Thread by @bryanedwardhill

Here's a #writing tip about the necessity of a STRONG, EMOTIONAL MOTIVATION for your protagonist.

So, I'm doing a third draft of this studio thing. Challenging project and I like the executive a lot -- but he wants a great deal of MISDIRECTION in the storytelling. Now --

-- that's not normally how I fight. I tend to get frustrated with narrative misdirection. I write how I live -- I come at you from the front.

But this is the discipline of the job. Sometimes, you have to fight in the ring with a style you don't use on the street.

So, what --

-- I have to do inside of all of this misdirection is MAKE CERTAIN the audience always has some understanding of the protagonist's EMOTIONAL MOTIVATION, what they WANT TO ACCOMPLISH.

Otherwise, all the clever moves are just frustratingly opaque. It's just technique. So --

-- if you're telling a story where the TECHNIQUE of the storytelling threatens comprehension, threatens audience connection to the story -- make sure your EMOTIONAL motivations are strong. That buys PATIENCE from the reader/audience. Ask yourself, ask of your work --

-- is the reader ALWAYS CLEAR about what the protagonist wants so even if they're not sure what's happening in arc plot, they know WHY they're watching this stuff and there's a PROMISE that it will resolve. See, people will be patient with the moves IF they're clear about --

-- what's at stake. Why this character is making these moves. Is the story moving TOWARDS something and do we trust that it WILL GET THERE.

See, if I'm not careful about that, I'll do these notes and I'll wind up breaking the whole thing, chasing execution over emotion. Fact --

-- NO AUDIENCE CARES ABOUT HOW CLEVER YOU ARE unless they are emotionally invested into the journey. If you're going to create distance between the audience and story comprehension -- make sure you're bridging the distance with EMOTION.

Now, that aspect isn't in the notes --

-- but I KNOW it needs to be done. So you get these notes, and maybe you don't see it that way -- but the job is trying to make them work. You have to try and do what THEY want you to do, but also accomplish what you know needs to be done to make those notes work.

So TRY, but--

-- be honest about the work you have to do with your executive. They're an ally.

In this case, I said "Okay, I can do this, but I'm gonna need more time to do it right because threads are getting pulled and I need to weave them back into the cloth."

And I got my time.

So don't just resist the note, even if it bristles you. ENGAGE IT, but think about why you're concerned about it and think about how you can address those concerns while engaging the note.

They're reading. You're writing. You're gonna see issues they won't, but TRY. Don't --

-- get frustrated. Don't obsess over "the way you think it should be."

TRY. Engage their direction and if it bristles you, use that as an opportunity to understand why, to know your story better. You'll probably have to do EXTRA stuff, that they don't know you have to do.

They may never NOTICE the extra stuff you have to do, but that's okay. The art of the craft is making their ideas work, if you're able, with your added perspective.

Don't fight a note because it creates a problem. Solve the problem when you task the note. If you can. If you --

-- can't, and you've been focused during this process, I've found the studio partner knows you really TRIED because you've BEEN TRYING and you can revisit the idea without an argument and you get a real listen to your point of view.

In this case, I think I can do it. Just --

-- have to make sure I have that emotional pull that holds together all the misdirection, obfuscation and technique.

Many roads lead to Athens. Throw work at the problem. Be patient. Do the best you can to execute the note. Embrace the challenge.