Posts

Integrating and Expressing Character and Theme

Image
  NOTE: This is the outline for my most recent episode of the Every Day Is a Story All Its Own Podcast. I offered many more examples during the podcast (available at the end of this post) and talked about applying some of these concepts to plotting murder mysteries and stories with complicated plots like Needful Things .  ·       There is no real drama unless you have situations that push the main character to the extreme frontier of his nature. —Elia Kazan’s production journal for the film East of Eden ·       This builds on the episode “Fundamentals of Character” ·       Poor writers identify with a single character, which makes the character the author’s “mouthpiece.” ·       Dull, explanatory speeches. Didactic storytelling.   ·       Reminder. A person is what they DO, not what they SAY. Action is Character (closing the gap) · ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living, Writing, Acting (and Thriving!) in The GAP

Image
  This is the outline from my recent podcast episode on this subject. A link to the episode is at the bottom. ·       Definition: an opening or empty space (PB); a break in continuity, like a hiatus (gap year); a wide difference or disparity ("generation gap" or "communication gap"); a mountain pass or a ravine ·       Brené Brown (authenticity): “minding the gap … the space between where we’re actually standing and where we want to be.” ·       Experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and linguist Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate , writes that people who acknowledge a “discrepancy between [a] goal and the current state of the world … execute operations that tend to reduce the difference.” ·       What is the gap between where you are and where you want to be? Goals, aspirations, motivation ·       In story terms: Robert McKee calls The Gap the a...
Post a Comment
Read more

My 16-Year Bibliography for the Study of UFOlogy and the Paranormal

Image
  Books, Articles, Documentaries, Films, TV Series “7 Creepy Conspiracy Theories about the Denver Airport.” Buzzfeed Multiplayer . YouTube. April 12, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN8DO-Xv9wA Aitken, Moira. Irongray Yesterday—A Parish History . Carn Publishing. 2018. American Alchemy. “UFO Whistleblower David Grusch Tells Me Everything.” Jesse Michels . YouTube. September 10, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRO5jOa06Qw “American UFO Coverups.” UFOs: The Lost Evidence (S2.9). Trvl Channel. 2019. An Alien History of Planet Earth. Host Nick Cook. History Channel. 2006. Ancient Aliens [Seasons 1–8]. Prometheus Entertainment. History Channel. 2009–2014. Anka, Darryl (Writer/Director). First Contact [Documentary]. 2016. Anthony, Mike. Life at Hamilton . Waterside Productions, 2020.   ———. Love, Dad: How My Father Died… Then Told Me He Didn’t . Waterside Productions, 2021.   “Apocalypse in Georgia.” Brad Meltzer’s Decoded (S1.10). History...
Post a Comment
Read more