Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Table of contents
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Character trees!
13.
14.
Research!.
15.
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26.
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28.
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30.
"page 17"
31.
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41.
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43.
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threaten to kill the kitten (unless you wrote the girl with
the dragon tattoo or something). What this analogy really
means is you take some obvious thing to empathize with
(cute kitten!) and you put it in some kind horrible danger
and instantly the audience is automatically involved in
your movie. But it also can be any of these rather human,
oft-experienced sort of things. Like spilling coffee on
yourself. Or having parents that "just don't understand!"
or the foil of that and having bratty kids. Basically you
want to have this very relate-able texture or context
which lets the audience say "i totally recognize and
sympathize with that inclination!" (notice hulk said
inclination and not "situation" because people make that
mistake. It's the emotions we identify with, not the
predicament.)
There is of course a way that these devices can be totally
manipulative. Some people hate to have narratives box
them in with how to feel and think. Rather than spend a
big chunk of this on how to balance the goals of empathy
without being manipulative, it is far easier to link to
devin's excellent review of warhorse, which covers the
subject quite well. The main point is to simply find the
right balance of presentation and be sure that there are
real character motivations behind the devices, meaning
the devices/situation should directly impact or comment
on the character and story and not just be there to
cheaply get "the audience on their side."
Sadly, there are a lot of people in the filmmaking industry
who confuse "empathy" with "likability." the mistake is
understandable, but please understand that the two are
not the same thing in the slightest. Empathy is
About relation and understanding. They think likability
amounts to "not having your characters do anything bad."
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world! I get the girl! Blah blah" but this sort of indulgence
can lead to some really unsavory stuff too. The kind of
stuff that has nothing to do with larger truths, or
understanding, or the human condition, or why we tell
stories. It's about massaging the id. And at that point,
your storytelling is basically the facilitation of mental
masturbation.
It may make people happy, and that's all well and good...
But it may not be doing them a favor. And by extension it
might not be doing humanity a favor.
This is not to overly-criticize the desire to entertain. Hulk
just think that when engaging the indulgent aspects of
storytelling, it is also important to understand what is
really happening with the audience, and to take
responsibility of your message. Hulk thinks you should try
to tie a few of the indulgent concepts into some grounded
and responsible aims too. Otherwise you end up writing
lifestyle-porn like entourage (which is not only a lazy
approach to indulgence, it is such a lazy show it can only
resolve plots with deus ex machina... If you like entourage
hulk sorry to be crapping on it. Really hulk is. Hulk admit
it can be really funny and has a few good performances
and stuff, but hulk not like its identity and purpose. It is
perhaps the most indulgent, yet well-made thing hulk has
ever seen).
So yes, even indulgence must be appropriated into
purpose. Hulk not implying that all movies have to have
some hallmark message tied into it, because that would
be super lame. In fact, some of hulk's favorite films an
just go balls out and make the most obviously indulgent,
wholly un-real narratives (think of something like crank).
The way these hyper-stories work is that the absurdity
and un-reality of the presentation actually creates a
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feel real.
An audience cannot somehow sense what you implicitly
know about this real person. They can only sense the
information and characterization that is given. If you've
ever been in or taught undergrad creative writing
students, you will absolutely encounter the same problem
even every single semester:
Hulk: "listen jimmy, hulk not sure the character choice
there would-"
Jimmy: "but this is a real person!"
... It doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not it
makes sense for the character presented. So what to do
when you're so blindly sticking to real life? If you
recognize a truth in this real-life person that you want to
explore? How to approximate the influence of real people
into your script in a more organic fashion?
Hulk has a sure fire trick to making your characters more
interesting and freeing them up to the realities of writing
fiction: combine them.
You have that one friend who is really interesting? And
that other friend who is really interesting? If you try to
write them individually they always have a tendency to
come off all wooden and lacking nuance. But if you
combine the two of them? And you create a shared
wealth of history and psychology to draw on? You'd be
shocked how suddenly the character is brimming with
depth and possibilities.
A long time ago, hulk was once working on a script in
which two of the side-characters hulk kind of based off
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thing..
Don't write the story of your life with the lines you wish
you said...
Not only does it reek of amateur hour, it's just pure
masturbation. As p.T. Anderson once said "you're working
out your psychosis at everyone else's $8.50" (that should
clearly be updated to 15 bucks). But the problem is it's
cathartic storytelling only built only for yourself. Which is
not to say you can't make work, but just so often it
doesn't translate. Trust hulk on this one. It will not speak
to no higher truth. Even the most lauded masturbatory
works, call direct attention to the callousness. Like with
the entire work of woody allen, he weaves the problems
and hang ups of his own masturbatory writing directly
into the narrative. Heck, he outright explains how
insignificant it is and how it only helps the artist (this is
the entire theme of deconstructing harry).
Reality does not automatically make for fiction. And in
case you're wondering, yes, kaufman / jonze's
"adaptation" is 100% about this entire concept. It's all
about how one cannot simply rely on the facets of truth
and must search for beauty and truth and themes, and
must ultimately embrace storytelling conventions to
make those ideas resonate (even if one does so cheaply).
And that film explains it better than hulk ever could
Hulk mean, of course it can... It's a narrative.
13. The biopic / reality complication
If what hulk just said is true for your stories, then it goes
double for biopics.
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have to put the work in. And better yet, hulk think that
audiences subconsciously respond when characters really
know what to call things. The specific details give the air
of veracity. And sometimes great truths are arrived at
when you work backward from that veracity.
Going back to david simon, generation kill is compelling
because all they tried to do with the narrative was create
the most accurate depiction of life as a soldier in iraq.
And they did so in way that was only meant to make
those soldiers happy. But by doing pleasing those
soldiers, they created a kind of detail-oriented truth that
helped strike a chord with those of us looking in on the
situation.
Simply put: audience like to watch smart people be
professional. It is responsible for most of the good cop,
lawyer, doctor shows we see on tv, even though some of
them have taken to lying right through their freaking
teeth. And hulk thinks that this dishonest approach to
portraying real-world professionalism has really bad
societal consequences.
Look at csi. The "science" may be somewhat sound (if
that) and features real techniques, but the show is the
most dishonest look imaginable about how those sciences
are actually used in the field. It is utterly dishonest to how
those people really do their jobs. It is utterly dishonest
about the success rate of the techniques and the kinds of
resources police actually have. And as such it creates a
seriously damaging portrait of how society works. Don't
believe hulk? A lot of juries have stopped taken jurors if
they are csi fans... The show lies that badly (the jurors
constantly expect every single case to have the kind of
resources they need for on site forensic evidence.
Forensic evidence is only studied by 3 scientists in a little
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... Hulk knows which one hulk liked. Which did you?
17. Dont write women just in the context of men
Okay... Hulk not going to get big into this, because it
going be upcoming column, but writers, both male and
female, have to do a better job with how they portray
women. They just do. The culture of women in film is in
bad, bad way right now.
There's a lot of levels to it. There's active sexism "girls
just need to be in a movie so men have something to look
at!" and casual sexism "let's only define women through
the gaze and context of the male characters!" and even
subconscious sexism "the girl in this movie are way more
interesting, but guys are default main characters!" again.
Hulk going to address all this later in way more detail
(with a few certain badass guest stars!), but it is
important to create interesting, vivid women who, you
know, have their own stuff going on. Notice hulk didn't
say "strong role models" because that not the same
thing. Hulk talking the fact we can't
even write basic human traits. Hulk hear all the time
from students and even professional writers "but i don't
know how to write women!" ... That's b.S... If you can
write a guy you can write a girl. To suggest anything other
than that is ridiculous and nothing but opting to be lazy.
You may think this issue is "not that important" to the
story you are telling, but every film can be made better
by making the women in it more three-dimension.
Seriously. Every film. Think of all the rare films that
actually manage to write three-dimensional women, and
wouldn't you know it, but it just so happens every
audience member comes loves it. Even the most sexist
dudes on earth, who insist they don't "need" interesting
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portrayals women,
Can't help but enjoy whatever they do on screen. We are
simply moved by interesting, human characters.
Side-note: hulk also has another column planned around
race in movies. But for writing purposes? Especially if you
have problems writing characters of different
backgrounds? Here's a tip: if you're white and you're
writing a bunch of white people. Try just suddenly
changing the race of one or more of the characters. Then
change nothing else... Problem solved.
Closing argument? People respond to people being
people.
And that's all you really need to know.
Now, let's hammer home the thematic angle of storytelling.
18. Everything you write is saying something
Whether or not we mean to put messages in our films and
media, they are still there.
This is an inescapable fact of authorship and the anchor
behind the entire field of semiotics. Everything characters
do or say, automatically implies something about the way
characters think about life. Even if they are just
automated responses, does that not imply author is
saying something about the way certain people may
behave?
This does not mean that characters are automatically a
stand in for the author's beliefs or some silly notion like
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2.
3.
4.
Adapt to it
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5.
6.
7.
8.
Having changed.
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hulk looks at his work it sure looks like it. All central
theme extrapolated into plotting, character, and singular
details.
At this juncture, you may have realized that whole point
of these structures is to have as many different ways of
attacking different kinds of story problems. This is perfect
because writing is largely about problem solving. You
write. Everything seems great. You hit a snag. You try and
figure it out.
That's writing.
So depending on what you're looking to solve, there are
so many models to incorporate into your favorite method.
So that being said, lets look at hulk's favorite method and
use the entire story-breaking / inspiration process we've
learned so far. It's really a two part process. The first is:
27. Breaking into concurrent arcs
One of the best places to start really organizing your
structure is to look at all the arcs in your story and lay
them out as individual stories.
Hulk could come up with a fun analysis of a movie that
we all know and could work with, but because hulk keeps
talking about the problems of reverse engineering, let's
go in a different direction instead. Hulk will now come up
with a made-up story right here on the spot... Hulk swear
this what hulk doing and it probably going to be pretty
bad. Again, hulk swear hulk won't refine the idea so it will
be bad, but at least you can see the organic process:
Um... So, like, a doctor has journeyed to a small aids
hospital in africa, to rebuild his life after a painful
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and:
28. Merge into conflicting arcs
Hulk uses the following movie all the time when talking
about screenwriting, not because it's a stunning example
of innovative writing, but because it only tries to do the
most basic things and it gets them so, so right.
The movie is kung fu panda.
Really? Yes.
The thing hulk loves about the film is how it balances the
relationships and plot mechanics to keep them all very
unified. There is po, the dim-witted panda chosen to be
the dragon warrior by master oogway and meant to
unlock the power of the dragon scroll. There is tigress, the
one who was in line to be the dragon warrior and is now
deeply disappointed at not being chosen. There is tai lung
the villainous former pupil who wants to unlock the power
of the dragon scroll for himself. And all three are linked to
master shifu who failed in training tai lung because he
loved him too much and gave into all tail lung's indulgent
behaviors. To correct his mistakes, shifu was far too hard
on his next pupil tigress, who he imbues with far too
much desire to please him. And then shifu is faced with
training the idiotic, but well-meaning po, a task he does
not want or understand, especially because it was meant
for tigress. And then guiding over all of them, particularly
shifu's frustrations, is master oogway, the one who chose
po as dragon warrior and guides all five of these
characters with a quiet sense of zen and destiny.
5 main characters. 5 different sets of relationships. They
all have motives to relate to each other. They all have
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writing...
30. "page 17"
The term "page 17" is a strange phenomenon revealed to
hulk by an old mentor.
He said that if you look through most good screenplays,
for some reason the movie's main plot or action kicks into
place on exactly page 17... He spent a career looking into
it... Hulk checked into it too... He's actually right.
It's almost bizarre, but if your read a ton of scripts, "page
17" of these 90-120+ page screenplays seem to be this
naturally occurring point in the main plot where the story
really gets going. Even something as non traditional as
the first chapter of inglorious basterds is 17 pages (sorry,
hulk just checked, it's 17.5). It's like the "screenwriting pi"
or something, this naturally occurring page number were
it "feels right" to really start embarking down the main
narrative path.
Perhaps this is apropos of nothing, but hulk sees it is yet
another tool at your disposal. Have you started your main
plot too fast? Have you delayed it for too long? If it's page
33 and the main plot of your story hasn't gotten going
yet, all because you're still "setting things up," then
chances are that is
A bad thing.
It's not as if you absolutely have to get your main story
cooking by page 17, but hulk would like to suggest if
you're going much earlier or much later than that page
number, then perhaps you should probably have a really
good reason to do so, that's all. Don't let it be due to
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laziness.
31. If you use characters, they should likely be
reused
Again, these are guidelines. But so often we are
introduced to certain characters in a story, who achieve
some temporary goal in a scene. Comic relief. Exposition.
Spurring forth a new plot. Whatever. And often they will
then disappear... It doesn't work that well for your story
economy.
Hulk knows hulk keeps picking on the movie (perhaps
fairly so), but in green lantern we are introduced to hal
jordan's family in an opening scene. They clearly do it to
make him seem all human and caring and stuff. It's so
freaking manipulative it's just stupid. But then... We
promptly never hear from them again... Whatsoever.
Sorry, but it was one of the most laughable things hulk's
ever seen. Not just for in-movie logic terms, but character
consistency too. You figure he'd care about his family
when all of a sudden shit started going down with the city
getting eaten by parallax, but hey whatever. Hulk guess
there's far more boring things to do when your family in
trouble. But hey, it's just offense from a terrible script
(who knows though, maybe something ended up in the
cutting room floor and hulk just being mean).
But the real reason it sucks is because it feels like wasted
narrative time. The audience can inherently sense messy
and scattered storytelling. They sense when things don't
feel important or necessary. Like in hulk's example with
how the characters in kung fu panda converge and have
stakes in each other because it makes for a relevant
story. Simply put, there should be reasons characters are
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least.
The simplest truth is that a first draft is nothing. It is not
proof you have written a story, but proof you have written
a certain number of pages. Hulk has never really read a
good first draft of anything. So the way hulk always
Likes to write is to just get a first draft over and done with
so that hulk can then be on hulk's way with all the fun
editing process.
Editing is fun.
There is the old adage that "writing is re-writing." hulk
feels it is true because that is when you get to shape the
actual story. When it's a bad script, which they all are at
first, you can reshape it through sheer commitment to
make it a good script. And the best part about refining
your script is, you know, you can still make great changes
with zero negative consequences (unlike when you start
filming). Hulk loves editing scripts. It's when the story
actually feels alive.
Paul thomas anderson talked about writing once and said,
to paraphrase, that writing is like ironing. You have this
rumpled mess that's still a shirt and everything, but you
keep going over it again and again til it's smooth. Each
pass straightens the shirt, accomplishing its job until you
have exactly what you need.
So how do you know when you're done?
It'll be "done" when you feel like you're just tinkering with
it. You'll making small incremental changes which, sure
might be well and good, but they are providing no deeper
overhaul or understanding to the piece itself. So hulk
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think you should only get one round of tinkering and then
it should be out of your hands and with other, trusted
eyeballs. To either be approved of, or to tell you what it
really needs.
No script ever feels perfect. There is only the time to let it
go.
36. When & how to disregard these guidelines
And so at last this massive part five comes to a close (two
more parts to go! Whooo!)
Hulk said these were all guidelines, not rules. And hulk
meant it.
Your idea. Your story. The thing that compels you. That is
what matters. Everything should cater to it. You may have
noticed that throughout all these guidelines, hulk kept
bringing up exceptions to rules. Sometimes they were
exceptions that worked and sometimes they didn't work.
The ones that didn't work were either haphazard,
unconscious reactions or flippant, counter-intuitive
gestures. While the ones that worked were justified
because they only abandoned one element of our good
narrative definition to deeply explore another element of
our definition. The good exceptions negotiate and
approximate, whether it plot, context, character, texture,
thematic, etc.
So do what makes sense for the kind of story you want to
tell.
Be willing to say "fuck battles in the last act." if that's
what it calls for. Tarantinos kill bill vol. Ii knew that after
the battle against the 88, he couldn't top it action-wise.
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truths through the subject itself (much like the zodiac and
contagion examples), only his subject is one of the most
complex theoretical concepts on the planet. This
completely unapologetic treatment of scientific accuracy
via plotting results in a stunning, distinct, original film.
The filmmaker pursued an uncommon view that
compelled him and thus revealed a new view that
compelled us.
Do what makes sense for your story.
But just know this... Every single rule or guideline that is
being broken in the examples listed has damn good
reasons for why. It's not "just cause it would be neat."
they weren't making some totally pedestrian movie and
then broke a rule because "it's more real!" they weren't
even just "going with their gut," a thing that hulk bets
many of you would want to do. Hint: that could just be
your visceral, contrarian id talking. And that's not
something you want to trust with story.
No. Those examples of exceptions succeed because it
makes complete sense for those stories. It's almost as if
that had to go there to see their conceits through.
The biggest problem with how everyone is breaking the
rules nowaways is not because it's robbing us of
traditional narrative power, though that sucks, it's
because no one seems to even understand why the rules
are even there. If they don't know what the rule says and
how it works, they therefore can't understand what
breaking the rule says either. They're just trying to be
"different" ... And hulk says fuck that.
Worse, there's some folks who really don't even know the
rules are anymore.
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Young woman
You always say that, the same thing every tlmei never
again, i'm through, too dangerous.
Part six - how to tell a story - screenplay-specific
instruction
Of course, there is the format of the screen play itself.
The reason hulk waited all the way until part six to talk
about it is because the fundamentals of good storytelling
are way, waaaaaaaay more important than what basically
amounts to a matter of proper formatting. The things you
are about to learn are simple and easily applied. But this
does not mean that hulk does not think formatting and
screenplay etiquette aren't important. They are just not
super important.
So aside from the very basics like grammar and spelling,
there are other basic things you need to know like what
scene headings are, how to number scenes, etc. But
these are matters are easily learned from reading any
screenwriting book or script on the planet. Or just google
"how to format a screenplay." it so easy hulk not going to
even link to it. The point is it is so not necessary for this
column and would waste your time.
What is far more necessary, however, is to discuss more
of the unspoken rules that can greatly improve your
script.
37. Know it's being read by every kind of person
If charlie kaufman, an incredible writer who knows what
really makes a great
Script, sat down to read your script you would want him
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to think it's great. This goes without saying. The same can
be said for if your favorite actor sat down to read your
script. And then if a studio exec said down to read your
script you would want them to think it's great too . And if
a script reader, who reads a million of them and whose
time is short, sat down to read your script you would want
them to think it's great and keep reading, forgetting
there's a next one on the pile. And if an 21 year old
intern, who really doesn't have the breadth of experience
or patience, sat down to read your script you would still
want them to think it's great too.
Now guess which order of people the script will be read
in?
Yup. You have to make your scripts accessible to the 21
year old intern. Sorry folks but when you're starting the
game it's true. Now, this does not mean that you "can't
use big words" or tell a complex story. That would be
nonsense. The 21 year old intern is actually pretty smart.
What it means is they are busy and can get distracted.
Actually, the same goes for all those people really. Their
time is invaluable.
Which means you have to get to the point and not dillydally in the damn description.
That means no "walls of black text." really. Hulk one of
the most patient readers on the planet. Hulk can read
fast. Hulk picks up infinite jest every year and revisits it.
Hulk fucking loves to read dense intricate text. Hulk
mean, look at these fucking essays. How could hulk not?
But when hulk sees that big wall of black text in a script,
hulk's heart just sinks a little. It just has no real function
in a screenplay. By the end of part 6 you'll fully
understand why that is, but for now just accept that it is.
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111
These are both from quiz show... Which is one of the best
scripts ever written (though the movie almost lets a bad
accent destroy a perfect film), but the real reason it's
wonderful, particularly for this column, is that it shows
you how to write scripts. Concise. To the point. Gorgeous
prose. Hilarious dialogue. Poignant dialogue. Hilariously
poignant dialogue. It's all there.
If you want to know how to write beautifully in the format,
it should be your bible.
Seriously, download the pdf and keep it forever:
But let us really hammer this point home:
41. Dont waste opportunities to say something
In robert towne's incredible script for chinatown (though
he isn't afraid to go on for big walls of text... It was a
different era) there is this really neat little detail that
exemplifies something that doesn't happen enough in
screenwriting.
Jake gittes is a private detective who has just informed
one of his clients that, yes, his wife is cheating on him. To
console the poor chap jake does the following:
"gittes reaches into his desk and pulls out a shot glass,
quickly selects a cheaper bottle of bourbon from several
fifths of more expensive whiskeys."
The implication of this may seem obvious, that gittes is
"cheap" or something, but the fact that he has them all
lined up and ready to go in his office says something
else... It implies that jake knows the client won't know the
difference.
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But if it doesn't make hulk laugh, then it's just garbage for
wasting hulk's time... Which means some reader might
throw it in the garbage to boot.
Those are the stakes. Be warned.
43. Voice over... Perhaps, try not using it
Voice over is one of the most overused devices in the
history of cinema. It is used to explain things that don't
need explaining and would best be left to being shown
through actual cinema. Or they are often issues that
would be best left to being explored by dramatic means.
Even the most unaware audiences find voice over to be
pretty un-engaging.
Why is that? Because voice-over always tells, and never
shows.
What perhaps speaks to the device's assured laziness is
how fucking inconsistent it is too. If you're going to use
narration at the beginning of your film, then you have to
use it at the end (cough the descendants cough).
Otherwise you're just cheating. Then there's that hilarious
time the voice over showed up in a couple scenes in the
middle of we don't live here anymore and then promptly
disappeared for the rest of the film. These sorts of uses
only confirm the laziness. Those films used it just when
they needed it to solve some weird, stupid problem of
exposition. Then they promptly dumped it.
The real problem here, and what every single person who
uses it tends not to realize, is that when voice over goes
in and out haphazardly, you are altering the rules of your
"movie universe." you are saying the story comes from
this person's perspective and they are a kind of "god of
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The lesson is clear folks: read your script out loud and
hulk will guarantee you will win an oscar.
... Okay, it won't do that but will make your script way,
way better in every sense.
Part seven - now here comes the hard part
And thus we come to the final part of our journey, and
hulk has to start it with some bad news.
Hulk hate to break it to you, but none of the things hulk
just told you actually matter.
... That sound you hear is everyone's hearts falling down
into their butts.
The reason it doesn't matter is because everything hulk
just told you is not something that can be easily parsed
out over planning sessions. You may now understand it.
You may now really be eager to start trying to apply it.
But it cannot be fully applied with simple awareness. For
one, there are so many details about how and why to
create a story, that when we sit down to actually do it, it
reveals itself as dysfunctional. We'll just be trying to think
of that one thing, that one goal, and the contents of this
entire essay will fall out or our brains like it teflon.
Which means that writers have to take these devices and
concepts and ingrain them into their process. These
elements must be seared into their brains so they are
completely automatic. Only then will the writing process,
and the writing itself, truly feel organic. Only then can
you write "sequentially and with flow" and still include all
the critical elements of storytelling and structure that
hulk has been fawning over for the entire column.
Because the simplest truth is that you really need that
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Hulk knows that sounds cheesy as all hell, but hulk mean
it: you have a hulk on your side. Hulk wants you to win.
Hulk even hates that this oh-so-necessary 10,000 hour
message is dominating the last section of this article. Yes,
hulk needs to warn you, but hulk would rather inspire you.
So in that spirit, hulk just wants to finish this sucker with
a little explanation of one of hulk's heroes.
The man in the lead image of this part seven is a guy
named paddy chayefsky. He is one of the greatest
screenwriters of all time.
Chayefsky's success was due in large part to the fact that
he was, first and foremost, a writer in general. He wrote
plays, novels, television, and even criticism (hulk likes
criticism too in case you haven't noticed). Paddy
chayefsky approached his craft with remarkable sense
understanding. His style always seemed to vary. You
could always recognize his focus and intelligence, but
never an overpowering "style" that dominated his work.
His voice could mutate at a moment's notice. He could
transcend genre, tone, comedy, drama, medium, form,
and even language. He could explore the simplest stories
about decent human beings and ethos (marty), the
growing
State of the nyc social scene long before capote even
thought of breakfast at tiffany's (the bachelor party), the
incredible thematic realities of bureaucracy and personal
will (the hospital), the hardcore sci-fi and horror concepts
of trippy genetics (altered states), the ahead-of-its-time
views of sexuality and become a forerunner to late 60's
cinema (the americanization of emily), and in his
magnum opus, he managed to penetrate the deepest
layers of satire to the point where he basically foretold
the future of television and american culture at large
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