about John Mayer and if that’s not the perfect example of how knowing/remotely caring about the individuals certain songs are about immediately invalidates all the work and craftsmanship of writing a song and just reduces it to pointless gossip I don’t know what does.

[thehomelybadger]

Hey Badger I know you're a huge ass nerd and put lots of thought into title symbolism and we're all here to hear u ramble about it so

Do u have any chapter titles that you're really proud of and just waiting for the opportunity to gush about

(Thank you for the opportunity to take a break from writing hockey lesbians to write ABOUT my writing of hockey lesbians.

As for chapter titles - oh man, there’s a lot of them, and I can talk about every one with a decent degree of nerdiness, but I’ll try to keep it contained. Let’s dig in:

The general rule I tried to follow is that Vi’s chapters have a double meaning - a subtext and a context, while Cait’s POVs usually have to do with a feeling/sentimentality, or a reference that’s fairly heavy handed and obscure.

For instance, the Vi POV chapter 1 is titled No Protection, because Cait and Vi were left unprotected in the Zaun Sumprats Expansion Draft - that’s the context. The subtext, though, is that without their buffer both of them are defenseless against each other, and the barriers they put up to prevent themselves from understanding that they were the most important folks in each other’s lives came crashing down. So they had no protection from switching teams, but also they now have no protection against their feelings towards one another.

Teammates (Vi POV, chapter 3) also deals a similar hand - they actually accept that they’re teammates in that one, as in, they both are playing on the same team, but they discuss the idea (Vi pushes it) of them hooking up again while they’re both on the same team (”October, huh?”). VI also begins teaching Caitlyn the way of being a captain, making them a captain team of two. So you’ve got them as teammates, but them being a team, and also them starting to realise they could be mates, too.

I talked a little bit about Nordique (Caitlyn POV, chapter 20) in a previous ask - Acadia (Caitlyn POV, chapter 22) was a similar theme. Acadia was a Canadian colony in New France that was conquered by the english in 1713, and is also the subject of a very cool Mariana’s Trench song that is about losing your childhood and your innocent to the rigours of adulthood, recounting all the simpler times in a chipper tone before singing, sadly, “but Acadia is gone.” Acadia (the chapter in RATC) is the very last time that Caitlyn has any privacy or can hold onto the illusion in the public eye that she was fine on the Lone Stars, and her abuse is fully revealed. In this case it’s kind of a flip side of the Mariana’s Trench meaning - I use the imagery of Acadia as a dark secret that hurts Caitlyn, and it gets conquered by love, support, and her need to speak out to help protect others. It’s a little heavy handed, but I enjoyed the Nordique/Acadia references as a Canadian fella.

The last chapter title I’ll talk about (because this post has gone very long) is Viewfinder (Caitlyn POV, chapter 10). This follows a surface level meaning - this is the first chapter that the documentary present-tense POV is introduced - and we’re now seeing the characters through a viewfinder, but it goes a little deeper than that. This is the first chapter where Vi has realized she’s been a dick, backs off, respects Caitlyn’s boundaries, and also the first chapter that Caitlyn realises that there’s a lot more to Vi than she knew - the hints at the Vander backstory. Viewfinder is thus, a new view that Caitlyn has to find. But even further, I like the chapter title because viewfinders are what photographers compose and focus a shot with. This is the chapter after Caitlyn and Vi affirm that they believe they can win the entire title with this team, stop going through the motions, and decide to put their mark on the league with this season - together. Composing their ideology, and focusing on the task at hand.

Thank you for offering me this chance to brainrot, lepus! I’m always thrilled to answer questions.

[kob131]

Okay. Imma level with you. I don’t like rwby. I jumped ship after volume 8 tore something in me. But even I think that but you described from IceQueendom sounds stupid, like blatantly out of character. Does.. does Japan just have a thing about being an “adult”?

Okay, now that I'm on a laptop, I'd like to walk everyone through the whole thing. Because the issue here is a lot bigger and more complicated than what I mentioned.

So...spoilers.

Okay, to really understand the gravity of the issues here, I'm gonna need to widen the scope a bit...or a lot depending on your view.

So, back during the second attempt to save Weiss, Ruby and co. made it to the Nightmare Grimm in the dream and try fighting it. Nightmare-Weiss interrupts them and causes Ruby to cut herself on the thorns of the Nightmare, which Shion said they shouldn't. Why? Shown later.

So after getting rejected and leaving, everyone goes off to recoup and encounter Penny, Sun and JNPR individually. Through their talks, they come up with a plan. That being that they save the train from being robbed, use that to change the dream and get deeper within. From there they open up one of the cages housing Dream-JNPR, showing it to be a fun little carnival inside while keeping the door open. Jaune (who went in), snags a Relic that was inside, leading to a bunch of Kid-Weiss' running out.

They proceed to rush out of the cage, talking about a bunch of kiddy desires and touching the dream constructs, making them spout the same kiddy desires. Including a living statue of Jacques. ... This is important. All's well and good...until the Kid-Weiss' turn Kaiiju sized and everyone turns into...'freedom' zombies? I dunno. Nightmare-Weiss retaliates by doing some Mary-sueing combat and teleports them all back in while animating what looks like a giant statue of Jacques Schnee to fight them. Oh and the Jacques Statue got turned into the Arma Gigas.

Shit gets fucked, Ruby loses the Relic, we get shots of the places that once had the Relics being taken over by the Nightmare, Jaune and co. escape to the train which the Nightmare can't attack because Jaune's Big Dick Energy keeps it at bay and Ruby stumbles aboard. Ruby wonders why 'Weiss' didn't want the Kid-Weiss' running about. Jaune barfs up that speech about controlling your emotions and Ruby, having been infected by the Nightmare, succumbs.

Okay so-unpacking time.

For some stupid reason, they focus on Ruby being hurt by the Nightmare after indicating that it's bad. Then...never bring up why no one mentioned her clear injury.

But the big issue here is the Jaune speech. The Kid-Weiss' are portrayed as being rather disruptive and destructive...but the latter is only dangerous due to the Nightmare's influence and the former fails because they are disrupting what is clearing a metaphor for the destructive influence that her family has on her and how it has damaged her. While Jaune talks about controlling your emotions- Weiss clearly does that TOO MUCH. She's so restrictive that she's bound to snap and break without relaxing.

And wanna know what doesn't help this point at all? The Kid-Weiss' demands not being all that bad. There are some obviously selfish ones like 'I wanna eat candy all the time' or 'I wanna play all the time'. But considering Weiss' backstory and her family...these aren't all that bad. Some even take on darker tones like 'I wanna play with my friends' or 'I wanna go outside when I want' or the mantra of 'I wanna be free!'

Remember Mirror Mirror? That song Dream-Pyrrha sung? Yeah, it's sequel song 'Mirror Mirror Part II' is all about how Weiss yearns for freedom and independence. Which makes those supposedly childish desires kind of...you know...deserved?

Oh and we haven't the worst yet. Because we have three other lines- "I wanna have fun talking to my family', 'I wanna have fun talking to Mommy and Daddy' and 'I want them to spoil me'. So, who says these? One of the Kid-Weiss'? One of the machines?

No, the Jacques Statue. Whose last words before transforming into the Arma Gigas in a fucked up parody of Weiss' summon is 'Da...ddy...Mo..mmy...'. And the thing the Nightmare is guarding? Weiss' Volume 4 dress. The writers knew what they were working with and at no point during Jaune's speech did anyone go, "Uh...this is kind of self-defeating. Can we do another draft?"

But as if the Weiss side wasn't bad enough, they decided to fuck up the Jaune and Ruby side. Jaune is a boy inspired by the stories of his heroic family and desires to live up to their legacy. And Ruby is a girl inspired to be a hero by the fairy tales she grew up with, motivated by pure altruism and tries to stay true to who she is. These characters DO NOT WORK with this idea of locking away your childhood desires and emotions. Their arcs and motivations ARE their childhood dreams and desires.

And to truly kill any chance that this could work- Ruby is angsting over her inability to be a good leader. Something she already went through in Badge and the Burden. Which she then used to help Jaune with his own issues with leadership. So surely, Jaune. Ruby's first friend. Her foil. He could return that favor, right?

Nope, none of that works in IQ. They fucked Badge and the Burden by making Weiss into a shallow bitch and completely removed Jaunedice and thus that moment of bonding and support between them...AS WELL AS THEIR FIRST MEETING.

They put two close friends from the original discussing the issues they had from the original...and fucked it up so much that the only way to make sense of this is to substitute the original for IQ's setup...in this story aimed at new fans.

So far, as of Episode 8- the good to come from this is an example of professional writers fucking up RWBY, reminding me how lovely Ruby looks and Nightmare-Weiss' attire, showcasing her hips and legs.

Everything else? Getting shanked by Volume 1.

[velcro-rave]

post-emoji movie Trauma

WARNING: the following text contains spoilers and can be considered disturbing to some readers. especially my brain, because it’s leaking out my ears after typing this.

This is the first movie ever I’ve gone to see on opening night. And let me just say that, for the record, I’m glad I went to watch with friends. Without them, I would have most likely calmly exited the room, climbed up to the roof, and dived straight off.

I’m honestly fucking terrified of how much this shitty movie has pushed me to the edge. I’ve never felt more ANGRY in my life and at the same time wanted to just curl up in a ball and cry myself to sleep. This is so fucked up. What made it possible for this level of psychological warfare to be used so casually by Sony? Why did they decide this was ever a good idea to present to the public? I’m still shaking (and not from the overpriced Coca-Cola I was sold). Whether it’s out of rage or fear, I don’t know. Not even throwing myself into the deep fires of hell can attempt to restore the intrinsic warmth I felt before I witnessed this crime of a movie. They say that there’s a special place reserved below for people who cause enough pain to humanity, and it is at this point where I pose this question to the following:

Tony Leondis. Eric Siegel. Mike White. Michelle Raimo Kouyate.

Why?

Did you want this to happen to me? Was this the plan all along? To destroy everything you could possibly love in the process of creating this film, to make the audience suffer without any remorse? You got PATRICK FUCKING STEWART as a voice actor, and what is it you do?

Yeah, you make him play A WALKING PILE OF SHIT!!!!

Someone could’ve ran up to me after I left the theater, put a shotgun directly up to my forehead, pulled the trigger, and that would have still not come close to how much my mind had been blown at the shocking reality that this movie, this spawn, could exist in the known universe and continue to be shown to innocent people. There were kids there. Hopeful, happy, young kids with iPhones who thought it was a great idea to head off to the movies and watch a funny relatable movie about emojis without a care in the world. Communicating ideas without the use of words is the “staple” of their generation, as the movie so proudly portrays (even comparing it to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics!), and there’s no reason a family shouldn’t agree to bring their children to this beautiful, heartwarming adventure, right? WRONG.

Nothing could have prepared me for the horrific amount of groan-worthy jokes this movie tossed out. I’ve been wracking my brain for an entire hour trying to remember the most potent ones, but they were so easily forgettable that I can only recall a few offhand. They were tragic. Whenever an opportunity for a shitty pun showed itself, you can bet your ass the writers took it and ran with it to lengths beyond the realms of humor. From the character known as Hi-5′s nonchalant Bye Felicia! to his two puns about snapping (as if one wasn’t enough), I wanted to get up and scream at the ceiling in the hopes that my cries of agony would disrupt the structural integrity of the building and have it fall on top of me, finally freeing me from the slow-cooker of torture that is The Emoji Movie.

At a certain point, Hi-5 (by the way James Corden, I thought you were cool. I thought you were here for us, for all of us as an entertainer, but you just had to take part in ruining me and the world as we know it by accepting this role. I will never forgive you.) mentions something about his heart beating. His… heart? This walking, talking hand has a heart? Does he have lungs? What other internal organs could fit in there and be capable of being slapped around constantly as a result of his stupid ass decisions? Why doesn’t he have arms like Gene or Jailbreak, does his body somehow take into account that he’s already a living appendage? This movie is making me sit and contemplate the anatomy of a fucking animated HAND, and that’s not even as preposterous as a thought can get while watching.

On multiple occasions throughout my viewing experience, I had to take a break to just lean back and sigh, both in anguish of what was happening onscreen as well as the sheer exhausting aspect of it all. The voice acting couldn’t have been more unreliable. Every other line it was a gamble between it being a poorly executed pun delivered so flatly that not even the 4-year old up front let out a little giggle, an obvious statement about what they’re planning to do next, or the most unremarkable snippet of backstory ever revealed. I’m sure all those scenes between Gene and Jailbreak where they gaze at each other were meant to be construed as romantic, but her blasé response to each of his approaches because she “isn’t some princess waiting for her prince” or how “women are deserving of more respect” completely knocked the mood off whatever pedestal it was stepping up to. I get it, these are actual important themes that need to be recognized, and I would be more than happy to see this acknowledged in a movie built on as many metaphors as Zootopia, but the timing of her commentary was the worst I’d ever seen. The constant interruptions made it seem like her words shouldn’t be taken seriously at all!

Unsurprisingly, character background was virtually (unintentional pun. I’m incredibly sorry.) nonexistent, and everything that’s possible to be wondered about the universe could pretty much be answered with a big shrug. For example, why does Hi-5 have a band-aid? Did he get stabbed or something? When did Gene begin to show signs that he was capable of other emotions? Was the Just Dance girl deleted after the trash bin emptied itself out? We didn’t see any signs of the characters going back for her after Hi-5 had to shake off the troll, so did they just leave her there to die? If Jailbreak had been working for a long time to get out, why didn’t she use more of her hacking skills? She pulled up her hologram window things maybe three times total to escape or hide somewhere, does she seriously not have anything else in her repertoire that could potentially help Gene and Hi-5 get to where they need to be quicker? There’s so many questions that don’t even get passively explained. Then again, I’m arguing against the same people who genuinely advocated for the setting to be called Textopolis.

AND WHOSE FUCKING IDEA WAS IT TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER “MEH”??

The ONE emoji with zero interesting qualities and the most monotone parents that, for some fucking batshit insane reason, were given more than the minute of screentime they deserved. I understand for a quick gag, their emotionless response to everything could be funny, but their conversations would just stretch on and on and on. As for Gene, I trusted you, T.J. Miller. I can’t believe you betrayed me, especially after such a hilariously perfect role in Deadpool. Never in my life have I felt so disappointed in a single person. There is no justifiable reason for you to be proud of what you’ve done here. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I astral projected at least three times as I struggled to repress the memory of this trainwreck before it even ended. When I wasn’t desperately clawing at the armrests mid-convulsion, I was staring vacantly at the center of the screen, wondering how this week could have gone so wrong.

This was basically a 91-minute long advertisement. The whiplash of traveling between product placement to product placement nearly made me throw up, which was ostensibly the only thing that could’ve made this worse. Dropbox, Spotify, Candy Crush, Just Dance, YouTube, Facebook, and the almighty Twitter, I hope you’re happy with what you’ve wrought. The “emoji-pop” dance assaulted my eyes so suddenly, acting as the unnecessary cherry on top of the feel-good ending; I think that’s when I officially lost all hope in enjoying the rest of my night.

It’s honestly taking every ounce of my being to hold onto the little bit of life that I have after the Emoji Movie ripped my soul to shreds. The amount of violation I felt as my ears were subjected to endless pop culture references that were relevant years ago, nightmarish depictions of the content of each app on Alex’s phone, and the fact that the god damn Eggplant was in the Unused Emojis room when everyone knows that’s not the case is indescribable. I now have to live with the fact that every time I switch keyboards on my phone, those blank yellow faces will serve as a dark reminder of what I’ve gone through. To any of you reading this that have also watched The Emoji Movie, I am so sorry. I know how difficult it is to process. My recommendation to each and every one of you who haven’t had the chance to witness this sickening spectacle is to KEEP IT THAT WAY. Don’t give in to the peer pressure; this abomination parading itself around as an endearing motion picture will wholly and truly rattle you to the core. My only solace was the complete absence of dabbing or whipping (apart from hearing the song), and I’d like to thank every deity above and below for that small act of mercy.

Here’s to you, Sony. Thanks for ensuring that I not only sink deeper into my depression, but for forcing my mind to house the images I’ve seen today for as long as I live. I wish I could physically bring myself to chuck my phone in a garbage fire, but my entire body has gone numb. Here’s to you, and to all the writers, producers, and directors of this movie that made me sit in a corner pondering how I can possibly live in a future where this monstrosity exists.

Gravely, sincerely,

fuck you, and goodnight.

🖕

[sandytree1]

Skillshare class projects

A list of classes I would like to try out :). Although Skillshare is basically the same as Youtube tutorials, just that it costs money, as this guy has said. 

Creative Ways to Generate Story Ideas Using Prompts: Choose a random image, dialogue, or setting. If you don't have a story, base a story around those prompts, if you have an existing story, find a way to incorporate them into the story. Create one or several ideas, whether with just one prompt or more, and post the ideas. If you feel comfortable, comment on other people's ideas, see if you can bounce ideas off of them. (Skillshare) Didn’t see much happening here, but concept is interesting. Currently 48 students, beginner level. 

Creative Ways to Generate Story Ideas Using Fanfics: Come up with your own fanfic idea? Take the characters from a story you like and place them in a different setting, situation, interchange their roles, etc. If you want to create an original idea make sure that you change enough so as not to relate it to the original story (names, backgrounds, locations, important plot points, etc.) If you feel comfortable start bouncing ideas off of the other classmates for a both a fanfic or an original story. If you’re going for an original idea I recommend asking either your classmates or myself if we recognize the premise or if a character reminds us of some other character.

How to find story ideas: Writing about yourself. Writing about your surroundings. Where to get new ideas. What is a good idea? Exercises. (Skillshare)

Real life lore | Kursgezzagt | 

Storyboarding for film: illustrating scripts and stories. SKILLSHARE. Storyboard a new ending to your favorite film. It's up to you whether you change or keep the plot. Be sure to include ... The scene: Introduce us to the final scene in a few sentences. The storyboard: Using the template or a setup of your own, storyboard the final moments. Think about how different shots, angles, and story contribute to your narrative and change the story. The rationale: Share a few lines about why you illustrated the shots as you did. Project specs ... Your final storyboard should include 4-16 frames. Use the 16x9 template, or create your own. Upload your image files as .jpgs. 

1 ) Set the scene. Select your film. Think about your favorites, research clips on YouTube, or browse your Netflix queue. Then, quickly distill the major plot points so that we're ready for the ending scene you'll storyboard. Share: Share a 3-5 sentence description of the plot up until the final moments.

2 ) Draw your storyboard. Using the provided template (see Additional Resources below) or one of your own, start drawing! If you're new to storyboarding, don't worry about transitions, movement, or too much annotation. Just get across the key visual moments that communicate your story. You may also find it helpful to rough out a quick script as a guide. Share: Your storyboard, drawn either digitally or by hand.

3 ) Reflect on your rewrite. What do your shots communicate that the original film didn't? Why did/didn't you choose to change the plot? If you were to do this exercise again, what would you change? Share: A few sentences reflecting on this storyboarding process and your artistic choices.

Writing a character study (Wattpad)

I often get ideas from different interactions I have in my life. I was walking my dog, when I saw a cute guy with a phone in his back pocket. It slipped out and it was the exact same as mine, model, color and everything. I picked it up and raced after him. We flirted a bit and parted ways. But I always wondered, what if we had switched cellphones? What would have happened from this if we had gone further? 

Important to write about things that you know or things that you experience, since then you have a deeper understanding and is better equipped to write about it. I’m a great people watcher, seeing someone and making up a backstory about why they’re doing what they’re doing. Why is he in a taxi? What happened with his eyes? Did he secretly want to be a pirate? Is he waiting for someone? Or maybe behind those cool sunglasses he is crying and having difficulty breathing? 

Be a people watcher. Make backstories for the people you observe. 

Write a backstory on all characters. 

Keep a phone or pad handy for jotting down ideas you get while observing people. 

Dot down little things like descriptions or characteristics. 

Expand observation to include other things that can inspire you e.g. hobbies, songs, articles, etc. 

If the idea is really sticking with you and you remember these certain people or aspects that happened - it’s still in your mind even weeks after. Then that’s usually how I know if it’s a good idea, when it’s really sticking with me in my mind. 

If struggling coming up with characters or a story. Then you should look around you. Interactions, people watching, but also hobbies that you’re in, music you’re listening to ... Stuff that really inspires something in you, makes you feel something. Things like that. There’s ... All around you there’s inspiration. 

Remember that everything on your pad isn’t your entire story, it’s just a platform of jumping off base. You can combine different ideas, different people, something that will make it your own thing. 

How do I start a story? Blank sheet of paper, but where do I go from there? Using all these interactions that you have and ideas, putting it onto the page. There’s two types: character based and plot based. The first kind is about the characters or the people who are driving the story forward. The second kind is certain aspects of a story; you have a conflict that will eventually create this, and that is driving the plot forward. 

In the first kind, the character’s personalities are really the focal point of it. It can be someone who’s really shy or extroverted or maybe they have a really aggressive personality and dominance, or maybe they’re really submissive and they don’t really want to go out into the world. Things like that. The challenge about this is keeping your personality throughout, but then also how they’re changing and evolving as the story progresses. Because you want a beginning point, but by the end you want to have a conflict resolved. 

A trouble spot is that sometimes when you use just one word for a character, like if they’re an angry character, then your characters becomes very flat because you’re only using one word. So you have to add multiple dimensions to your character. So he’s not just angry, and if he is angry, as the story evolves, how does that anger influence his interactions with other people. and maybe if he is angry at someone, they get into a fight, then what happens. Is he still gonna be angry afterwards, or is he going to be changing? Is he gonna realize that his anger is part of the issue, of his problem? So things like that, where you’re creating different dimensions. 

So I’m not a flat character. I have many flaws, many good characteristics and not good characteristics. So make sure you’re adding that into your own characters. 

How many characters do I need? I usually do my heroine heroine and then I’ll do supporting characters, the peopel around them. Like their best friends, their parents and siblings. So you don’t have to go that in depth as with your heroine heroine necessarily, but you want to be creating some kind of structure of who these other supporting characters are. If you’re not sure with where to start and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with this, I say start with your main characters, and then go from there. As you’re writing your story you can always add characters or even subtract characters. 

If you’re not sure about who your main characters are, I say go back to your main story idea and ask, who is the character that’s driving your story forward? So that’s gonna be your main character. 

The process of writing a character study. At this point it’s up to you. You can either use your notes that you have on other people that you found interesting, or if you don’t, just dive right in. 

who they are and how they are feeling

act out what you’re writing to get a better understanding of what you / the character would do or feel

https://www.skillshare.com/classes/The-Creative-Writers-Toolkit-Writing-a-Character-Study-Learn-with-Wattpad/1452701491/projects E4 8:52

Name: go to the internet for a name, try to find something you feel would fit their personality. 

Physical description: hair color, eyes, height, things that make her her. Body type. Is it curly, frizzy, or ...? if you’re struggling to picture it in your mind or deciding, just pull an image from the internet. Or when you’re outside and you see someone you like, then just use that. 

Personality: takes a couple days. I’ll make a baseline and then add to it. What makes the character, what they wear, manners, etc. Like huge bookwork but doesn’t like homework. She’s a messy person, doesn’t make her bed, while her brother is very neat. Also very laid back person. So clothing wise she likes things loose, shirts aren’t tucked in, etc. 

Habits / mannerisms: like what they eat or when they are nervous, etc. Small things that they do. They eat oatmeal every morning, that’s a constant routine. When she’s nervous she twirls her hair. I always put in why they twirl their hair. She’s very protective of her brother and feels a great bond with him. She not only looks out for him, but that they’re in this together. Put in who they are and what they’re feeling inside. If you’re struggling finding out body language they would do, I would say study yourself. If you’re in a situation, what do you do in that. How would I stand? What would I do in that situation? I’ll act out what the characters are doing in the situation. 

Background: from child to what age they are now in the story. With this you can know throughout your story where your character is and how they’re making those decisions. And it makes it very consistent throughout. 

any siblings and stuff when they are together

Her attitude - background

Where did she grow up? 

As a child she was very afraid of things, so she relied on her brother a lot. I later found out that with this, then she now as a senior, she’s applying for colleges, she has this fear of the future. So the conflict comes from her background. She’s so reliant and now she’s entering this new stage in her life where she’s not going to be with her brother, and how is this going to affect her. 

Talon moved to beach town from Texas. 

Flaws: what does the description from the stuff happen to her. 

She’s a messy person, but how does this messiness affect her as a person? She doesn’t get her homework done on time, for instance she had summer work that she has to get done for school, she waits until the last minute, she then tries to get her brother to help her, then her friends, but they won’t. So that’s how she actually ends up talking to Talon and really connecting with him, since he helps her with her homework. 

Internal conflict: fears and what happens to her and how she progresses

Fear of the future and not knowing with college coming up what she’s going to do. By the end of the story she has a better understanding and learns that fear is okay, it’s 

External conflict: what happens with the outside 

Resolution: both conflicts change in the end 

Henry wants to make a documentary about historical landmarks, but he is afraid of physical aggression. He learns he can’t do this alone, he needs someone to help him, a producer, and a friend. Now I don’t want my story to be about Henry making a film, that’s just a circumstance even though it adds to his character, that’s not what I’m interested in. What I really care about is Henry’s relationships and how he interacts with other people, and about the fact that he’s a loner and an outsider. So I want to bring another person into Henry’s life, and I think it’s going to be a young girl, since I think a young child will more likely accept him as he is. I’m creating another character at the moment, a little girl named Lana who has her own goals: to become a famous TV producer. This story will be about Lana and Henry. It’s almost a boy meets girl story, but without the romance. 

Then I write a three act structure to get the ball rolling. Act one: Henry hires Lana as his producer. Act two: Lana leaves Henry halway through production for a better offer. Now given that we know that Henry gets sad when people laugh at him and is afraid of physical aggression, this is where the conflict and drama could be added to heighten those elements. What if Lana makes fun of Henry? He’s just not cool enough for her? And she leaves him to be with cooler folks? What if worse than that, she unwittingly shows him some physical aggression? That sounds scary, but don’t you want to push boundaries with this character? Don’t you want to go to the absolute extreme? Act three: Henry finishes his documentary, wins an award and gives it to Lana, to thank her for her input. Lana decides she wants to carry on working with Henry. 

The reason I’ve put this in there is because I think Henry is a very kind and sweet person, and we said he had a positive and sunny nature. So I think that whatever happens to him, he is not going to become bitter and hold a grudge about it. And actually this resolves the conflict. He is the one who steps out and offers the hand of friendship to Lana. It also shows that he’s grown as a character, he’s discovered that the important thing wasn’t making a documentary or winning awards, but it was actually the relationship created throughout the process. So as a character he’s gone on a little journey. 

How does your character react to conflict? Your character drives the plot. 

How would that character create plot? Knowing their weaknesses. Knowing things they struggle with. What situation could you put them into to create an interesting dramatic situation. It can be something very simple. (...)