The 6 Essential Questions For Screenwriting - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fJ2ZZtpnvb3DYoU.html (More on this topic over on Glenn's KZfaq channel)

The 6 essential questions 1. Who is it about? 2. What did they want? 3. Why can't they get it? 4. What did they do about it? 5. Why doesn't that work? 6. How does it end?

Me, who has never written or thought of writing and just clicked on a recommended video: "Interesting"

Every character thinks they are the main character ... this was definitely a lightbulb moment for me! Thanks for sharing your tips and knowledge :)

His excitement for writing is radiating off him, it’s really inspiring because although writing is difficult it’s the most rewarding experience

David Cornwall, aka John le Carré simply stated: "'A Cat sat on a Mat' is not a story. 'A Cat sat on the Dogs Mat' is a story."

I tried writing a novel on a computer for years. Last year I bought a typewriter, and the 80k word manuscript came out in 4 months. Cannot stress enough that your process is your process. Write on a jungle gym, upside down, on a yellow legal notepad with a crayon. Just get it out.

This cured my writer's block, wow. I applied it to every character in my story, making all of them protagonists of their own journeys, and I found it to be much easier for me to develop both character, plot AND theme all at once, rather than the atomized way I used to do. Thank you so much for the advice and the video.

"The writing process is answering a series of questions?" It's wild to me how such a simple concept can totally dispel the mystery of writing creatively. I've struggled for years trying to find a way to pull ideas out of my head into something coherent, but I never could seem to develop a way of approaching the process that worked for me. Thanks for this video, it's already helped me a ton.

I often follow the four David Mamet questions from the memo: 1) What does your hero want? (GOALS) 2) Who/What Stands in their Way? (OBSTACLES) 3) What happens if they don't get it? (STAKES) 4) Why Now? (TIME/SITUATION) You gotta think before you write

I think Hollywood only asks one question now: "how do I piss off as many fans as possible?"

The "every character is their own main character" idea is very insightful! I've always had trouble making side characters interesting in my writing and now I know it's because I wrote them as tools and not people with their own intentions and conflicts.

1. Who is it about? 2. What does he/she want? 3. Why can't he/she get it? 4. What does he/she do about that? 5. Why doesn't that work? 6. How does it end?

"Would the reader be excited to read the next chapter?" Is my best writing question.

The part after 1:12 just gave me a major perspective shift on approaching writing characters inside a world. _"Every character thinks THEY'RE the main character."_ What a way to put it.

His point about everyone finding their own process is SPOT ON. The thing I liked least about my creative writing courses in college (it was my major, so I had many) was that every instructor seemed to assert that THEIR process was THE process, and everything else was bound to fail. (Even Stephen King falls into this trap when he insists that writers should never outline a story. I love King's work, but even some of his novels would have benefitted from a bit more preplanning.) Learning your OWN process is the only way to go.

"Writing is a series of questions." I like that process. Asking questions about your character's goal, origins, mentality, action, non-action, social-climate, and so on. A great way to establish strong character writing for every moment & scene. 🤩

I wrote half of a novel while sitting in my car during breaks at work. It was surprisingly efficient--no one to distract me, music if I chose, and a limited amount of time to get as much written as possible before I had to clock back in.

I always loved the simple play-writing advice of: Act 1: Get a character up a tree. Act 2: Throw rocks at them. Act 3: Get them down gracefully.

He's absolutely right - it is a series of "aha!" moments, not a single one. There is always something missing that we didn't know about.

I find music to be an excellent catalyst for developing a character and sequence of events. Sometimes, if there's a song I've been listening to a lot recently, I try to imagine it as a soundtrack for a scene or situation my characters are in. When I do that, the story really does develop a mind of it's own, and I feel like I'm just sitting there watching it in my head, like a movie. It's an excellent way to help flesh out your story elements, while envisioning some new situations that your characters have to deal with.

I feel better about my skills as a writer since the story I'm writing does answer all six questions. Yay me!!

For me, stories are all about watching characters solving interesting problems.

It's comforting to hear that this literally describes the plot structure I intend to write for my animated series.

One of the things I realized recently about what I think makes a great author is if they understand people. Authors who can make stories that feel real and authors who don’t struggle. I never could really put my finger on why before, but this video really crystallized that thought for me. Thank you!

I never thought of writing a front desk clerk as someone that thinks they are the main character, but we see these people written all the time as though they only exist to serve the needs of the customer.

My book series protagonist is someone who one of their key internal struggles is that they flatly believe they are not the main character in their own story.

something a lot of people don't realize is that this is extremely good advice for storytelling in KZfaq videos as well.

What he said about being able to write a story with multiple characters reminded me of Sense8. That series made me feel invested and attached with all of their protagonists and supporting characters as well as despise its villains. Not only was it a testament of great writing, but it’s also about how it was directed and how the actors and actresses were so good at portraying their characters.

That's how I run NPCs when I GM. That Innkeep has PLANS for this evening. Her plans do not involve any of the player characters.

No matter how small a character is, they are still a unique piece of the puzzle ( the whole story) so treat them with the same respect as the MC

A year later I learn new things - this time it was about the space or time alloted for writing. That was helpful with not writing over good material because we were exhuasted or emotionally drained when it didn't match our writing process. Great bit!

I like how well this applies to most creative outlets. With basically just a madlibs level of exchanging key words, this could apply to drawing, acting (more specifically being able to learn characters and immerse yourself in them), music, 3D modelling (in certain ways), animation, anything.

I actually like to play solitaire before I write. I used to always see my grandma play it when I was little, and one day I just downloaded a regular solitaire app. This may sound weird, but it has actually helped me tremedously! I don't know exactly how it happens, but playing for 10-20 minutes actually makes it easier to organize my thoughts and ideas.

Listening to this interview made me feel REALLY good about my own writing process. I always felt like I wasn't doing it right because I wasn't doing it like everyone else. Coming away from this with a bit more self-confidence!

I'm writing my first novel, and this is a godsend. Thank you so much. He is a wonderful speaker, fantastic teacher.

My problem is that I’m waiting for a fully formed story idea to hit me like a bolt out of the blue! I’ve got a handful of half formed ideas but none that I feel confident enough to run with….yet. Great video, have subscribed!

Short bursts is how I am with composing music, especially when I'm coming up with a thematic element. If I work at a piece too long in one sitting I getting frustrated with it.

"Why should we care?" ~The audience. End of the world is easy: "Hey, that's my planet!" Romance is harder, because you have to make the reader/audience care about these people.

I'm writing a graphic novel about war, tragedy, heartbreak, emptiness, and finding your will to live. I'm also writing a dnd story about mystery, exploration, and solving things. This is helping me out a lot.

After sitting at home doing nothing for 3 weeks and I was watching that 70s show. It moved me emotionally and a story just hit me. I opened word and started writing just like that. I’ve written my first chapter of about 2600 words staying up half the night. I haven’t written anything since high school which for me was 10 years ago. I have no idea where this came from. I made a simple search on yt and found this video. Thank you. I really feel what he’s talking about. This was great!

The scaffolding of your good writing is your crap writing. Have passion for an idea, blunder through with whatever you've got. You can hone the point to a fine edge of brilliance later. No one but you, your editors, and your Mama sees the sausage making. The world only sees the masterpiece. Don't worry about the crap, use it!

He is SO right about paying attention to yourself, and figuring out if you work better in short bursts or long bursts. I've "written over" dozens of great stories because I pushed myself to write so long that the whole story started to look dull or poorly written when it wasn't. You really have to pace yourself. Great channel, love these vids!

"I keep six honest serving men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who" The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling [1902]

The short story, “My Kinman, Major Molineaux” by Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates this idea perfectly. A rogue, a temptress, a drunken crowd, an angry crowd, and a mentor all weigh in on the protagonist Robin’s coming-of-age and the surprising outcome.

Can’t wait for Netflix original series Train Station, coming this fall.

i remember in school we were learning about journalism i think, it was atleast English class, and i remember the teacher saying "you need 6 things for a story: who what where when why how" and its always stayed with me even though i dont do stories.

I really appreciate Glenn's genuine knowledge and also his willingness to be so open. The whole 'many seasons passed of an 'aha moment' is very true regarding all experience to everything. I have constantly given myself a hard time for not always being able to execute my work, and taking breaks always made me feel guilty. Other's perspective and outlook is so helpful in that we don't feel so alone in the world. I'm starting a mindful journaling club for 4-6th graders this semester and really look forward to giving them a non-judgmental space for creativity and expression. Thank you for this!

I love the way he simplifies down to these basics that provide both the framework and the motion of the story. Such a nice break from the old style rules that demand obedience to someone else's process.

I find that the process before writing is the most important. I have recently tried method writing and I let my characters lead and tell their story. I kinda become the passenger in the story telling and sometimes my characters do things I didn’t plan or expect. It’s the most exhausting process in terms of emotion regulation, especially for certain characters. It takes a long time too and some days I can’t get into character, which means I can’t write

"If you have good characters, you can forget about the story." - Howard Hawks.

This was probably the most helpful video for writing stories I've seen. It made me realize that the integral part that was stopping me from being able to realize my book into written form was the fact that I wasn't asking enough questions and tried to brute force it. Also, the fact that every character is their own main character really made me think. I had this semi-figured out before, but having it spoken aloud gave me the necessary push to become completely aware of it.

some people need to work at the same time every day, some need to work when it hits them.. i do not force it i take breaks for inspiration, i read other things, i watch films, look at art, go for a walk i see scenes on the street that inspire, etc. he is very right about just putting notes about what you want your characters to do... even when you do not know how to write a scene, write about what you want people to do or say, n a general sense

"Do whatever that is comfortable for you and makes you write better" Me : dances in middle of the writing process

I just finished my first short story thats been in my head for over 10 years, im so happy to actually complete the first draft. Its rough but im so happy :) Its such a massive weight lifted. Having jumbled up thoughts of millions of variables, multiple characters, influential environments, infinite amount of moods, and concepts that would not stop growing, tidied up into a manageable form. Im not a writer, i prefer visual story telling, senses and body language. I was only able to finish this book when i stopped fussing over dialogue and just focused on what i enjoy. The language of subtle gestures.

Hearing him describe the short burst thing was a wow moment for me. This is totally me. I chalked it up to being lazy, but I always say that when I go for that walk or go drink something or snack or whatever, my mind is actually still working. When I get back and sit down, all the sudden I pump out more.

Wise advice that covers just about every task one might find themselves faced with in life. I'm glad you posted this.

This is great. I'm writing a book and got stuck. I finally just wrote a chapter heading and below it: this is where the character... then I moved on to other parts of the story. I'm sure glad to hear someone else does this too. It worked really well because when I circled back around to the chapter I was in a much better position to write it and weave in why the chapter matters to the story.

I constantly find myself watching a movie and wondering how it might have been written in the script and then how I would have written it. I think that's a cool self-exercise.

I really appreciate these videos and this channel. I am trying to learn about writing to write my own graphic novel or comics. What is so great about these videos beside the amazing information is the presentation. The interviewer has a very nice, calm voice and asks compelling questions and then lets the guest speak thoroughly. There is no snazzy annoying background music so I am able to listen to these while I draw and they don't distract me. And also I'm able to absorb a lot of wisdom as I'm drawing and my brain just soaks it up. Thanks so much!

As someone starting this process, was great to listen to Glen. Solid and unpretentious advice. Thank you!

I think Lord of the Rings is a great example of telling a story about multiple characters. Sure, Frodo and Sam are at the heart of it. The main conflict always comes back to them somehow, but there's still the smaller side stories with Merry and Pippin, or Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf which are still done very well.

#3 is the hard one. I did a lot of slush pile reading for a small journal. I read thousands of short stories over the years. Most people have #1 and #2 figured out. But they fall short at #3. If you can figure out a believable obstacle, I find that #4-6 often fall into place.

Love hearing from the professionals. Very inspiring. Thank you!

This is incredibly encouraging to me as an aspiring writer (I only have 2 short stories under my belt) I struggle a lot with discovering my process like Glenn discussed I feel short burst writing is best for me. For the longest time I've always pushed and forced myself to try and write in a way that is for lack of a better word "expected" or how "actual" writers do it. I've spent such a majority of my twenties feeling or being discouraged from myself because I wasn't writing in a certain way. Now that I'm 29 I've finally truly decided to pursue my passion of storytelling and make it my primary goal, purpose, and career. While I'm obviously not making any money at the moment from it I do freelance work mostly DoorDash to pay bills. This way I can focus on my writing. Thank you Film Courage for this great video. I look forward to applying the topics discussed here in my future writing endeavors.

Don't forget to keep "and then" out of your story beats and "but, therefore" in their place.

The Star Wars writers at the last trilogy skipped a key semester...

He is amazing. He must understand people pretty well. Just the main character depiction explains humanity’s approach of an individual life.

I love this, especially when he says "everyone's process will be different." I remember a few years ago reading some article that said it was so much better for everyone to write in the morning and get it done, and I was younger and foolish so I tried that. It worked for maybe two days, but I am NOT a morning person let alone a morning writer. I used to call myself a "writing vampire" because I'm just far more creative at night. Some people are better during the day. I can write for hours as long as my energy holds but I usually try to go 1000+ words a session and end either on a dialogue question or in the midst of something happening so I'll have a jumping off point.

Good interview! I really like the idea of every character being the main character in that person's own mind. So have no throwaway characters because each person is motivated, even if the role is small. My writing question... Would anyone pay $20 to see this on screen (including me)?

two of the most helpful tips I've recieved for writing flow that I think could help others are about not interrupting yourself and your process; similar to what he said, when you don't know what the rest of the scene is, or what happens in between this paragraph and six later, or want to write something that happens right after the first bit, write what's supposed to happen. I do it like this: Text text text text, text text text. Blah blah blah. [He asks for his father to pass the salt, the table goes quiet, his mother glances at him sideways. The father stands up.] Text text text. [Sister pulls youngest child away from the table just in time for the casserole dish to hit the wall behind the high chair. It tumbles slowly, then all at once onto the ground. The two hide, she comforts the youngest. Screaming in the background. "You've never cared before, why now?" "I never had to before, I didn't have to _do_ it for them!"] Text text text. Blah blah blah, etc.. If I'm writing a specific line and I don't need any big bits, but there's a specific word I'm looking for and I can't focus on the next words because I need that one, in stories and essays, I use [ELEPHANT] in place of it so I can keep going. It's sufficiently uncommon in most uses, so I don't need to worry it'll be redundant, I have a standard to look for in each piece once I've finished it, and it's easily replaceable at the end.

Best video on storytelling I have ever seen. It could not be any clearer on capturing the essence and definitive answer on what a story is and how to make it compelling so the listener connects. Thank you very much for this. Your work and creative courage is highly appreciated.

Was looking for how to tell better stories generally in a social setting. This advice is priceless.

Every character is the main character in their own POV. Defying this rule will ruin the immersion of story writing.

The way you write sounds like what I’ve been missing. I have a lot of free time right now so I’ve been trying to force the manuscript onto the page. I need to work with my mind’s flow, not against it. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart, you’ve taught me something I might’ve never realized on my own. Now I can go back and fix the pacing issues of my last few chapters…at a pace I can deal with!

I know in writing it is typically that we have a eureka moment and suddenly change as a character, but I prefer the two-one approach (two steps forward, one step back). Letting my characters fail at something they have accomplished after their initial eureka moment just feels better to me than making it some sort of secret power up they earned for discovering something. For example, someone gets bullied all of the time. So one day they have had enough and stick up for themselves. They end up taking down the bully in this triumphant eureka moment of "if I overcome my fear of fighting back, then I will realize my own strength." The next day, the bully confronts them again. "Well," thinks the MC, "I already beat them once, so now I know I can." But this time the bully is expecting the MC to fight back, so they do not get caught off guard this time. After a strong show of strength on both sides, the MC still gets the sense knocked out of them. This causes the MC to doubt if they are really strong at all, or if they just got lucky. Also, they question if fighting back is even a good idea because it did not solve the problem. This causes them to take that step backwards where they are hesitant to fight once again, and this hesitation makes them do worse in future conflicts. Then they realize they feel worse mentally from living in fear than they felt physically from fighting back and getting hurt in the process, so they decide enough is enough. They will fight back even if they get hurt worse for it. This renewed confidence causes them to beat the bully at their best (who already knows MC fighting back is a possibility). Well, the first time the bully only thought it was a fluke, same as MC did after losing the second time, but now the bully knows the MC really is not someone they want to mess with, so they back off. Having seen fighting back *can* work if they stick to it, the MC now has that extra boost of confidence and their character truly "sticks the landing" in their character development arc. This journey, IMO, has a lot more emotional depth than if the MC simply learns to stand up for themselves and everything works out, the end. Even if that is not the only eureka moment they need to complete their overall journey, there is often less gain from rushing them through the eureka process than there would be from allowing them to fall short after seeing what they need to reach the finish line. I say often because the final eureka moment of a story can absolutely, and probably should be a single defining eureka moment that ends with a triumphant victory and "roll credits." The many micro eurekas along the way, I feel, are better served as a process learned, failed or abandoned, remembered and refined over the course of the story.

I'm so encouraged and affirmed to observe myself and find the process that works best for me for songwriting. I've 'grinded' my way to nothing good for hours before and I'm definitely short bursts guy for the most part. Thanks for sharing this video - this was pure truth and totally helpful!

I love Glenn's conversational style; he really knows his stuff and this also makes me glad that thinking a process through is vital even before writing (if that's your style).

I love you Film Courage. Excellent content as always. Really appreciate this one.

This is why I love coming back to KZfaq. You just get what you want at the right time. This Video was so so....helpful !! A Ton of Thanks and Gratitude from my side.

I'm not a screenplay writer by any means but these tips are encouraging me to write again despite my quarantine burn out. Thank you for posting this!

As an aspiring novelist myself, thank you for the video. Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you friends. :)

“put a little bit down to give your creativity something to hang onto” …for me that is a piece of gold there, because I’m finding that, not just in writing, but in other creative work too. Every time I make something or write something it gives me the fuel to get through the week, without the pressure of my creativity making me agitated and uncomfortable. This is video has been in my watch later for months.. finally watched it after a couple others from your channel.. Great videos. Thanks for making your content available. Got my subscription. 👍🏽

After watching this video all the way through, this video actually helped me in multiple ways, even personally. As an aspiring play writer, this video helped me mentally figure out scenes for multiple pieces of my work so thank you for that. This video also personally opened my eyes to figure out, after 20 years, what my story and purpose is so I'm being sincere when I say thank you Film Courage! Keep doing what you're doing!

"The obstacle is in their head, but it's real" Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of parents: stop acting, you're not fooling me! Get up and do that already! Why people dive so deeply into fictional characters, I have absolutely no idea.

The storyline itself is almost irrelevant; what really matters is the charismatic character and the captivating delivery of the storyteller. You could literally talk about garbage, but if you are able to present it in a captivating light you’ve turned it into a jewel of an experience. In the end, what counts is the storyteller’s ability to connect with the audiences.

This was a very helpful video and interview. It gave me a great deal of insight into why my writing has always stalled. I listened to too many people telling me how I should write, ignoring how I would best write. It's something to keep in mind as I get back on the writing bandwagon after many years of procrastination. Thank you!

It's interesting hearing this articulated. Because a lot of these principles are things that I've used intuitively before just because it makes a good story. This feels like a good mantra to remember the base structure you will need. Because for instance the idea of asking questions and presenting conflicts even in the most mundane of ways became a way to spice up my writing. By making a boring situation more intense on the individual it's more compelling. The tip of writing other character as though they are main characters is actually a very good tip. It's something I've noticed in well written comics, where background characters or one off characters feel like they have a whole life outside of what we the reader get to see.

So true about grinding away!!! I, too, work best in short bursts and all that time in between, the ideas brew and mix, so when I sit down to write for 30 minutes, it's exactly what I want it to be. But if I try to keep going past that burst, it becomes messy and, well, I just waste time.

The 1 essential question: Why didn't Disney and Lucasfilm follow this method (or any reasonable plan) for the Disney Star Wars films?

The interviewers in every Film Courage video I watch do a terrific job of listening and following up with relevant questions. That's a lost art... listening. Thanks again!

Completely agree. Thanks for sharing this. It helped a lot to overcome my doubts.

Not gonna lie, this is a lot harder than I thought.

"The only obstacle is in there *points to his head* but it's real!" I really appreciate him saying that. Things might be in the mind, but it's still very real.

What a great interview. I love his calm, articulate style. It's such a nice change from people shouting even when they're wearing a microphone.

I feel blessed to find these tips and explanations when writing for the first time (at a large scale)

Surprisingly, I feel I can honestly answer all 6 questions for my main novel and it really made me feel better about my writing

ME: _works out all those questions_ MINOR CHARACTER: "Why can't *I* be the main character??? I've just as much star potential as _that_ idiot! ME: "Well . . . if you were the main character, what would you do?" *_ten minutes later_* ME: "That's good. Let me turn on the recorder. Say that again into the mic, please." OTHER CHARACTER: "Hey! Guys! Wakener's doing open auditions for main character!!! Get to the forebrain!!!" *stampede*

So encouraging! I’m a “short burst” writer, too!

I find the process of writing a story intensely interesting. Sometimes the ideas are transformed on the page effortlessly.. it writes itself until you hit a road block. That’s when inspiration kicks in but sometimes that takes time but when it does your storytelling flows again…. its like shooting the curl and you ride it for all it’s worth until it peters out.