Film Courage: How do we marry the wildness of our imagination with story structure?
Alan Watt [Founder of L.A. Writers’ Lab] and Author: I think the process of building a story is about going from the general to the specific. I think story always begins with the wildness of your imagination. It always begins with an image, with a character or some kind of… I don’t even think we think about it consciously but there’s some kind of tension. There’s always something that’s seeking resolution. That’s when the story idea comes to you. The moment the story idea comes to you whether you’re conscious of it or not conscious of it, your first question is often Gee I wonder what might happen next? Now whether you’re aware of it or not you’re in story structure, you’re thinking like a storyteller. But if you don’t apply structure to it, your story is going to start to flatline. You’re going to start to try and manufacture interesting scenarios but the story is not going to build in meaning. The only way to come up with a fully realized story is to…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
Film Courage - Empowering Creatives 