Fears and wounds are what keeps your audience in tune with a character and their story. Without explaining why a character thinks and acts on a more personal level, the most critical junctions of a story give your audience whiplash, and it rips their attention away from the page. Respect your audience by letting your characters come to life, rather than demanding that your audience accept them without question.
I prefer when fears and wounds are handled organically, rather than hitting the audience over the head with it in a way they can't ignore. I like it best when fears and wounds are _part_ of a character, but the story isn't _about_ those feelings. Overcoming fears and transforming should only be _part_ of the story (if it's there at all), because overcoming fears and wounds is _always written the same way._ It's _always_ some trite believe- in-yourself message (especially in kiddie movies), or it's I-forgive-the-person-who-hurt-me thing or I-got-revenge-on-the-person-who-hurt-me...whatever. It's like when sitcoms recycle old jokes and tropes; when I see one of these damaged-and-need-to-heal plotlines, I roll my eyes and think, "Great...here we go again," and I just wait for the same old nonsense to play itself out again. It's like, "Oh, the cop protagonist has the bad guy in custody at the end, but _OH, LOOK,_ he's broken free and is trying to kill the protagonist, so now we get to kill him off instead of saving him for a sequel!" **rolls eyes** Oy, vey. In my own writing, I've done my best to take these tropes and either run in an unusual direction with them, or make them part of who a character is without _harping on it._ I have a character in my most recent short who has four lines of dialogue...and a pretty decent backstory which is only hinted at. (He's ex-military, dishonorably discharged, and turned space pirate; it's why his pirate troops wear uniforms instead of casual clothing, and why he talks like R. Lee Ermey. I told my actor, and he ran with it, did a great job.) And when the hero captures him, he stays captured; I may have to use him in later stories, y'see. To me, that's good writing. When I read the novelization of "Tron", it filled in a lot of the questions I'd had about the worldbuilding, and I was blown away by what wasn't actually _said_ in the movie...it was just _there._ I like that. That's good writing: when your plot points--especially about characters--isn't a damn _sledgehammer to the noggin._
As the screenwriter and director for Wall-E my favorite childhood movie once said (loose quote): 'Don't give the audience 4, give them 2 + 2' -Andrew Stanton Yeah generally it is not a good idea to make the story only about the internal fears/wounds-----limiting yourself is often the key to creativity, but that might be a little too much as you pointed out. To be fair however, your point about the fear/wound overcoming being 'always written the same way' ignores all the recent writing atrocities that attempt to subvert 'the trope' and while doing so just create a movie with no lesson at all or just a painful to watch film that INSTEAD ends up teaching/encouraging bad mindsets. (IIRC, 'Critical Drinker' on YT has a popular video about this very unfortunate topic) Speaking of lessons, when it comes to new writers I'd always prefer they stay humble AND DO WHAT WORKS FIRST before trying to 'stand out' or 'be something more.' Since I'd 10/10 always watch a film with a good message in it over one that has none at all, or straight up spreads degeneracy or bad mindsets, lessons, or habits. As long as they remember STRUCTURE, 'Don't give the audience 4, give them 2 + 2,' and how fears can drive character choices' I think that is a good *starting path* for a good writer, they don't need to be self-conscious because their character knows how to actually say sorry correctly when it counts, etc.
Fears and flaws change a story by having a character go through a struggle or obstacle that they need or have to overcome in order not triumph and achieve a goal
I don't work about inciting incident.. because it is the plot.. if I understand character 's inner journey properly , then story itself stands alone.. I believe
Fears and wounds are what keeps your audience in tune with a character and their story. Without explaining why a character thinks and acts on a more personal level, the most critical junctions of a story give your audience whiplash, and it rips their attention away from the page. Respect your audience by letting your characters come to life, rather than demanding that your audience accept them without question.
I prefer when fears and wounds are handled organically, rather than hitting the audience over the head with it in a way they can't ignore. I like it best when fears and wounds are _part_ of a character, but the story isn't _about_ those feelings.
Overcoming fears and transforming should only be _part_ of the story (if it's there at all), because overcoming fears and wounds is _always written the same way._ It's _always_ some trite believe- in-yourself message (especially in kiddie movies), or it's I-forgive-the-person-who-hurt-me thing or I-got-revenge-on-the-person-who-hurt-me...whatever.
It's like when sitcoms recycle old jokes and tropes; when I see one of these damaged-and-need-to-heal plotlines, I roll my eyes and think, "Great...here we go again," and I just wait for the same old nonsense to play itself out again. It's like, "Oh, the cop protagonist has the bad guy in custody at the end, but _OH, LOOK,_ he's broken free and is trying to kill the protagonist, so now we get to kill him off instead of saving him for a sequel!" **rolls eyes** Oy, vey.
In my own writing, I've done my best to take these tropes and either run in an unusual direction with them, or make them part of who a character is without _harping on it._ I have a character in my most recent short who has four lines of dialogue...and a pretty decent backstory which is only hinted at. (He's ex-military, dishonorably discharged, and turned space pirate; it's why his pirate troops wear uniforms instead of casual clothing, and why he talks like R. Lee Ermey. I told my actor, and he ran with it, did a great job.)
And when the hero captures him, he stays captured; I may have to use him in later stories, y'see.
To me, that's good writing. When I read the novelization of "Tron", it filled in a lot of the questions I'd had about the worldbuilding, and I was blown away by what wasn't actually _said_ in the movie...it was just _there._ I like that. That's good writing: when your plot points--especially about characters--isn't a damn _sledgehammer to the noggin._
As the screenwriter and director for Wall-E my favorite childhood movie once said (loose quote):
'Don't give the audience 4, give them 2 + 2'
-Andrew Stanton
Yeah generally it is not a good idea to make the story only about the internal fears/wounds-----limiting yourself is often the key to creativity, but that might be a little too much as you pointed out.
To be fair however, your point about the fear/wound overcoming being 'always written the same way' ignores all the recent writing atrocities that attempt to subvert 'the trope' and while doing so just create a movie with no lesson at all or just a painful
to watch film that INSTEAD ends up teaching/encouraging bad mindsets.
(IIRC, 'Critical Drinker' on YT has a popular video about this very unfortunate topic)
Speaking of lessons, when it comes to new writers I'd always prefer they stay humble AND DO WHAT WORKS FIRST before trying to 'stand out' or 'be something more.'
Since I'd 10/10 always watch a film with a good message in it over one that has none at all, or straight up spreads degeneracy or bad mindsets, lessons, or habits.
As long as they remember STRUCTURE, 'Don't give the audience 4, give them 2 + 2,' and how fears can drive character choices'
I think that is a good *starting path* for a good writer, they don't need to be self-conscious because their character knows how to actually say sorry correctly when it counts, etc.
Fantastic stuff! Thanks so much!😃💗🙏
Whew!!! Very Good ❤
Who is one of your favorite codependent characters?
Me!
Fears and flaws change a story by having a character go through a struggle or obstacle that they need or have to overcome in order not triumph and achieve a goal
I don't work about inciting incident.. because it is the plot.. if I understand character 's inner journey properly , then story itself stands alone.. I believe
Is this a material about screenplay writing or a psychotherapy session?
I must not be firing on all cylinders because this made no sense at all.