Inneresting 38
issue 38
February 7, 2021
So tell me what you want (What you really really want)
A protagonist without a clear, burning desire can leave audiences cold. Showing what the character wants helps the audience know if they’re making progress or losing ground.
This week’s newsletter wants you to know all about sharing the hero’s wishes with the audience.
What they want and what they do about it
In this blog post, Chuck Wendig talks about his trinity of protagonist characteristics to kick a story into gear: Motivation, Action, and Consequence.
That focus on immediate action helps an audience see characters making consequential decisions. These moments show what’s at stake and what the hero intends to do about it.
But why talk about it when we can sing?
It’s not really that there is a “formula” for these things, but I have learned over the years that pretty much any successful musical you can name has an “I Want” song for its main character within the first fifteen or so minutes of the show. I can think of exceptions, but frankly I feel that the lack of such a moment is a weakness in most of those cases.
— Stephen Schwartz
In a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presentation, Stephen Schwartz sings, plays, and explains how he developed several different versions of Elphaba’s “I Want” song from Wicked.
For more discussion on the reasons characters need to sing out about what they want, you can check out Episode 318 of Scriptnotes, where John talks about collaborating with Sam Davis on the “I Want” song “Rise.”
And if you’re looking for a solid block of “I Want” songs as inspiration for writing your own, or just a pick-me-up for your day, check out this playlist from Playbill.
Highland How-To: Singing for Your Supper
If your characters need to break out into song, Highland 2 makes it easy to keep it clear on the page.
Write your lyrics in as dialogue, but put a tilde ( ~
) at the beginning of each line to italicize the lyrics in your formatted script.
Or, if you don’t feel like stretching your pinky so far off the home row so frequently, highlight a block of lyrics and press ~
once — Highland will add a tilde before each of the lines in your lyrics!
For more tips on how to use Highland 2, check out our Knowledge Base!
Other Cool Things
Anna Rubincam shows us what it means to be a contemporary stone carver in this short documentary about her work and process.
In this piano mash up, Fabricio André Bernard Di Paolo (aka Lord Vinheteiro) takes you on a journey through the music of animation from Steamboat Willie to Naruto.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
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Come across something you think other readers will find inneresting? Reach out to Chris on Twitter @ccsont or email us at ask@johnaugust.com.
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